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After the procession has passed, our Chang Fa
is cranked back to life, the propeller dropped in
the water and the revs wound up again. Most of
the boatmen seem to run the propeller about 50
percent immersed – in surface-piercing prop mode- for maximum speed while the little diesels emit a
healthy cackle through their straight exhausts.
The 116km^2 lake tapers down to rice paddies
at the southern end and Aung is keen to show us
his technique. Aiming the boat at a 2-3m high wall
of reeds, he cuts the engine revs just as our bows
begin to part the foliage, and pulls the propeller
out of the water. We swished through a cleft in
the reeds made by our speeding boat, with stalks