In Myanmar, getting there is half the fun, whether on their hand crafted roads or on the river. Especially the river. Even though Thingangon was a major village (it even shows on Google maps, but in the wrong place) it was accessible only by boat. The nine in our party were based at Pathein, and required a fast boat to reach the island and return within the day. The only boat fast enough was a 20 knot 120 foot river ferry that normally transports 160 people. This allowed us a one way time of five hours. It was a bit pricey for Myanmar, about the same as renting a 19’ runabout in the North Idaho town from where I come, but our price included the fuel and the crew!

Our boat was too long! Throughout the trip I tried to get a photo of the entire boat. I never could back up enough to do it without buildings or too many trees getting in the way.

Even so, we had to start at four AM on December 14, which turned out to be a great time. It was still completely dark by the time we got away from Pathein. There were no lights of any kind along the river, and no light pollution visible anywhere in the sky. This is one nice thing about being in a country which has large areas without electrical power. There must have been a meteor shower going on, because some in our party saw six. I saw four, as many as I saw near Waco, TX when I went out to see the Perseid shower earlier this year. I never could get away from the light pollution of Waco or nearby towns that time.

I just checked on the internet, and found that the Geminid shower peaked the nights of Dec 13 and 14. How about that? The first time I’m in good night seeing in years.

The first few hours in the dark were definitely the high point of that trip. I could see many more stars than I could even in Thailand. I don’t remember stargazing like that since I was a kid out in the country in North Idaho. The weather at that time was a bit cool due largely to our 20 knot speed, requiring a windbreaker. Once the sun was up for awhile we no longer needed the jackets.

Coming into the village where we took a morning coffee break.

Inside the village “coffee shop” on the pier. Clockwise from the foreground. Dave Leuthold, Carolyn Leuthold, Sue, Lyda Adair, Bill Cochran, Dennis Taylor, Daw Ah Win. Arm in the lower right supplied by Dr. Thant Thaw Kaung.

After sunrise Sue took a nap on deck. We passed a few small settlements, but only one or two of what I would call a small village. We stopped at one of these for morning coffee and a snack, after which we resumed our trip to the far south.

When we got to our destination there is only one boat landing which already had a boat at it, so we tied up beside and debarked through that boat to the pier. After a short walk out Nargis Library Recovery group arrived at our first new library building, which I describe in the previous post.

Thingangon Village. We landed through the open area in the center of the large boat on the right.

Our captain and crew.

The return trip got us back to Pathein after dark, in time for a late candle lit dinner under the stars and then to rest for our next day with World Vision to the east.

We took a two day trip in a van to the city of Bogalay which is in the north east part of the southern delta area. We visited libraries and some monastery schools there and in the surrounding area. The highlight of this trip was traveling by a small boat which just held our group to riverside villages in the area. There we again learned about education and libraries in the more outlying areas.

If you’re looking for Bogalay you might try spelling it “Bogale” also. Some spell checkers, and Google maps spells it that way.

The delta area of Myanmar was devastated by cyclone Nargis over a year and a half ago. Most buildings in this area at least lost their roofs if they were not entirely flattened. A lot of rebuilding has occurred in the last year and a half. In some ways it is easier here than other more developed parts of the world since there is less complexity to be rebuilt. Still, we heard stories of how hard it was for children to come back to school and study after they had lost most of their families, their homes, or whatever else a child might have to lose.

The trip down was made by van on the handmade roads of Myanmar. These are made from one to three inch rock placed by hand and then rolled. Because of the rocks they are bumpy in a way that makes a lot of noise and must be wearing on the car, but does not shake the passengers. Potholes do not seem to develop in these type roads. I think if they can put good layer of asphalt over such a base they’ll have some long lasting roads. We saw very few cars, buses and motorbikes but a lot of bicycles and bicycle taxis. At one point we ran head on into a Buddhist Ka-htain donation celebration on the road and had to stop. Men were in buffalo costumes (see video) and other men “fought” them. Ka-htain marks the end of 3 months of Waso (Buddhist Lent) in which monks are not allowed to travel. The monks are now back out and receiving offerings.

The view was countryside most of the time. Many of the photos here were “drive by” from a moving car, so please forgive the tilt and maybe lack of clarity. Often there would be a canal near the road so that access to homes was via a log bridge. This is the delta area, so we went over a number of small and some large bridges. I tried to get these water areas as we passed.

The river trip was made in a small boat shown in the first picture below. It was provided by friends and education/library supporters U Aung Nyunt and his wife Daw Kyin Nu. We started out inside (see video) but soon got outside to better enjoy the scenery (see another video). Most small boats that are powered in Myanmar use a small Chinese once cylinder diesel engine with a long propeller shaft. I guess you could call it an outboard motor, but it is far simpler and cheaper (from $150 to about $300 for larger engines) than an outboard you would buy in the U.S. We traveled a few hours past many colorful boats to the river village Myin Ka Gone. The village had a row of houses along the river, and then a walkway which I think was its main thorofare. It may not have had road access, since this and a few other walkways were all we saw. One of the last pictures you see is a kindergarten teacher standing next to the school library. We plan to help them out.

As we went on this and other expeditions in Myanmar, people from the local area helped us a great deal along the way. In Myanmar the people are always the best part.