Saturday 11/5/2016 - Monywa: Laykyun Setkyar, Thanboddhay Pagoda, Boarding the RV Zawgyi Pandaw for our Chindwin River Cruise

We woke up at 5:30 a.m., ready to embark on the next leg of this adventure. So far, we had been on the well-worn (by Myanmar standards, anyway) tourist track. But today we would be starting the exploratory portion. We would be taking a river cruise on the remote Chindwin River. Our group would be Toni's first clients to experience this newly-opened itinerary, and there was something really intriguing about that. Todd Rundgren comes to mind: "Lord, you've got me strung out on Eastern intrigue."

We assumed that we wouldn't have internet connectivity for the duration of the cruise, so we made a final Facebook post while we packed.

We went up to the dining room for breakfast at 8:00, and enjoyed the buffet. We had bread pudding, bacon, sausage, pound cake, noodles, coffee and juice. We ran into Toni, who was wearing one of the beautiful silk outfits she had purchased yesterday. After a quick breakfast, we checked out and left the hotel at 8:30.

As we left Mandalay, we stopped at a stationery store to buy pens and notebooks to donate to rural schools while on our river cruise.

It was a several hour drive to Monywa, our port of embarkation. We drove along the Irrawaddy River, and saw what appeared to be a large shipping port. We could see the lumber industry in action as piles of logs were stacked on the shore or traveling the river on barges. We saw a train cross in front of us and wondered if we would be delayed at the crossing. It was only a single car long, so, that wasn't a problem.

We made several brief sightseeing stops on the way to Monywa. The first was in the village of Khatakan Taung. We passed half a dozen Brahma bull carts of schoolgirls who smiled and waved and called Mingalaba.

We could see an incredibly tall standing Buddha towering above the landscape. As we drew closer, we saw a similarly scaled reclining Buddha statue. And a third, seated Buddha, was under construction.

A small gilded pagoda called Aung Sakkya Pagoda was built here in 1979. The reclining Buddha, at a length of 95 meters, was built in the early 1990's, and the 125-meter tall standing Buddha, Laykyun Setkyar was completed in 2008. Apparently, people can go up to the top of the standing Laykyun Setkyar Buddha, either by stairs or eventually by an as-yet-unfinished elevator. But we didn't have time to do that, so we settled for snapping a few photos from afar.

We stopped at a vantagepoint from which we could view the statues, but we only had a few minutes to spend at the site. Mg Han Tha Rai Tun helped Craig off of the bus and down the uneven path which led down to the restroom. He was so good to Craig that we wanted to remember him, so I got a photo of the two of them in front of the Buddhas.

As we drove back to the main road, we passed the neighboring Maha Bodhi Tataung, also known as "1000 Bodhi trees, 1000 Buddhas" forest. This forest was established in 1960 by Sayadaw U Narada, and contains a thousand Buddha statues lined up in rows in the shade of Bodhi (banyan) trees. I snapped a few photos from the van. Again, we would have liked to explore this further if we had the time.

After that, we stopped at Thanboddhay Pagoda. This was unlike any pagoda we had seen thus far. Its exterior was painted in pastel colors: pink and yellow walls with gilded spires. It looked both fanciful and cheerful, especially against a background of sunny blue sky and cottonball white clouds. Some of the smaller stupas were adorned with carved flowers which looked like colored icing decorating a large, frilly cake. The closer we got to the pagoda, we saw that what we initially mistook for stripes on the tower walls are actually rows upon rows of tiny white Buddha statues!

The temple dates back to 1303, but was reconstructed in 1939. It is maintained by local farmers. Donating a Buddha statue to a temple is a merit-making activity. Although there are large Buddha statues donated by the wealthy, the majority of the Buddha statue offerings in this temple were contributed by poor farmers. The sprawling, maze-like temple has tiny Buddha statues adorning every bit of wallspace possible. The claim that there are half a million Buddhas in this temple (582,363 to be exact) seems credible when standing there, looking at the dizzying rows of tiny statues, repeating, infinitely, like fractals.

A Burmese lady approached Toni and me and shyly shook our hands. She and her friends were giggling and smiling. I asked to take their photo and they were quite excited to see it. Then they posed with us and a young man took a photo on one of their iPhones. We enjoyed meeting them.

The pagoda was massive inside, and we kept winding our way into various chambers. Zaw eventually had to come and collect Craig and me as we were working our way back, because it was time to go. Again, lovely site, but we were rushed and would have liked to have had more time to explore.

