And then to the same silver shop we had been in before, but this time we weren’t so tired and hungry, and I found a pair of earrings. But we did realise, even with a group of only 18 people why we preferred having our own guide, rather than being in a group, as we had to wait while other people did more shopping.

Back to the ship for lunch, again buffet style, with some good curries.

In the afternoon we cruised, and then stopped at Yandabo, a pottery making village, where we again joined the French group. It was very hot and incredibly dusty as we walked into the village. It was here that we began to realise just how pre-industrial much of Myanmar is. Everything in the pottery making is done by hand – the pots are formed on a wheel driven by 'people energy’ - a child or an older person pushes the pedal to make the wheel turn. Designs and shaping are done by hand, by women sitting cross legged and slapping the pot with a kind of paddle to impress the design. There are no kilns – the pots are piled up in the hundreds and covered with straw, which is set to burn – after several days of burning and smouldering, they are considered to be ready. Needless to say, there is a fair amount of breakage.

 Firing  pots in a fire.

 Grandfather powered wheel.

While talking to the guide we discovered more about life in Myanmar – that people must normally sleep in their own houses and need special permission to stay overnight somewhere else. Also that in a kind of pyramid structure, each village has a ‘head’ who keeps track of what people are doing, and reports upward, to someone representing the local region, then the wider region, etc.

Some of the French people had brought material for the school, and so we went in and met the school master, although by now the children were on holiday. A very simple school, of course, with only two rooms. We also talked again about not giving money directly to the children – the cruise director had been very insistent about this, as they go up and down making the same stops, and don’t want children dependent on gifts from tourists. We did feel that we would like to give something to the village, having spent an hour there, but didn’t find a way to do this.

Back for dinner, again good, and then for a talk about Myanmar customs, and a lesson on longyi wearing. (Harry had been wearing his quite a lot, as he found it cooler than normal trousers, but no one else on the ship was. I also wore mine, but of course it was easier as it had tie strings.) Quite amusing, and then off to bed.