Email to Friends: I'm On a Boat! (Okay, Well I Was...)‏

The slow local boat from Bagan to Mandalay was fun. Downstream, the other direction, it takes about 15 hours. But heading to Mandalay takes 2 days. We left Bagan at 5:30. Watched the sunrise over the Arewaddy. The boat is full of mainly older women, two 16 year olds, and a couple adorable small children, and the cutest pudgy, smiley baby. Everyone takes very good care of me, sharing food and buying me treats. I played with the babies and kids and made paper fans out of the Lonely Planet pages I was finished with to help us all try to cope with the hot sun and humidity. When a vendor didn't give me my change after buying a pineapple, the older women used hand gestures and their very expressive eyes to let me know I needed to go get it back (I had chalked it up to a $4 learning experiences and was going to let it go). It helped knowing they had my back, and the change was given back without question.

We stop at lots of small villages along the river as the boat loads up. Some villages are right on the water and you can see they make ceramics or floating huts and some stops seem like empty fields or jungle-ey forests, but the loud boat horn has people running out of seemingly no where to catch or greet the boat. The bottom of the boat is full of rubbish (empty bottles, plastic, cardboard) being taken out of the villages and the top is where we all hang out. They have the tourists area with plastic chairs.

There is another couple on the boat who took up part of the tourist area and took up space in the locals area with their mat. The girl is dressed in shorty shorts with her butt hanging out and an off the shoulder top with bra showing and they are being very rude to people on the boat. Everyone on the boat stares at them and makes faces begin their backs. After about 10 hours of this, I finally had enough. The guy and I had words as I tried to convince him to move his mat to the tourist area to give some of the families squished up against the wall more room, since they were not allowed in our area and they were essentially taking up two spots. He refused, and I wanted to throw their backpacks, him, and his skanky girlfriend into the river, but I showed restraint (for me, any way) and left it alone and said he could choose to be whatever kind of traveler he wanted to be. But it makes me really angry and sad that in a country that has been closed off to tourism for so long, that this is the impression of tourists that they were going to leave. While the rest of the boat couldn't understand a word of our discussion, the people were even nicer to me after. I was invited into the captain's chamber, was given a wonderful meal of rice, veggies, pickled mango, chicken, and papayas. Sunset on the river was beautiful.

Docked in a tiny village around 8pm for the night. Someone loaned me a tarp to sleep on. Can't say it was the most comfortable sleep on the uneven wooden boat deck. There were a ton of little moths that were drawn to the boat lights as people prepared for sleep. It was to the point where the whole canvas roof was crawling with them and they dropped off into your hair and flew in your eyes and mouth. I made a cocoon out of my sleep sac and fell asleep, trying to ignore all the critters I could hear moving around me.

The boat set off again around 5am. Bought a coffee and watched everyone wake up. Some of the older women decided they were going to do my face like a Myanmar woman. They hand grind this wood to make this yellow stuff to paint their cheeks and forehead in designs with a fine brush. They have me sit down and all take turns making the designs. Much laughter and smiles had by all. My area has turned into the kids play area. I remembered the little bag of super balls and tops that are in my backpack for kids to play with (although in a place full of cheap toys made in China, my toys are not that interesting). I give each kid a toy and we play with them on the boat deck. We only lost one overboard (toy, not child) and the kids climb on me and chatter away at me in Burmese and I just nod my head in agreement. I have to say, Burmese children may just be the cutest kids ever... maybe even cuter than Vietnamese kids :) I have a picture of one if my favorites on my camera that I will download when I get home.

Grabbed a trishaw at the boat dock and checked into a more expensive hotel in Mandalay. It kind of sucks, but the location is near the bus terminal and there is hot water (which I haven't had in quite a while) with a tub, which was probably not intended to do laundry in, but that is what they get for being overpriced. I don't know that I have ever been this grimy and dirty, so it is worth it for the two showers I needed just to clean up. And now time to get dirty again! Up before the crack of dawn once more to head to Hsipaw by bus and do some mountain trekking in tribal villages.

Love,
Betsy