We got to Monywa at around 11:30 a.m. We said goodbye and thank you to our driver and attendant. Zaw escorted us to our boat, and we thanked him for everything and said goodbye. We had really enjoyed our time with him, and we had learned a lot from his expertise.

In order to board the boat, we climbed down and embankment and crossed a barge to which our boat was moored. Above us on shore was a large boat which was being used as a house. Laundry hung in the windows.

We boarded the RV Zawgyi Pandaw. It shares its name with Zawgyi, the mythical alchemist who was familiar to us from the marionette show on our first night in Yangon.

The history of this cruise on the Chindwin River goes back to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, a Scottish-owned fleet of ships founded in Burma in 1865. It was once one of the largest privately owned fleets in the world. The fleet contained over 600 vessels at the start of World War II. They carried passengers and goods on the Irrawaddy and its tributaries (including the Chindwin).

But when the Japanese invaded the area in 1942, the Company scuttled the 600 vessels in the fleet. This would prevent them from falling into Japanese hands, and would also impede Japanese progress on the rivers where they lay sunken.

In 1995, Paul and Roser Strachan revived the Company, and began offering the first Irrawaddy river cruises since the country's independence. The Chindwin is an especially tricky river for cruises to navigate. 1,000 kilometers of this main tributary of the Irrawaddy are only accessible to boaats with exremely shallow drafts. Our Zawgi Pandaw has a jaw-droppingly shallow 2.5 foot draft! Its design is based on classic Company boats of the 1880's. The boat was refurbished in 2014, and has only run this route a handful of times.

The lovely ship is 125 feet long by 29 feet wide. There are upper and lower cabins which can accommodate 20 guests.

Our route on the Chindwin River

Our route on the Chindwin River


We met ship's purser Win and our tour guide San Win ("Sandro"). They gave us a cool towel and a cold glass of grape juice to welcome us to the ship. We sat on the comfortable upper deck lounge area at the stern. The upper deck also contained an open air dining room, a bar, crew quarters, wheelhouse, and several guest cabins. Downstairs, there were guest cabins and an indoor library/movie room.

Win and Sandro explained the cruise to us. All food and drinks are included. We were surprised and delighted to learn that this included locally produced alcohol, such as Myanmar beer and local rums. Imported alcoholic drinks including wine were available for purchase. This was great news for Craig and myself.

Each day would start wih breakfast followed by a morning excursion. We would return to the boat for lunch, siesta, and we would go on an afternoon excursion. We would come back to the boat for "happy hour" (appetizers and a daily special cocktail). Win would then tell us the details of the next days' excursions. We would eat dinner, and do it all again the next day.

We were the first seven guests to arrive out of twelve. We would eventually learn that we had 14 crew. Being outnumbered by the crew meant that the service was exquisite! We were given our cabin assignments and went to get settled. All of the rooms were the same, but location is important on a boat. Since the boat wasn't full, some of the passengers originally booked in a cabin near the noisy engines got a complimentary upgrade to a better location.

Our cabin was #104 on the center of lower deck, starboard side. It was spacious and comfortable, with two beds pushed together and a spacious private bathroom. The bathroom didn't feel ship-like, but, not surprisingly, it didn't have a bathtub. We noted the air conditioning unit, and the fact that it was quite powerful. We would be able to keep it nice and cool for Craig. Since heat can trigger his MS symptoms, this is always a concern.

We went back to the upper deck to sit and relax with a drink. We stopped in to the bar, which was an indoor area open to the deck with sets of doors. There was a wet bar, and we had been told to help ourselves. But before we could ever do so, one of the crew would appear and insist on serving us. Craig and Al each ordered a Myanmar beer. I needed something cold but wasn't yet ready for alcohol, so I had a Sprite. The bar area also housed a coffee and tea station, a library of books about Myanmar for guests to peruse while onboard, and a selection of board games.

A party of four guests arrived soon after we did. We would later learn that they were Bob and his wife Bets from Florida by way of New Jersey, and Eda and Barbara, friends who live near one another in Paris. There was still one more passenger expected, but her flight had been delayed and she wouldn't be arriving until the evening. Though we would be sleeping on the boat tonight, it would be moored here in Monywa. We wouldn't be setting sail until tomorrow morning. So she had plenty of time to arrive.

