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Salween River Map - Cruise
Pha An
The southern
half of the Salween river or Thanlwin is the
most eastern stream in the country, coming
in from China and forming the border to
Thailand after a while until finally
emptying the flood at Mawlamyine, the former
Moulmein. In recent years a focus point for
lots of quarreling since there where many
attempts from the Thai side to make some
dams for hydroelectric generation, which
always got a fierce answer from the local
people. |
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With water of
grey-green color the Thanlwin winds away
through vast savannahs, flanked in the
distant west by the Zingyaik range, and on
the east by the Tway-kabyin peaks. Hills and
valleys are everywhere, a ideal setting to
build some dams for electricity generation.
The banks are
clothed with rare beauty, with waving
grasses, and forests of wild cotton trees in
bloom. At this season they break into a
splendor of cardinal blossom, devoid of
foliage. The rich tracery of their boughs is
cut with the clarity of a cameo against the
Blue Mountains and great sunsets.
We stop at little villages
on the way to
pick up passengers, village girls come down
to the ship's edge with trays of papayas and
red plums, bosom deep in the river; and they
laugh as they sink yet deeper in their
efforts to reach
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the passengers
on board. Each of these, leaning forward
over the rails, takes what he or she needs,
and puts the price into a little cup in the
middle of the tray. After the engine roar
and we move on, there are other boats and
ships with their white sails full blown from
the wind. People glide by in a small canoe
and the steamer whistles and off we move.
There are caravan Shan or rather traveling
trader, with their pack-baskets ranged in
line upon the upper deck, and blazing
turbans on their heads. There are groups
also of Panthays in blue, and Yunnanese in
satin caps ; and at one end of the deck, a
party of Christian Karen who sing hymns in a
strange tongue,
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to the familiar tunes of
an English parish church. As we approach Pita-an the
limestone hills come nearer to the liver. The Kaw-gun
caves lie at the end of a narrow water on our left,
and at Pha-gat, a little higher up, the width of the
river contracts.
Kawgun cave is
close to Pha An township, Kayin State. This is a
lime stone cave of about 60m height and 100m long.
Similar to other caves
in the country myriads
of Buddha statues and votive tablets some statues
are from the 15th Century, others are newer.
Through these gateways there is entry into a dreamy
world of wide calm waters, of wooded islands, and
distant peaks : and the form of Zway-kabyin. Here we
are very near the turning point of the range, and
its form changes completely within a few hundred
meters of our ascent up the river.
The river runs by it under high banks,
rich with grasses and
plantain-groves, to the gateways of Pita-gat. Below
the house in the cast, and first lit by the day, is
a sheltered harbor in which the cargo dinghies lie,
and the white masts of sailing vessels rise straight
from the water. Here at all hours there is life:
bullock- |
Pha An
Salween River
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carts wait to ship and
unship their burden, while the red cattle browse
under the trees ; women and girls come down to laugh
and bathe ; Myanmar's squat on the sloping bank and
smoke with philosophic calm. There is a monastery on
a hill, to the lofty summit of Zway-kabyin and its
pagoda like a lighthouse on its crest. |
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At night at this
season, the hill Karen set fire to the
jungle near its top, and then there is a
wonderful circle of fire hung up against the
starry sky, a thousand feet above the world.
The water is more clear than the muddy
Irrawaddy and even cold in the hottest
weather.
Once a year at the harvest season
when all would
go on pilgrimage, the pagoda on the summit
of the range is visited by all in its
neighborhood who can manage the arduous
climb. The view it offers is one of
extraordinary variety and beauty. Pha-an
itself is one of the main centers of trade
with the Shan States, a seaport with
picturesque elements of frontier life and
trade, Panthay caravans and merchandise from
China and traders from Thailand.
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