The Irrawaddy River, with its 2,170 kilometres is the longest river in Southeast Asia after the Mekong. It is also the biggest waterway and the most important transport route in Myanmar. The course of the river flows past innumerable Buddhist cultural sites, including Bagan. Past children playing on the riverbanks, past women doing laundry in the water of the river, past meditating monks, past the real life of Myanmar. On May 2, 2008, a cyclone ravaged wide areas of the Irrawaddy Delta and caused the death of over 200,000 individuals, while many others are still suffering today. Reinhard Becker has photographed the river and its people and in this book provides a fascinating look at the landscape, economy, politics, and everyday life along the Irrawaddy.
