By Boat to Bagan -1

Shortly before noon Kyaw Ngwe arrived, and we set off through downtown Mandalay to the jetty. We hadn’t seen any of the downtown area, and decided we hadn’t missed much. Got to the jetty, which again was colourful – not only lots of boats, but laundry all along the banks. I had a slight moment of concern at seeing a rusty tin roof on the boat, which looked considerably less attractive than in the photos. Of course I’d forgotten that the boats dock one behind the other, and so I could see the name of ours over the top of another old heap.

Another walk along the plank, and we were on the Paukan. Again welcomed with a cool drink, cool towels, and shown to our cabin which was very comfortable. Air conditioned, reasonable size shower room, and large sliding glass doors so that we had a great view.
We were welcomed with cocktails, by the Cruise director, who informed us that we didn’t have a full complement on board, which was good news, as we prefer smaller groups. In fact there was a party of about 12 German speaking Swiss, a similar group of French –a Canadian couple, and a British couple. We met the Canadian couple while waiting for lunch, and discovered they were from Toronto, living again not far from where I had once lived. We had lunch with them (buffet), and then the ship went upriver.