My Travels in Pictures

  • Exploring the World
    • Uganda – the Pearl of Africa
      • Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale
      • Queen Elizabeth National Park & the Kazinga Channel
      • Exploring Queen Elizabeth NP on land
      • Mountain Gorillas – Trek 1 – Habinyanja Family
      • Mountain Gorillas – Trek 2 – Oruzogo Group
      • Mountain Gorillas – Trek 3 – Muyambi Group
    • New York City – a small bite of the big apple
    • Kenya & the Great Migration
      • The Amazing Ololo Safari Lodge
      • Nairobi National Park – a treasure on the edge of the city
      • Sheldrick Nursery & the Giraffe Centre
      • A first glimpse of the amazing Masai Mara
      • A very full day in the Mara
      • A day in (and above) the Mara Triangle
      • Helicopter Day
      • Big cats and the Masai village of Andasikr
      • Saying khwaheri to the Mara and habari to Samburu
      • A very special day in Samburu
      • A photoshoot with Samburu warriors
    • Delhi & the Wildlife of India
      • A Walking Tour of Old Delhi
      • Exploring just a few of Delhi’s many monuments
      • 3 Days in Kazaranga
      • Satpura – in search of Sloth Bears
      • Bandhavgarh – Time for tigers!
    • Myanmar and the Alluring Irrawaddy
      • Day 1 – Yangon’s Circular Railway
      • Day 2 – Touring Yangon
      • Day 3 – On the Irrawaddy River – Bhamo & the 2nd Defile
      • Day 4 – Kyun Daw & Katha
      • Day 5 – Katha & Tigyang
      • Day 6 – Kya Hnyat & Kottet Orphanage
      • Day 7 – Kyauk Myaung
      • Day 8 – Mingun & the U-Bein Bridge
      • Day 9 – Mandalay
      • Day 10 – Sagaing
      • Day 11 – Shwe Pyi Thar & a Puppet Show
      • Day 12 – Magical Bagan
      • Day 13 & 14 – Back in Yangon
      • Heading home – a layover trip to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu
    • Cruising the Adriatic – a trip from Venice to Rome
      • Venice – Part 1 – a city like no other
      • Venice – Part 2 – exploring off the beaten path
      • Venice – Part 3 – On the beaten path
      • Slovenia – Vintgar Gorge, Lake Bled & Koper
      • Croatia – Plitvice Lakes from Zadar
      • Croatia – Dubrovnik
      • Kotor, Montenegro
      • Malta – Valetta & the Three Cities
      • Malta – a road trip to the Blue Grotto & Marsaxlokk
      • Sicily – Taormina & the slopes of Mount Etna
      • Capri, Italy
    • Galapagos Islands – Central & East
      • Quito, Ecuador
      • Tandayapa Cloud Forest – Birds, birds & more birds
      • Galapagos Islands – Baltra & Mosquera Islet
      • Galapagos Islands – Seymour Norte & Plaza Sur
      • Galapagos Islands – Sombrero Chino & Rabida
      • Galapagos Islands – Puerto Egas & Bucanero Cove
      • Galapagos Islands – Caleta Tortuga Negra & Santa Cruz Highlands
      • Plaza Sur (Take 2) & Santa Fe
      • Galapagos – Punta Pitt, La Galapaguera, San Cristobal & NY Eve
    • Victoria Falls, Chobe (Botswana) & Cape Town – an African Photo Safari
      • Victoria Falls
      • Pangolin Better Wildlife Photography Course on the Chobe River
      • EarthArk Mobile Safari – Savuti
      • EarthArk Mobile Safari – Khwai Conservancy – Part 1 of 2
      • EarthArk Mobile Safari – Khwai – Part 2 of 2
      • EarthArk Mobile Safari – The Okavango Delta – Moremi & the Xini Lagoon
      • Capetown – Kirstenbosch & the Bo-Kaap
      • Cape Town – Muizenberg, Kalk Bay & Boulders Beach
      • Cape Town – Betty’s Bay and Stellenbosch
    • Falkland Islands, South Georgia & Antarctica
      • A trip to the end of the earth – Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica–Explorers & Kings
      • Ushuaia–Fin del Mundo
      • Ushuaia–Day 2
      • Waiting for my ship to come in…
      • Come sail away…
      • Day #1 & 2 – En route to the Falklands
      • Day #3 – West Point Island & Saunders Island, The Falklands
      • Day # 4 – Stanley–more British than Britain
      • Day # 7 – Right Whale Bay & Salisbury Plain–Kings, kings & more kings
    • Iceland – the land of fire and ice
      • Iceland – Day 1 – Arriving & Reykjavik
      • Iceland – Day 2
      • Iceland – Day 3
      • Iceland – Day 4 – The Blue Lagoon
      • Iceland – Day 5 -South Coast
      • Iceland – Day 6 – Northern Lights & Jokulsarlon
      • Iceland – Day 7 – Time to head home
  • Closer to Home
    • Fall Colours 2019
    • Sound of Light 2019 – Greece
    • Sound of Light 2019 – Italy
    • Sound of Light 2019 – Chile
    • Bonnechere Cave & Fourth Chute Falls
    • Fall colours, rapids & waterfalls
    • Casino du Lac Leamy 2016 Fireworks Finale
This post is part of a series called Myanmar 2018
Show More Posts
  • Day 1 – Yangon’s Circular Railway
  • Day 2 – Touring Yangon
  • Day 3 – On the Irrawaddy River – Bhamo & the 2nd Defile
  • Day 4 – Kyun Daw & Katha
  • Day 5 – Katha & Tigyang
  • Day 6 – Kya Hnyat & Kottet Orphanage
  • Day 7 – Kyauk Myaung
  • Day 8 – Mingun & the U-Bein Bridge
  • Day 9 – Mandalay
  • Day 10 – Sagaing
  • Day 11 – Shwe Pyi Thar & a Puppet Show
  • Day 12 – Magical Bagan
  • Day 13 & 14 – Back in Yangon
  • Heading home – a layover trip to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu

