In search of an Empire.Siam,Burma and Singapore.

[Austff]

congratulations on your 10000th post & this excellent TR

 

[OATEK]

congratulations on your 10000th post & this excellent TR

10,000 posts - quite an effort. Congratulations.

 

[RooFlyer]

Putting in a blistering posting pace, dr.ron

He's trying to take your TR crown .

I sit at dr.ron (and mrs.dr.ron's ) feet when it comes to TRs.



And sunsets.

Congrats on 10,000 very enjoyable posts!

 

[amaroo]

Well done on 10,000 posts and another fabulous TR!

 

[drron]

Not as great a sunset tonight-

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So a new day and a very important one-my birthday.Turned out to be a fabulous day but you will have to wait for that.Some more river scenes-

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[drron]

Not sure if this has ant significance-

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But here are examples of oxen's worth.Collecting the village water and ploughing the fields-

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Note the solar panelon what appears to be just a bench-

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[drron]

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We then came to a stretch of the river where gravel extraction was the gnce again noticeable that men were great supervisors and women were doing the hard work-

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[drron]

Back to the pagodas-

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Finally we arrived at Gwechaung village where it would be an oxcart ride to the fort of the same name.This was meant to be hard to spot from the river so that when the British came up to attack the Min Hla fort on the opposite side of the river their ships would be sitting ducks.The forts were built in 1860 after the end of the second Anglo-Burmese war.The king was sure there would be round 3.However the king made 2 mistakes.The first was hiring French and Italian architects to design the fort.This lead to the second mistake.There was no protection to the rear which was exactly where the British attacked.It was all over Red Rover by the end od day 1.
So we were told that it was going to be a very dusty and rough ride so mrsdrron decided to stay on board.I set off determined to find the biggest oxen-

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Mrsdrron caught the moment I made my decision and hopped on a cart-

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I hopped on a cart driven by a woman.Didn't worry me as I felt she would probably be stronger than the men.She certainly was experienced and knew every rock in the road and proceeded with hitting every one of them.You may just notice that I was wearing what turned out to be very wise-a surgical mask!So off I went-

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Mrsdrron got a couple of shots of river life whist I was away-

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Now would you wash your clothes in that water?

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Now would you wash your clothes in that water?

If I had no other choice...

 

[drron]

Well just don't take your clean washing back to the village on an ox cart-

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At one stage the oxen behind got close enough to lick my crocs.And here is my beautiful driver-

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So some of the views and the fort-

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[drron]

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A refinery across the river-

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[love_the_life]

Did I miss somewhere where you said how long the river cruise was? It seems to be quite a long and in-depth one.

 

[drron]

Yes being concise is not my forte.It was a 12 day cruise and I am up to day 7.
A couple of big days in Yangon has slowed the posting rate.2030 here and I am struggling to keep awake.
Off to Singapore tomorrow.

 

[love_the_life]

Thanks for the info drron. I was interested to hear the length of the cruise as I know some of them are only 7 days. I was a bit slack and could have looked up the cruise on the Belmond site (it is Belmond I think).

 

[drron]

Definitely a Belmond cruise.
Now back to the pictorial with more of the fort-

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The oxen were waiting-

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Those were ventilation for the elephants underneath.And where the English attacked-

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And where they kept the elephants-

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Now I was going to walk down but having gone off by myself I missed the call so another ox cart ride for me.Whilst I was taking these last 2 shots 3 young fellows were laughing and pointing at me.I turned around.Two young women were walking towards me and I realised the reason for the mirth.The woman in front was my driver.The women behind was pointing at her then me.Nothing for it than hopping up on the same oxcart for the journey back to the boat.We were the reason for great mirth through the village.

 

[drron]

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When we got back to the boat I was able to talk to my driver with the aid of one of the crew.She was in her 30s with a 10 year old child.Her husband had died.So for the ribbing she got I gave her 5000K.She deserved it.Made her day.
So now pictures of the fort from the boat.It certainly did blend in with the surroundings-

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We then moved across the river for our dinner at the Min Hla fort.A few views of the other bank-

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Had to wait whilst people finished their bathing and washing-

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Again this lady is demonstrating a womans bath.It is done in your dirty longhi.When finished you pull a clean longhi over the old one then remove the old.So simple.
Now ready for our dinner

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[drron]

So now a bit of a lesson on Myanmar.Over the last 2 days we had lectures on the culture,ethnic minorities and health.
First in Burma sex before marriage is frowned upon.It was put that the Burmese only have 100% sex after married but often 30-40% sex before.Not sure what that really meant.
Although the minimum wage is set at 4000K per day-$US4 per day that only applies to the public service and some hospitality jobs.57% of the community earn their income from farming and most get less than 4000K.As well land is still being compulsorily acquired by the Government often without compensation.Unless you have connections the compensation is set at 1954 prices even though the kyat has been significantly devalued since then.

60-65% of income is spent on food.14% of households have an electric stove,12% a fridge,10% an electric pot,5% a gas stove,10% a water boiler.94% have no tap water.But even if you do have a tap the water quality is woeful.Yangon's water regularly grows coliforms and V.cholera.
20% of children dying before age 5 do so of a diarrhoeal illness.

Belmond has been operating the Road to Mandalay for ~ 20 years and the Orcaella for 12 months.They have built 18 school buildings and renovated 6.Funds from Orcaella pax are now equipping those schools.
They have set up a Not For Profit Health Clinic in Bagan which sees up to 300 patients a day.Local monks supply lunch.The doctors on board do clinics in the villages visited.Specific problems-lead toxicity from glazing pots,multiresistant Tb and iodine deficiency in the north.Eye problems are common but whilst we were at Sagaing a team from Sydnet arrive-this occurs at least 4 times a year with at least 1 Opthalmic surgeon.

So again forget the Generals.The situation here really is not that much different to Laos,Cambodia and even Vietnam and Thailand who just hide it better.Tourism will certainly change the country and often for the worse as far as the tourist is concerned but the average citizen will be able to lead a better though not necessarily a happier life.

 

[drron]

So to my birthday dinner.The first I have had in a fort and definitely the first being greeted this way-

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The chef and her team was waiting to prepare the feast.The venue was ready and the locals have all turned out-

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[drron]

First of all there were some local dancers.Then this woman with her K-ball.This is actually an event at the S.E.Asian games and this lady is the gold medallist.Absolutely incredible.I do have videos but they have all uploaded sideways.If anyone knows how to right them from my pictures please let me know.

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Drron and friends are in awe-

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The musicians began playing-

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And the cake arrives-

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PS worked out I can edit in Youtube so all OK.

 

[drron]

[video=youtube_share;nMcNe-V9p8Q]http://youtu.be/nMcNe-V9p8Q[/video]



So trying my skill at posting from You Tube.This is the young woman with amazing ball skills.May not embed but at least gives the links.