I was actually riding aimlessly on a rented e-bike at the Old Bagan – trying to find my way over to Mount Popa – when I happened to reach a small village at the riverside of Ayeyarwady River. I decided to ride further down the muddy road and that was when I came upon this group of kids who was playing on the muddy riverside. Upon seeing me, they left whatever they were holding down there and ran right over to me and before I knew they were all over me, pulling at the seat and bike handles and trying to reach for my camera. I was quite too taken aback I didn’t even know what to do other than snapping pictures. I was beginning to get quite worried when they wouldn’t go away. In fact one of them had jumped onto the passenger seat and was dragging one of his buddies – probably his lil brother – to join him on whatever lil space available behind him. I was beginning to get really really worried when a lady – probably the mother of one of two of them – came out of a house nearby and shouted at them, sending them scurrying away in a haste. I gave her a thank you smile before speeding away. Phew. Kids can be scary at times but always entertaining.
Just in case that you’re curious, I actually didn’t manage to go to Mount Popa, following an advice from a guy that I met at a coffee shop over lunch. It was way past lunchtime and he told me how it wasn’t safe to go to Mount Popa on an e-bike (solar-powered mini-bike) when it was already late because it might get dark by the time I was returning back to my guesthouse in Bagan – meaning – the mini-bike would run out of power and I’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere, a risk that I decided not to take.