This little girl was dressed up as a photo opportunity.The hope was that if you took her photo, as many tourists did, a few coins would be given in thanks.
While the boat was far from the cruise ships most tourists take, it did give you an opportunity to see a slice of the life of the common man.Most of the passengers would spend the entire day on the trip.We were seated in the front of the boat in what might be considered the first class section, which meant that we had chairs, a toilet and a door to separate the first class from the rest of the passengers.The entire first class section of 12 people watched as a woman taught her young daughter how to breast feed her newborn.
A Buddhist monk boarded the boat and proceeded to spread out over several seats to sleep. Following his nap, he groomed himself with a tweezer – plucking out hairs from his chin. He did not speak a word during the entire trip.
Our trip was slowed by morning fog – in spite of one of the crew members blowing a fog horn like a trumpet, we were forced to lay anchor for an hour until the fog lifted.
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Dropping anchor – done by the crew – no motorized anchor lifting for this boat.
River life along the Ayeyarwaddy.The river is washed over by floods during the rainy season (June, July, August), when crops and homes are washed away.
As the boat docked, there was a rush to be the “first” off – taking their goods with them.
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