Adventures with Julia

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Aboard the RV Paukan on the Irrawaddy River

After sending the Rangoon post this morning, we departed the hotel for a drive through the city of Mandalay and gradually out to a rural backwater of empty fields sparsely doted with widely spaced ruins, monastic buildings and stupas.  It is a world away from the city bustle of Mandalay.  We crossed the Irrawaddy River in a long boat with a noisy outboard motor to reach the ancient remains of Inwa, which was the royal capital of Burma for over half of the last 650 years.  Stepping off the boat, we walked a dirt embankment through a gauntlet of young women selling trinkets to a group of waiting old horse carts.  Mark and I got into a cart with a small, friendly man who told us his horse’s name was Lela.  Both our cart driver and Lela, who had flowers in her mane, charmed us as we bumped along the pot-holed dirt road to visit the remains of the ancient buildings.  The day was very hot and humid and the ride on wooden wheels with no shocks was most uncomfortable, but we still enjoyed the experience.  It was one of those cases where the expectation is better than the reality.

The various ruins proved to be vary interesting, with each one uniquely different from the others.  My favorite was a teak carved monastery built in 1834 called Bagaya Kyaung.  The most impressive space was the prayer hall with its soaring interior created by thick teak logs, the largest of which is 60 feet high.  The room is cool and dark and feels more ancient than it is.  Lovely carved figures of peacocks and lotus flowers are inscribed into the wood and the gilded Buddha is framed by delicately carved friezes.

We also visited a very large stucco-covered, brick monastery dating from 1822.  Sites we passed without stopping included a couple of large gold stupas, a leaning watchtower and a royal bathing pool.  Earthquakes and floods often plagued the area and the royals finally abandoned the site in 1841.  Lela took us back to the boat launch and we happily abandoned our “charming experience” for the air-conditioned bus.

Another half an hour and we were boarding our new home on the RV Pauken parked at a jetty on the Irrawaddy River.  Such boat accommodations I have never before experienced.  This is a brand new 2012 vessel and we are on its maiden voyage.  Our stateroom is superb.  We are on the front nose of the ship with sliding windows on two sides, a beautifully dressed king size bed, a full, tiled shower, good sized bathroom and lots of storage space.  Tom at ATJ took really good care of us.  Everyone else is thrilled with their accommodations too.  One couple said the ship is more desirable than the QEII.

Lunch was a delicious buffet.   With 22 passengers and 25 staff on board, the numbers are most companionable.   This is so pleasant I could stay aboard for several days.  In fact, there was a tour this afternoon of more stupas and temples that we decided to skip.   I took a shower; put on the confortable robe provided and hung out in our delightful cabin.   Now the gang is back from their adventure and we are cruising again.

I should mention that our group is 18 people strong including our 2 guides.   Unlike the last group we were with in India, these folks are fun, friendly and normal.  They are all fit and range in ages from late 50’s to early 70’s.  Several are from California, but we have people from Bethesda, Detroit, Maine, Boston and Australia.  We are having interesting conversations and enjoying each other’s company.   Our experience is certainly enhanced because of them.  Our guides, Davies, who is from Vermont, but lives in Thailand, and Ken, who is Burmese, are attentive, informative and humorous.   So far we have no complaints about anything.  It is all good.

I also want to mention Thanaka, the face paint we see on many people everyday in the city as well as in the countryside.  It is a paste made from tree bark and used for decoration and bug repellant.  Everyone applies it differently and some of the patterns are quite intricate.  Hopefully I will be able to send you an example in a future post.       For a time I thought we would have Wi Fi on the ship, but I have not been able to get it to work….yet.   I continue to hope.