When it was time for lunch, one of the crewman hit a gong to signal that food was ready. There was a lovely buffet, consisting of salads, deviled eggs, sweet corn soup with fresh baguette, pork with peppers (so delicious!), mushrooms, and fish. They explained that this was the only day that we would have a buffet for lunch. Most meals are plated with a choice of entree, but since we had just arrived and therefore couldn't order ahead of time, they offered a buffet instead. Starting now, they circulated a menu at mealtime during which you ordered your entree for the next meal. The dinner menu was quite mouth-watering.

Apparently, there had been a misunderstanding about today's itinerary. While we were moored here in Monywa, the planned afternoon excursion was a trip to Laykyun Setkyar and Thanboddhay Pagoda. But our group had visited these on our own this morning. We hadn't had enough time there, as we were in a hurry to get here...to go back there? Even though we wanted more time there, the thought of riding the bus all the way back again in the heat of the afternoon wasn't very tempting. Win and Sandro, when they realized what had happened, came up with a spontaneous alternate solution. On the way to bring the other guests to Khatakan Taung, Sandro and the driver could drop us at the market in Monywa. We could explore at our leisure, and then walk back to the boat.

The rest of the group took them up on the offer, but it was just too hot for us to do so. Also, for the past week, we had been going pretty much non-stop. We saw this as a nice opportunity to just relax and enjoy some quiet time. While the others went on excursions, we sat in lounge chairs at the stern of the boat. Craig enjoyed another Myanmar beer, and I sipped a refreshing glass of pineapple juice with light rum. Other boats were moored here, and we enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of the various crews. Kids played on the barge next to us, chasing one another and giggling. A man on the barge tinkered with some engine parts.

As the afternoon progressed, the angle of the sun eventually reached our deck chairs. The sun was uncomfortably hot, so we retreated to our cabin, cranked the air conditioning, and rested while looking at the digital photos from the trip thus far.

The others returned from their excursions, and we met them on the upper deck for happy hour at 6:30. At 7 o'clock, Win gathered all of the passengers and explained tomorrow's program (he said that there would be monkeys at our first stop!)

It started to rain, and the upper deck was getting a little wet. They decided to serve dinner in the library / movie room so that the rain wouldn't blow onto us from the open sides of the deck while we ate. Luckily, the library was air conditioned, since we didn't have the outdoor breeze.

The final member of our cruise party had arrived: Sara, a cruise writer, from Britain. She sat next to us and we enjoyed chatting with her. The meal was delicious, and the presentation was exquisite.

  • Myanmar style tomato salad
  • Cream of mushroom soup and freshly baked bread
  • Tofu curry with steamed rice
  • Chocolate brownie

Although we had only been on board for a few hours, we were incredibly impressed by the attentiveness, professionalism, and hospitality of the crew. This was going to be an amazing adventure, but with comfort as well.

After dinner, we retired to our cabins. Although we didn't have internet access to post our daily updates to Facebook, I nonetheless typed up our adventures on a daily basis so that I could upload them when we returned to Yangon.





Laykyun Setkyar



Thanboddhay Pagoda



Monywa
Friendly schoolgirls

Friendly schoolgirls

Laykyun Setkyar

Laykyun Setkyar

Craig and his buddy, bus attendant Mg Han Tha Rai Tun

Craig and his buddy, bus attendant Mg Han Tha Rai Tun

Thanboddhay Pagoda

Thanboddhay Pagoda

Local women who befriended Toni and me

Local women who befriended Toni and me

Every surface in Thanboddhay Pagoda is lined with tiny white Buddhas

Every surface in Thanboddhay Pagoda is lined with tiny white Buddhas

Every surface in Thanboddhay Pagoda is lined with tiny white Buddhas

Every surface in Thanboddhay Pagoda is lined with tiny white Buddhas

Saying goodbye to Zaw

Saying goodbye to Zaw

 R/V Zawgyi Pandaw

R/V Zawgyi Pandaw

Boat selfie

Boat selfie

Our guide Sandro and ship's purser Win

Our guide Sandro and ship's purser Win

Cha Kwa (cheers)

Cha Kwa (cheers)

Boats moored near us in Monywa

Boats moored near us in Monywa

See more pictures from this day


Previous Day Trip Overview



Back to Craig and Steph's Vacations
Next day

Read our guest book   Guest book Sign our guest book
Please send any questions or comments to steph@craigandstephsvacations.com
All photographs and text copyright 1996-Present www.craigandstephsvacations.com except where noted.