Princess Panhwar Day 10: Akauk Cliffs & Myanaung

We sailed down the Awarwaddy Delta yesterday. At the cliffs of the Akauk Mountain foothills the Captain slowed the boat and then did a complete "u" turn to give us a photo opportunity. Carved into the limestone cliff face were over 300 Buddha images. These were not just superficial reliefs but busts and a full reclining Buddha carved within deep niches. They had then been painted in the colours of monks robes or gold paint.The work has been carried out by the local fishermen over many years and is very skillful. From there we went on to the village of Myanaung for a walking tour. This fairly wealthy town had lots of colonial era homes many of which were still in use either as homes or more often businesses. Once again the British had left a heritage of dikes to stop flooding of the adjacent flood plain which had then been planted with rice and vegetable crops. The disadvantage is that the soil rich flood waters are no longer depositing the rich silt except where they have been able to divert water for irrigation. Thus they now need to use chemical fertiliser. The town also has the distinction of a Catholic Church. During the Britiah era it Was an Anglican Church but when they left the use changed. It now caters for a small congregation of Karons who are transfered into the town as goverment employees. Apart from about the fluctuating congregation of about five families the rest of the population are Buddhist. We naturally visited the Market area and found th sellers helpful but reserved until they saw that there was the chance of a sale. To our surprise we had a police escort as we progressed around town. He rode his motor bike alongside our group and as we turned down a path rather than the road he would race off and pop up again at the next junction. We learnt that the word for offering a bribe is "watering". This is a take on the practice of offering water to Buddha first thing in the morning along with any other offerings at the household shrine. This morning we went on another walking tour through a small and very poor riverside village, Shwe Kyin. We had quite a reception committee of children and their mothers. This is because the boat only calls here once a month and no other cruise line stops here. Another reason was that the crew set up a morning tea of cordial and cakes from the ship for the children. I was glad that I had supplimented our stock of stationary for the school donation at a recent big market especially because some of the other passengers didn't seem to have registered the suggestion that they split the supplies they had brought into two lots as there was this second opportunity. Here the people do not have many employment opportunities except labouring on the boats which dredge gravel from the river to be used in construction. It is hard work and the men tend to drink alcohol even at work on the boats. Education is only to primary level and then the 14 year olds start work. Again we had a police escort and were told that their main issues are drunkenness and domestic violence. There are also issues with amphetamine use which the men use to bolster them during the long physical working day. The two police officers walking with us today were very young and one was a very attractive woman. I was amused that just after I had casually taken a photo that incidently on purpose included the police woman I spotted her taking one of us on her mobile phone. This walk included many opportunities to see cooking methods, local shops, fish drying methods, to talk about housing and to see a local day care. This was because all these activities are focussed on and open to the one main street which is built along the to of the dike. The people didn't seem concerned that we were walking around talking about their lifestyle. I have been extremely grateful that the cruise company has not been so crass as to arrange intrusion into peoples homes. Tonight is the Cultural Night when we all get to wear our longis and are threatened with participation in Burmese dancing.