Maxine Sheppard sets sail on a river cruise along the Irrawaddy and discovers the unforgettable people, history and culture of Myanmar
An ancient temple in Bagan
A new day is dawning over the river town of Myinmu and I’m clambering bleary-eyed into a trishaw, heading for the market. My driver’s valiant but futile attempts to navigate the potholes soon jolt me awake. Clouds of dust accompany every bone-rattling swerve, and up ahead, a truck full of melons threatens to eject its precarious cargo in my face at every turn. It’s an invigorating start to the morning.
Herbal shampoo
Inside the market the air is filled with the unmistakable aromas of Southeast Asia. Pungent coriander mingles with jasmine from the garlands adorning every stall, and there’s a faint undercurrent of diesel fumes and drains. Rambutans, mangosteens and pomelos are heaped on the ground; fruits now familiar from the breakfast buffet of my ship moored on the Irrawaddy river a mile or so downstream. Opposite, fraying sacks of ginger overflow onto piles of sour plums, while betel-chewing women perch on low plastic chairs and swipe their phones. As shopping experiences go, it’s a world away from a Western supermarket, but 100 times more interesting.
The Road to Mandalay ship at dusk
Back on board Belmond Road to Mandalay, I watch children play on the river bank across from the boat while their mothers hang laundry from wooden poles wedged into the silt. This luxurious cruiser is the original pioneer of Irrawaddy river trips and has been plying Myanmar’s ‘national highway’ since 1996 – though exceptionally low water levels throw up plenty of navigational challenges in the searing heat of the dry season.
Still the least-discovered nation in the region, Myanmar (formerly Burma) visitor numbers are rising with astonishing speed and it’s rapidly becoming Asia’s hottest destination, particularly in the river cruising market. Despite being some way off from achieving it, Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest in 2010 marked the start of a faltering march towards democracy, and the country’s tourism industry is making strident attempts to catch up with its neighbours following five decades of military rule. Ironically, this political isolation from the rest of the world is the very reason why Myanmar remains so undeveloped – and attractive to tourists – but widespread changes are underway.
A typical street in Myanmar
My journey begins in Yangon, the country’s largest city. Through stop-start traffic, past hoardings advertising forthcoming luxury apartments, I’m delivered to the Belmond Governor’s Residence, a glossy teak mansion dripping with jungly foliage and colonial charm. On an overnight stay there’s barely enough time to get my bearings, but I do meet some fellow travellers and eat at the hotel’s renowned Burmese restaurant. Aside from the butterfish curry, I try a bowl of banana blossom and tangy pickled tea leaf salad; a revered national delicacy whose bittersweet fermented flavour is unlike anything I’ve tasted before.
By dawn, we’re on our way to join the 82-passenger Road to Mandalay at Bagan, a 90-minute flight from Yangon. Still free of mass crowds, this ancient city on the Irrawaddy’s arid central plain is home to some 2,500 Buddhist monuments built between the 11th and 13th centuries and is one of the most important archaeological zones in Asia. The major sites are connected by sandy roads lined with acacia trees, beyond which graze skinny Brahman cows. Countless other treasures lie crumbling and forgotten down overgrown dirt tracks, visited only by the determined few. In every direction the lofty spires
of sandstone stupas tower above the treeline, some gold and glinting, others glowing a deep burnished rust through the haze.
Alacapa villagers
In Old Bagan, a bougainvillea-strewn walkway leads to a jetty where a longtail waits to ferry us to our ship. With its pale interiors and polished wood, the ship feels classic and refined. In the staterooms, jade-tiled bathrooms decked out with Bulgari toiletries are opulent, and ample writing desks sit beneath oversized windows so you can watch the world go by. On the floor above is the restaurant, piano bar and observation lounge and on the shady top-deck is a pool surrounded by sun loungers and sofas, with a further bar where we gather for complimentary cocktails.
The biggest surprise is the food, which is among the best I’ve experienced anywhere in the world. Along with plenty of European choices, fragrant Asian specialities fill the menus daily, from spicy vats of Burmese mohinga at breakfast – a rich and savoury fish noodle soup – to various types of seaweed, salads, curries, stews and tropical fruit. And I’m not the only one taking notes: a cooking demonstration on a sailing day is packed to the rafters.
The afternoon brings more temple visits: enormous Ananda with its massive teak-carved Buddhas, and a sunset stop at Shwesandaw where we climb barefoot up raggedy steps for views barely changed in 1,000 years. The following morning, while some guests watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon, we return for the most significant pilgrimage site of them all: the gold leaf-gilded Shwezigon Pagoda; its shimmering stupa is believed to enshrine a tooth relic of the Buddha, though we’re more enthralled by the giggling thanaka-smeared children who walk behind us chanting “BBC! Rooney! Cup of tea!”
A villager in Alacapa makes their way home
By 9.30 am it is already well over 40 degrees. Back on the ship, we’re handed keys, cold towels and icy glasses of juice by the all-Burmese crew, who speak impressively good English and appear to have already memorised our names and room numbers. The rest of the day is lazy. As we glide along the river towards Mandalay, we’re shown how to grind tree bark into the ubiquitous thanaka cosmetic paste worn by nearly all women and girls, and learn how to wear a traditional longyi like a pro. Some chat to Dr Hla Tun about his work at Belmond’s free clinic in Bagan while others get tips from renowned travel photographer Sue Flood who spent years making wildlife documentaries with David Attenborough.
On our last full day, we drive the actual road to Mandalay, where life plays out on the roadside. Our guide, Thet points out the motorbike milkman placing green chili in his milk vats to stop the liquid fermenting in the heat, and the crowd of smartly-dressed girls waving tin boxes to attract donations for pagoda repairs. In the former capital Amarapura, Thet takes us behind the scenes to watch silkweavers spin jewel-coloured threads on colossal looms, and talented silversmiths who hammer shapeless bits of metal into dancing elephants and temple scenes.
Young monks
Skirting through the white-hot streets of Mandalay, our attention turns to the stonemason workshops of the marble quarter, where eerie faceless Buddha statues line the streets, destined for local pagodas. “Faces come last, once the stone carver has discussed the desired facial expression with the client,” says Thet, explaining how sculptors here are esteemed for an ability to convey emotion.
After touring the city we’re soon feeling emotional ourselves as we depart Mandalay on a ferry bound for our ship waiting downstream. Drifting past the temple-dotted hills of Sagaing, our last hours on the water are silent, broken only by the soft phut-phutting of teak-piled barges and the distant shouts of children throwing out fishing nets from tiny skiffs. Ox carts and water buffalos stand still on the sandbanks, silhouetted against the horizon, their work day at an end. We’re inching along so slowly, there’s time to absorb every detail.
The Governor’s Residence pool
The sun melts from gold to a weak watery pink, and I think about the river not just as a cruise destination, but as a lens through which so much of Myanmar’s history and culture can be gleaned. I’ll admit to some reservations about the leisurely pace of river cruising before I arrived, but this turned out to be the trip’s single most enjoyable pleasure. This is a country that reveals itself gently, and I feel immensely privileged to have witnessed its charms first-hand.
GETTING THERE
A five-night Belmond journey in Myanmar starts from £3,255pp. This includes a night in a deluxe garden view room at Belmond Governor’s Residence and a five-day/four-night cruise on Belmond Road to Mandalay from Bagan to Mandalay, calling at Mingun and the Sagaing Hill in a deluxe cabin. This includes transfers, excursions, table d’hôte meals on board and internal flights. Economy flights from London to Yangon with Thai Airways start from £935pp. Based on travel in October 2015. For more information visit Belmond.com or call 0845 077 2222.
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