On The Irrawaddy Aboard the Amara Jan 13 - 19

the Big Trip

Jan 18

Written By

Our delightful journey down the Irrawaddy on the beautiful Amara 2 was made even more wonderful by the company of four Swiss couples from the Zurich area. It was a perfect match of energy, interests and temperament. We look forward to meeting up with two of the couples soon in Bagan and seeing the others at some point either in Boston or Switzerland. The best travel souvenir one can hope for is the company of good people and making of new friends. In both regards we were extremely fortunate.The wonderful Amara crew attended to our every need while keeping us well fed with fabulous dishes made from locally sourced ingredients.The teak river boat has five cabins that open to spacious decks. Built only five years ago, it looks authentically old, but is perfectly modern in all the important places (hot showers and comfortable beds). David is (uncharacteristically) already planning our next voyage.

Every day we made a stop or two in small riverside villages to visit a pagoda or temple, or to watch the local craftspeople create their pottery or carvings or weavings. Each village had its own personality but we found warm smiles and friendly greetings at every stop.

Here are some images of the sights we saw.A Giant Buddha in the making. This rattan frame will be covered in plaster and gold leaf in the next building stage:

The world's largest hanging bronze bell without a crack:

The 7.4 magnitude earthquake here on November 11 destroyed many pagodas as well as damaging temples and other structures. Since most people near the epicenter live in one story woven bamboo houses they were spared, but not the new bridge that was going to span the river upstream from Mandalay. It partially collapsed but now is in the process of bring rebuilt.