Below a yellow-white, mid-morning sun, the river begins to narrow between jungle-clad cliffs. The only sounds are those of birds and monkeys in the untamed foliage. As the ship slides through the lazy, caramel-coloured water in the tropical heat, the gorge closes in. It has a timeless quality, almost prehistoric, as if a pterodactyl could suddenly take flight.

It’s day five of my 11-day journey snaking north on Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River from Mandalay to Bhamo, near the Chinese border. The river, also known as the Ayeyarwady, sweeps down from the Himalayan glaciers through the heart of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to a fertile delta on the Andaman Sea. It’s the country’s largest and most important commercial waterway. Of its 2,170 kilometres, 1,400 are navigable, but only for a few months of the year is the water high enough for vessels to make this journey.

The Orcaella, one of Belmond’s luxury ships, was specifically designed for this. The 61-metre vessel has 25 cabins—plus a spa, gym, and pool—and is named after the snub-nosed dolphins of the Irrawaddy. Since they are critically endangered—just 63 are estimated to remain in the river—it’s a long shot we’ll see any. 

After a night at Belmond’s five-star colonial hotel in Yangon, The Governor’s Residence, we take an early morning flight to Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. Before embarking on our cruise, we visit Soon U Ponya Shin Paya on Sagaing Hill, a temple built in 1312 that features a 30-metre-high gilded stupa. Legend has it that the structure miraculously appeared overnight following a superhuman act by the king’s minister, who was influenced by a magical Buddha relic that he found in a betel-nut box. From the balcony, I take in the spectacular view of pagodas and, across the brown Irrawaddy, the Shan Hills. The temple is just a preview of the city, as we’ll be returning to the country’s cultural capital on our way back down the river. 

As we board the Orcaella, staff greet us with a cheerful Burmese hello, “mingalaba,” and we set off for our first destination, the riverside village of Mingun, where a trio of unique sites await, the most famous being Mingun Paya, also known as Mingun Pahtodawgyi. Beneath a banyan tree, I marvel at what is left of this massive structure. A 73-metre cube of russet-coloured bricks perched on a 140-metre lower terrace, it was meant to be the world’s largest stupa. But when King Bodawpaya died in 1819, only the bottom third had been completed. It has several deep, dramatic cracks caused by an earthquake in 1838. The next attraction is the 14-metre-high, 90-tonne Mingun Bell, reportedly the largest uncracked hanging bell in the world. It was commissioned by the same king in 1808 for Mingun Paya. I whack it with a wooden mallet and hear a deep bass ringing that I’m told will bring me good luck. 

I then stroll past souvenir shops selling marionettes hanging from tree branches, shelves of wooden masks, metal Buddha images and other handicrafts. I reach the third major site, Hsinbyume Paya, an attractive pagoda built in 1816 by the future King Bagyidaw in memory, à la Taj Mahal, of one of his wives. The pagoda rises in seven undulating whitewashed terraces symbolising the seven mountain ranges around Mt Meru, which according to Buddhist tradition is the centre of the universe. In the terrace base are niches housing nats (spirits), ogres, and nagas (serpentine creatures) to protect the pagoda. Back on board, dinner is a welcome delight, a variety of high-end Asian and Western cuisine prepared by 33-year-old Thai chef Thatsanapong Kaewprasuna, who goes by the nickname Yui. 

Read more about Paul Ehrlich’s epic cruise journey in Myanmar in the January 2017 issue of Philippine Tatler, available in all leading newsstands and bookstores and downloadable via Zinio, Magzter, and Pressreader.

Photography by David Hartung | Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock