My guest house had signs advertising a Sunset Boat Cruise on the Ayeyarwaddy River. I’d heard some positive things about it and was curious to see a little more of the area, as well as break up some of the temple time, so I signed up to go my second afternoon in Bagan. Great decision.
Steven, a resident of Sausalito, CA for most of the year, started the Renegade River Adventures as a way for visitors to see a different part of Bagan, and in the end help it improve. We were led down to the boat by an adorable kid from Myanmar who was Steven’s right hand man; three more Bagan teenagers rounded out the crew. The trip had four stops: the first and second were alright, but it was the third stop that left a lasting impression, and the fourth was just a pleasant way to end a great afternoon.
The first stop was at a temple and cave, where the most notable thing was not the place itself but the response Steven’s visits have gotten. This place used to be littered with trash, like a lot of Myanmar unfortunately is, but since he started bringing his boat trip here (the first to do so) people have taken on the task of keeping the land clean. Now they’ve built a road to access the cave – this is when I heard Steven refer to the new tourists arriving in buses as “air-conditioned tourists,” a term I thought was quite fitting – and a few people have popped up to sell trinkets. The second stop was at a beach for swimming. They set up chairs on the sand and we chatted with beer (sold on the boat by the boys).
The third stop was at a village. Steven’s trip is the only one that visits this particular village, and he is friends with all its residents. As we approached he cut the motor and told us a little about what was about to happen: we each received a lunch box full of oranges and a laminated picture. This village only eats what it grows, and it doesn’t grow any citrus, so there is a hole in the people’s diets. Kids love the oranges and now know that we will be bringing them; we were allowed to hand them out as we saw fit but had to come back to the boat sans oranges.
The picture was a person in the village we had to find. The people who live there have no pictures, of themselves or their families, so Steven collects the pictures that tourists take, prints them out, and then asks the next visitors to bring them to the person so they have a picture of themselves, and in order for the cycle to continue we had to take pictures of people while we were there.
I was unsure what to think of this when I was handed my picture, but as soon as I got off the boat and was surrounded by kids who wanted to show me the way to my guy I was wholly on board. I had three little escorts to find Uzo, in exchange for oranges of course, and once I reached his house I realized he was ready for me. He ushered me in to sit down and promptly placed steaming hot corn on the cob in front of me. He motioned to eat. He grabbed another tourist off the street to join us – Filip- and motioned for him to eat too. He also gave us peanuts with tea leaves and poured us hot tea. We used hand signals and a few words to communicate. He showed me his old Burmese currency and I gave him a US one dollar bill, which he tucked into his shirt pocket. He gave me a Burmese cigar. He showed us through pantomime that his wife was out harvesting peanuts like the ones we were eating. His son joined us, 7 years old, in school, and asked if I would like thanakha – a paste made from tree bark that is worn all over Myanmar for healthy skin and sun protection. He took me upstairs to apply some, and they showed us their altar to Buddha. I took pictures of them together, and they asked for a picture of me with the boy. I have never had an interaction with a local family like this. I was touched.
Filip needed to find his guy so we said goodbyes and thank you’s all around. I hope whoever gets Uzo’s picture that I took has as positive an experience as I did with him. More people helped us find Phillip’s person, and after an exchange of photos we had to head back to the boat, but not before we were stopped by another man who ushered us into his home to meet his family and have more corn and peanuts and tea leaves. They already had another pair of tourists there too. A teenage girl pointed to the ring on my finger, one of the two I got at the St. Kilda market in Melbourne, so I put it on her finger. She put hers on mine, and that’s how we left it. Every time I look at my left hand I am reminded of the kind spirit of the people in this village. It was an incredible experience that I was sad to leave, but the time had come to get back on the boat. Sunset was almost here.
We ended our day on a little sand island watching the sun sink into the river, Filip and I puffing on our gifted Burmese cigars. It was beautiful (even more than over the temples) and a perfect end to the day.
The next day I stopped by the local photo shop, Linn, and copied the pictures I had taken into the folder “Steven.” I hope they bring some joy to the people I met like they brought joy to me.
Travel Abrodge 