The Ayeyarwady

Lachlan Pollard 27^th August 2004

Like the Aorta in the human body, the Ayeyarwady is the main artery in Myanmar. It flows the entirety of the country, bisecting it to become the epicentre for life in Myanmar.  During the wet season it will swell magnificently, giving birth to smaller capillaries and tributaries that flow deep into the Ayeyarwady basin to provide replenishment to the farmed lands.

The Ayeyarwady begins high in the Himalayans as two smaller rivers that join as one and flow over 1300 miles south, through the major cities of Mandalay and Yangon, into the Andaman Sea. While the river is a major transportation link for tribal villages in the north and major cities in the south, its main function is to support life on the Ayeyarwady basin (Ayeyarwady means river of refreshment!). The basin is the main farming region of Myanmar. It is boarded in the east by: the Rakhine, Chin and Naga Mountains, and in the west by the Shan Plateau. These mountain ranges form a natural border for this fertile land and even protect it from the Monsoon, which often ravages neighbouring countries.

The Burmese have a love for theatre and over time there has been no better stage than the Ayeyarwady: from sailing clippers travelling upstream to trade; waters rising above the banks and threatening to wash everything away; forests pushing villages back into the water; to battles fought with enemies that have sailed into the heart of the country, the river never failed to provide excitement. Now, despite occasional rising waters that give some concern to farmers, the river has mellowed and instead of dramatic performances the river is a ‘Sunday matinee,’ best enjoyed from the decks of an old English steamer as it motors upstream.

Tradition stated that the Palace had to be located on the riverbank and each new dynasty had to have a different location for this centre: As such, the banks are lined with ancient ruins of past empires. The most popular of these for tourists is Bagan - the capital between 1044 and 1287 - located between the present capital Yangon and Mandalay.

The river had a further connection to royalty in ancient times and it was believed that the King had control of the Ayeyarwady. One myth testifies that in the late 18^th century the river began to rise unusually so, the then King Bodawpaya, was approached by his ministers, who requested that he use his power to appease the river and to stop it rising. The King demanded an extravagant festival in honour of the river (the Burmese will use any occasion for a festival!) and it began to slowly subside.

Travelling along the Ayeyarwady on an English steamer - used as local and express boats - conjures images of Tom Sawyer floating down the Mississippi looking for adventure and excitement. Some sections of the river are a bustle of activity as boats, oxen and people inter-mingle on the muddy banks, while other sections have only the sound of the wind whistling through ancient ruins of pagodas.  Sunsets and sunrises on the river are grand: as the sun rises, the mist from the river mixes with the first rays of light and the silent jungle slowly begins to take shape before the plethora of animals awake as an orchestra of cat calls and whistles; the sunset, best enjoyed in an area of activity, produces a range of red hues that bounce off the water and settle on the locals as they finish their chores.

The ubiquitous oxen are as much a part of the Ayeyarwady as the river dolphins. The oxen, either in pairs pulling a cart, or single with barrels on each side, are lead into deep water to make filling the water containers easy. Further up-stream, oxen teams are used to pull logs to the riverbanks for assembly into rafts. These majestic animals, the workhorse of the Burmese, are irreplaceable and rumour has it that tractors, given to Myanmar in the 1980’s are still gathering dust in a shed in Yangon.

The larger craft on the river include old double deck English steamers, (which are remnants of colonial rule), single deck car ferries, and large motor launches used by the government. Smaller craft are varied; with most boats still relying on sails or oars to power themselves along the gigantic, murky brown body of water. Unfortunately the menacing sound of the longtail – a punt propelled by a car motor – has found its way to the more populated regions of the Ayeyarwady: although, thankfully they are not as common as on many Thai rivers (the noise is disturbing, but a ride on one of these is not to be missed!). The sailing boats have evolved from the ancient Burmese craft, the hnau. These vessels have large square sails that appear excessively big for the thin hull and give the impression that the boat is going to sail off the water into the heavens.

Myanmar consists of many different tribal groups (about eight main ones) and it is the Burmese that are fortunate enough to have the river within their territory. On the banks their houses have been constructed on stilts to allow the water to flow freely underneath during the wet season (mid- May to mid –October). This structure makes it easy to collect water and to perform the daily ritual of washing - although carts are often strapped to trees to ensure they do not get washed away! During the dry season, when the river shrinks and the muddy banks become exposed, the journey is a less enjoyable affair. In some places, rickety wooden jetties made from branches, protrude out from the jungle over the mud banks like small tentacles. Villagers use these to wash and fish from, but as the waters rise they are often swept downstream.

Surprisingly the Ayeyarwady is not the most notable river in Myanmar (not to the rest of the world anyway): that distinction belongs to the Mekong River, which forms a natural border with Laos and China. The Ayeyarwady is however, the heart of Myanmar, providing the essential ingredients for Burmese life for countless centuries.