Mandalay, Burma: Bagaya Monastery and small, barely alive school

Horse-drawn carriage ride to the Bagaya Monastery. Click HERE for a video of the kids riding in the carriage.

Our fearless buggy driver, a savvy, scrappy boy, not that much older than Griffin

Bagaya Monastery, filled with ornate wood carvings

The over 200-year-old Bagaya monastery is in the former royal capital of Ava and has intricately carved wooden details.

A child in the small monastery school for young children, run by one old, lethargic monk. His lethargy seems to be contagious because all his students slept anywhere they could crash, while one student would take a turn for some one-on-one tutorial squatting in front of the teacher who would lean back, barely whispering corrections back to the student, under his breath.

Another tired student. God, school seems boring and exhausting here.

The tortured, squatting student in front of his monk instructor.

The monk instructor, who sat up smartly in his chair the moment I pulled my camera out. Before and after I took my picture, he slumped back into his chair, barely interacting with the student. Click HERE for a video of the Buddhist monk instructing the squatting student, where the student just does rote repetition of the instructor's words.

Mahar monastery, where the queen housed her monk lover, visiting him in a concubial room regularly.

The queen designed the hallways so the monk could walk counterclockwise in a meditative circle. Now, only young teens meet in the hallways to hide and make out.

Another Mandalay temple, one of the ancient royal cities

The ferry boat we took to the Bagaya monastery and temples

A boy bathing at the ferry dock

The entire family bathed at the dock. Click HERE for a video of the way Burmese families bathe together at the Irrawaddy River.

Typical Burmese woman using a motorbike to deliver goods.

Boat on the Irrawaddy River

One of the usual bikes, used for schoolchildren to get to and from school, with their lunch riding the handlebars.