Myanmar (March 10)

Today was a short tour as the ship was scheduled to depart mid-afternoon.  So it was on the bus and off a short distance to Thanlyin.

Our first stop was the Bon Pyon Monastery. It was build entirely of teak over 100 years ago.  The precarious angle of one of the towers suggested that the monks needed some new teak, a lot of bamboo scaffolding and a good carpenter. 

Our next stop was the town's market, a combination of indoor and outdoor stalls providing a wide range of products and services.  It was a lot of fun to wander around.  There was no staging for tourists.  This was a genuine insight into the commerce of Thanlyin.

Outside the market waiting for the next part of our tour, we watched the traffic, at times surprised and amused at what was carried on the motorbikes.

All aboard trishaws.  We each got into one for a ride along some of the roads that skirted the center of town.   It was fun, but there was not much of interest along the route.

Dismounting the trishaws, we walked several blocks to visit a Hindi temple.

We continued our walk.

Our next conveyance was a horse-drawn cart.  The driver let Pam take the reins.  He did no speak a single word of English.  Pam did not speak Burmese.  The got along famously, in part because he and I had no problem communicating.  He made Pam happy by letting her drive the cart, I made him happy with a big tip.  I was happy because Pam was happy.  Everyone was happy. Well, probably not the horse.

I had suspected it during the trishaw ride, but any lingering doubt evaporated during the cart ride.  Whatever entertainment we were deriving from touring the town was second to the amusement the locals were enjoying from watching us.

We returned to the ship and rode the ebbing tide down the river.

Once again, we passed a number of these fishing vessels, some empty and others so full they appeared to have floundered.

Next port of call is Penang, Malaysia.