We got in a boat on the Irrawaddy River to travel an hour up the river to see the Mingun Paya. But the river was interesting all by itself. The riverbank in Mandalay is a slum, per our guide. He said that it is mostly homeless people who live on the riverbank in Mandalay. He said that the police have rid the area of prostitutes but that it’s still the wild, wild west along banks of the river.

1. The first photo will just give you a tiny glimpse of the Mandalay riverbank. It’s a wild mix of commerce, both by truck and boat, makeshift houses and warehouses, boat housing, and of course, during the day, you can add tourists and vendors to the mix.

2. Leaving Mandalay, our guide pointed out the area of the second photo. He said this was a lawless area where anything goes which might include drugs, gambling, murder, and just about anything else.

3. In the middle of the Irrawaddy River are islands which are very large. The islands only surface after the rainy season has ended and the river level drops. At that point, people move onto the island and build temporary houses like you see in this photo. These people farm the islands growing peanuts, bean sprouts, tobacco, and other crops. They harvest their crops and move off the islands before the river rises up to cover them.

4. We saw all sorts of commerce along the river including people fishing, hauling sand, and doing other work. We also saw some “Huck Finn’s” along the river as you can see in the below photo.

5. We, however, were not among the Huck Finns, as you can see in the last photo. It was very cool, at 85 degrees, on the river and we enjoyed the break from the heat along with some ice cold beer and snacks.