| 28 December 2005 We had planned a three-day visit to Magway to search for the degree confluence. Traveling from Myothit (New Bagan) by car, it took about five hours to cover the 150km to get there. When we reached Magway in the afternoon, we first searched for a suitable, not too expensive hotel in town. After we found one and had unpacked our luggage we brought a visit to family somewhere east in town. This degree confluence is located 18km downstream of Magway on the opposite side of the Ayeyarwady River. It was clear from the satellite image that the degree confluence was actually on a secondary river channel west of the main stream of the Ayeyarwady River. It would depend on the river's water level if the degree confluence was dry and accessible or overflown with water. I could also see a faint line along the river which indicated some kind of road. Armed with my GPS receiver and camera we crossed the river over the 3km long Magway Bridge the next morning. The faint line on the satellite image happened to be a small but passable tarmac road. While heading to the south we saw several oil drilling towers standing on the arable land. We parked our car near the river in a small village named Nyaung Pin Tha. From there it was only a ten minute walk to the degree confluence which luckily turned out to be on the dry river bed. I finished my confluence dance and took the required photos while the strong wind blew sand in my eyes. Later, back on the riverbank, I shot some pictures of a large Buddha image which overlooked the river. I guessed that the creators have no idea that their Buddha image is looking to a special (at least for me) spot. Behind the Buddha image was a small hill from where we had a beautiful view on the river and the degree confluence. |