And so begins a tale of two river runs some forty years and half a world apart. The first run was on the Yukon River as a crewman working for the Yutana Barge Company out of Nenana, Alaska. The second run was up the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar as a tourist with AMAWaterways River Cruises.

Though there were strong contrasts in the two voyages, there many parallel experiences. Let me set the scene: