Myanmar day 6

Myanmar day 6 is a sightseeing day, the 9th century town wall, 11th, 12th and 13th century temples and stupas, some with intricate wall paintings of the same period. Bagan has a rich Buddhist history. We visit the golden stupa of Shwezigon Pagoda, the early Mon-style architectural beauty of Ananda Temple and its 9 metre high Buddhas, and Htilominlo Temple with its fine plaster carvings and glazed sandstone decorations. Wonderful stuff. Everywhere we go, we are inundated by mainly young girls selling a whole range of stuff, most of it beautifully hand-made local products and mementos. It is all good-natured and a bit of fun, we all buy something from time to time. For lunch, we walk through a village called East Pwasaw to the far corner where tables have been set up under a huge tamarind tree. Here we are served an excellent 4 course meal. On the way back, guide Kinky starts talking through the window to a family relaxing in their home, we are invited in. The old lady is 96, there with her three daughters, youngest 62. The men and younger women are working in the fields, the children are at school in West Pwasaw. The ladies are happy to talk to us with Kinky translating. This village is largely untouched by the modern world. Palm leaf roofs, timber houses and shelters, sand-like dusty pathways, and huge white oxen beligerently glaring at us. After lunch, we're off to a riverside pier and a cruise up the Irrawaddy in a narrow 8 seater boat with a lawn mower engine driving a propeller on the end of a long pole. We have tea and tamarind sweeties on-board. Then we drift back in the centre of the river which looks a mile wide. Very soothing. Lovely day. Off to the wilds of Shan State tomorrow. All the Best, John