One of the half-day trip options for tourists visiting the Mandalay area is Mingun, a village on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. To get to Mingun you must take a boat, either a government-run boat or one operated by a private company. My trishaw driver, Myint Shin, wisely suggested the private boat, which was also the cheaper option. The boat ride is very pleasant and scenic boat, taking about an hour to go upstream, and forty minutes coming back.

There was no pressing need for me to go to Mingun; I’d already been there last year and had seen most of the sights. But I still had not seen one of the famous pagodas in town, Hsinbyume Paya (the one that’s pictured on the cover of Lonely Planet’s Myanmar guidebook), nor had a paid a visit to a nearby nursing home. But I had met a very pleasant group of kids there last time around. They carried my bags, showed me some spots that I wouldn’t have found on my own, and were simply nice people. I decided I’d return to Mingun and bring them copies of the photos I’d taken of them, visit the town’s monastery, and see the places I’d missed the first time.

The biggest attraction in Mingun is the huge Mingun Paya, an unfinished pagoda. The plan was for it to rise to a height of 150 meters but after the King up and died construction stopped, with only about 30 percent of the project finished. Twenty years an earthquake came along and caused extensive damage to the structure. And it’s sat there in its glorious unfinished state ever since, making it the town’s big attraction. I’d climbed it once and that was enough for me, but I knew I’d have to stop by the entrance at the base of the big pagoda to find the kids that I’d met on my previous trip. They work there, watching over the sea of shoes (like at all pagodas in the country, no footwear is allowed) while tourists make the climb to the top of the “big pile of bricks.”

I found two of the kids there. One of the girls, Min Min, is now 20 and in her last year of high school. The boy, Mi Tet, is 13 but I don’t think he attends school. I asked about the two other kids: Po Tha Gyi (a 10-year-old girl) and Ko Ko Oo (a 12-year-old boy). Min Min, who speaks the best English of the bunch, told me they were both in school, but would no doubt show up after classes let out at 11:00. And, like clockwork, they did. While we were visiting the monastery (the head monk I had met last time was not around: apparently out of town “on tour”) Po Tha Gyi appeared, and later, running up a path and arms flailing, came and out-of-breath Ko Ko Oo. The gang was now all present and accounted for.

I distributed photos and small gifts during a break at a nearby teashop (gotta have my morning tea!) where one of the kids bought a dish of some sweet gooey dessert that had a coconut flavor. After stopping at a souvenir stand that Mi Tet’s older sister runs, and later at his family’s house, they took me to the local nursing home, or “Home for the Aged” as they call it. It’s a very nice complex; most of the buildings look like they were constructed in the past decade and are clean and well-maintained. The residents aren’t necessarily all geriatric and bed-ridden. In fact, most are in perfectly good shape and go about their daily lives, enjoying the company of their friends, and taking walks in the village. But they stay at this home because they have no other family in the area to take care of them. I made a cash donation and was given a nice little calendar in return.

By that time I had now explored most of Mingun, and needed to get back to the boat, which departed for Mandalay at 1:00. The kids asked if they could go back with me and pay a visit to Mandalay Hill. My first thought was: I don’t know, can you? I mean, will they let you on the boat with the tourists? That turned out to be no problem. The only hitch in the plan was getting to Mandalay Hill and back, and then getting the kids on the boat to Mingun before the last one left for the day. Myint Shin was waiting for us on the other side, and just as I figured, he said there wasn’t enough time for the kids to see the hill and make it back for the final boat. But there was a nearby amusement park we could visit, and the kids all perked up when that idea was proposed.

But first, hunger called. We stopped for a late lunch at yet another teashop for some fried rice (Myint Shin had to show one of the kids how to use a knife and spoon, instead of his fingers!), and then walked over to the amusement park. It wasn’t a very big complex, and there weren’t many people milling about, but it was full of things to do: bumper cars, a log flume ride, a small roller coaster, merry-go-rounds, and that sort of stuff. After watching some novice monks battle it out on the bumper cars, the kids took their turn and gleefully bashed into one another, laughing and howling as if it was the craziest thing they’d ever done. I passed on that and the rest of the rides, content to just watch them have fun. After an hour they seemed to have had their fill of the park, announcing that they would head over to the jetty and take the boat back to Mingun. I gave them each some money and wished them well. In return they all thanked me and shook my hand before leaving. Nice bunch of kids. I’m sure I’ll make it a point to visit them in Mingun the next time I return to Mandalay.