Chindwin River West Myanmar

The Stream at Monywa.

It is the biggest tributary to the Irrawaddy, the two streams merge between Mandalay and Bagan. The waterway come from the north west mountains towards the Indian border and is a wide but only partly navigable stream because of rapids in the upper half.

At the Chindwin river near Monywa

Actually it makes the Irrawaddy real big and brings water to the west of the country. What is always amazing is there is plenty of water around in the whole dry zone in central Myanmar but it's not used the countryside is dry and dusty and the people always wait for monsoon to start their planting cycle, they could do this all year around since the water is here. 

It looks like only the Intha's at Inle Lake got the message how to handle this because at Bagan which is directly at the riverside it's also really dry, no gardens no real lush tropical vegetation although the water is there and that is a inexhaustible source, what a waste.

Buddha statues at Monywa