By Boat to Bagan

We arrived at the jetty in Mandalay before the sun rose for this trip on the Shwe Keinnery down the Ayeyarwady River to Bagan.

The trip was scheduled for 8-10 hours, but in fact took 10.5 hours.

Pic below shows a view of the jetty at Mandalay from the departing boat.

Homes along the river, arising through the morning mist.

Sunrise

Not long after sunrise, we reached Sagaing Hill, which we visited a couple of days before.

There are two bridges there, the newer Yadanabon (or Irrawady) Bridge built in 2008 and faintly in the background the older British built Inwa (also known as Ava) Bridge.

Another view of the two bridges taken from Sagaing Hill when we were up there.

Sagaing Hill, the meditation centre and the numerous pagodas there.

A long leisurely day, and time to catch up on her holiday diary in the canteen.

At the township of Myinmu, we stopped to pick up a couple of passengers.  There is no jetty here and the boat nosed up to the shore and embarkation is via a plank.

We stopped alongside this boat delivering and picking up produce.

Locals trying to sell us bananas.  The wearing of a bunch of bananas as a hat seem to be quite common here.

The pics below show the tourist saying good-bye to his guide; his porter going up the plank; a local passenger and then the tourist himself boarding the boat.  Note the crew members with the hand-held handrail.

Some pics of the Shwe Keinnery

The air-conditioned interior wasn't very popular.

Lunch was included in the fare (as was breakfast).

Pakkoku Bridge, the longest in the country.

Pakokku was also a disembarkation point for passengers.  A bit of the bridge can be seen in the top right hand corner.

Finally, arrival at exciting Bagan after sunset.  A long day on the river.