Going upriver to Bagan

On the river

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It was with great excitement that I set out from Mandalay on the boat trip to Bagan, the old capital from the 9^th Century ; going to this place has been a goal of mine for years.

A one way ticket was $25 for the 14 hour journey. I was a bit apprehensive after my terrible experience with the boat in Cambodia last year, but the Shwe Keinnery was a nice boat with two decks. a small restaurant and very comfortable assigned seats. It seems that all 130 seats were taken because many large tour groups were using the service. They really took over the place so I avoided the restaurant until late afternoon. The Irrawaddy is a broad muddy river, quite unlike the dramatic Mekong that I enjoyed so much in Laos.

Also, it is a half the length of the Mekong (2000 km vs 4600 km). But I love rivers and the landscape was pleasing, so I enjoyed the trip. Arrival was a real hassle. It was dark and we arrived at a earthen bank (no jetty as such) which was lit by spotlights from the boat which keep moving around, so one minute you had light and the next you were in total darkness. Luckily a porter helped with my bag and also guided me up the hill to the table where each foreigner had to pay $10 for a pass to the Old Bagan Archeological site. That was chaos, but I pushed my way in, bought my permit and picked one of the drivers out of the mass of shouting arguing drivers of taxis, pedicabs, and horse-carts. I was soon in a battered taxi going through clouds of dust to my hotel.