Up early again for sunrise.  Every morning they’d see me out there and without my asking would bring me a ginger tea.  One morning I was up top and they still found me!  Amazing service.

At first light, we set sail for the small village of Shwe Pyi Thar.

Some scenes from the riverbank…

Getting the sugar cane ready for transport

We arrived in Shwe Pyi Thar and once again our arrival interrupted the ladies doing their laundry.  I’m going to print this picture and hang it in my laundry room as a reminder that, as much as I hate doing laundry, it’s just not that bad.

I love these big trees at the river’s edge…

The village of Shwe Pyi Thar is known for it’s palm candy, which is made from the sap of the tall toddy (Asian Palmyra) palm.  The first step is to collect the sap by climbing the tree on a ladder made of bamboo.

It’s a long way up, these palm trees can reach a height of just under 100 feet.

Once at the top, the bucket placed there the night before is removed, a new “branch” is cut and an empty pot to collect the sap is hung.

He’d done this before!

the sap of the toddy palm

This pig wasn’t bothered by any of it…

This village was very small and it felt like we were far away from civilization once again.

This little one wasn’t sure what to make of us…

These are the pots that the sap is cooked in…

The fire is build inside this fire pit and the pots are placed over the holes.  Once the liquid thickens it’s cooled and formed by hand into small pieces of palm candy.  It’s very sweet and a the texture is reminiscent of maple candy.

As always, we were being “watched” by the locals…

These ladies were making their loan payments to the “banker”.  A lot of cash sitting around, again, you wouldn’t see that at home.

This is the game of carrom.  The object of the game is to sink all 9 of your disks followed by the red one (the queen).  The larger white disk acts as the cue ball (the striker); instead of a cue the finger is used to hit the striker.  Looks like this game was almost over…

It was a continual surprise to me that some of these boats actually float…

Back on the river, we passed under the Pakokku Bridge.  Opened in January 2012 the 3.4km long bridge is the longest over the Irrawaddy and in Myanmar.  This rail and road bridge is part of the 1360 km long India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway which will ultimately connect the three countries by road.

Late in the afternoon we were approaching our final destination of Bagan.  The 50 square km “Bagan Archaeological Zone” contains remnants of around 2,000 monasteries, stupas, temples and shrines, most of which date back to the 11th to 13th centuries when Bagan was the capital of Burma.

These tour boats were heading out on the river to watch the sunset.

This lot were all being taken out from the Scenic Aura.  In the background you can see one of Bagan’s largest temples, the Gawdawpalin Temple, which was built from 1138 to 1211.

These next two pictures demonstrate the tenacity of the Burmese people.  As he was lifting the full pails of water, the bamboo pole snapped in half.

Less than 2 minutes later, a new piece of bamboo was found and put into use, and he was on his way…

We didn’t need to leave our boat to go out to see the sunset.  We had a pretty good view of it from our top deck.

After the sunset, the sky took on a beautiful colour with a few clouds for added effect.

After dinner we were treated to a traditional puppet show.  The Burmese marionettes are complex, with many strings, and each is controlled by one puppeteer.

the Horse
the Monkey

the Buffoon

The Prince and the Princess

These 2 ladies were our puppeteers and this gives you an idea of the size of the puppets.  They’re made from solid wood weigh up to 10 pounds!  Just look at the forearm of the lady in blue!

And after the show, a backstage shot of the marionettes just hanging around…

Related

  • Avalon
  • Bagan
  • Irrawaddy
  • Marionettes
  • Myanmar
  • Palm Candy
  • Puppet Show
  • Shwe Pyi Thar

Related Posts

  • Day 10 – Sagaing

    December 27, 2018February 23, 2019
  • Day 9 – Mandalay

    December 26, 2018February 23, 2019
  • Day 8 – Mingun & the U-Bein Bridge

    December 25, 2018March 17, 2019

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  Day 10 – Sagaing
Day 12 – Magical Bagan  

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Recent Comments

  • Joyce:

    Super shots of Prince Rupert ...looks like a wonderful place
  • Joyce:

    Thanks for sharing your wonder experience and the photos
  • Joyce Benham:

    Thank you and keep those photos coming ...amazing
  • Kathy Preston:

    Thanks Joyce - this trip was with Wild-Eye .
  • Joyce Benham:

    Wow you certainly got a trip of a life time

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