Where The Flying Fishes Play

"On the road to Mandalay where the flyin' fishes play an' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay"

It's hard not to quote Rudyard Kipling when you find yourself about to take a memorable trip from Bagan to Mandalay on the Irrawaddy River. What a thrill to be finally here.

We had travelled up to Bagan from Heho, watched the sun set over a plain of golden pagodas and here we were on the eve of our riverboat journey having dinner under the stars on the outside patio of our hotel. Bougainvillea cascaded over a large pergola and below us tropical gardens stretched out to the banks of the river.

During the night we awoke to hear the monks from a nearby monastery chanting in the distance. The chanting continued until daybreak.

Before leaving Bagan on the riverboat the next afternoon we visited the local market - the experience undoubtedly best told in pictures. You had to be there!

Thank you to the kind and generous people of Myanmar.