This morning we were picked up by our guide and boat and spent the majority of the day visiting different artisan workshops spread around this lake in the middle of the Burmese jungle. First we visited cigar makers rolling cigars by hand, a blacksmiths making propellers for the boats, boat makers building long boats out of teak which you could have done for $700, silversmiths making naff jewellery and a silk weavers that was really fascinating and Lesley bought a...

After breakfast we drove to Nyaung Shwe and on the way stopped to see how local craftsmen make umbrellas. They use Shan paper which is from this area being Shan State. The paper is the same format as the elephants but different. First process in the paper making is to strip the bark from young branches of the Paper Mulberry, Morus papyrifera, a tree native to eastern Asia. It grows to 15 metres, is a rapid grower and is really rather a weed, so it’s a resour...

After breakfast we drove to Green Hill Valley Elephant camp with a re-plantation program to learn more about how one family created a natural retirement place for the elephants who spend all their life working in teak forests of Burma. The re-plantation part of the projects aims to plant trees in the areas previously destroyed by teakwood logging. We were also shown how they make paper out off elephant poo. They collect the poo, wash it then boil it for 7 hours. ...

Morning shore excursion to Mingun Temple that was an attempt of the worlds biggest temple by King Bodawphaya who was the 4th King of the last dynasty of Burma. The donor King started the construction in 1790 but halted after 25 years when he fell sick. It is an unfinished pagoda and became the greatest pile of bricks in the world after an earthquake broke out in 1838. We walked to visit Myatheintan pagoda, founded in 1816 by the crown prince Ba Gyi Daw for his de...

Up early for breakfast before our 08.30 walk around Tagoung one of the oldest capitals of Myanmar. Don't think I know a country with so many past capitals but they don't take long to get around. Continued sailing downstream and had a tour of the boat during the afternoon. Speaking to a couple in the evening they told us about when they flew from Yangon to Bagan by KBZ air someone told them that it was run by military henchmen and as it turns out they also run th...