Set on the green and fertile banks of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar, the fishing and farming village of Kan Ne seems untouched by the passage of time. This riverside hamlet is Burma at its most authentic. Located upstream from the university town of Pyay, it is among the Irrawaddy River’s several modest settlements forgotten by the rice, tobacco and cotton crops that brought growth to the larger towns and cities. As such, the people of Kan Ne enjoy the riches that come with a simple way of life that has endured on the Irrawaddy banks for centuries.
Travelers to Kan Ne experience this simplicity up close. Here, the community farm provides fresh food and houses are topped with palm-leaf roofs. A primary school educates children from this and other villages and the devout congregate at a modest monastery to worship under the guidance of a parish monk. Visiting here is akin to stepping foot into the earliest days of Burma.