Photos: Cruising to adventure in long-isolated Myanmar

Marketed by Colorado-based Avalon Waterways, the Avalon Myanmar sails along stretches of Myanmar's Irrawaddy River that are rarely visited by outsiders.

Known in British times as Rangoon, Yangon is a bustling urban hub famous for its grand but decaying colonial buildings.

Yangon's streets are bustling with vendors, some of whom are selling the narcotic betel nuts wrapped in leaves that are chewed by many people in Burma.

Pop-up food stands are all over downtown Yangon, offering quick and cheap meals cooked over fires sometimes built right on the sidewalk.

After years out of the country, Coca-Cola has reappeared on the streets of Yangon, along with Pepsi and other American brands.

A sidewalk vendor in Yangon promises "safe food" to passersby.

The Secretariat Building in downtown Yangon, now mostly abandoned, was the site where leader of Myanmar independence Aung San was

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Before heading to the Avalon Myanmar, passengers spend two nights in Burma's main city, Yangon, visiting such iconic sites as the 325-foot-tall Shwedagon Pagoda.

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A visitor talks with a Buddhist monk at the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Locals worship at the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Hundreds of individual Budda statues surround the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Tourists can catch a glimpse of liberation activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's home on the way from downtown Yangon to the city's airport.

After visiting Yangon, Avalon Waterways customers fly to the little-visitied northern Myanmar town of Bhamo to board the Avalon Myanmar.

Signs of support for democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi are commonplace in small Myanmar towns such as Bhamo.

The northern Irrawaddy River is dotted with simple, thatched-roof homes, usually with just one room, surrounded by small fields.

Avalon Myanmar passengers transfer from the ship to shore via local sampan during a visit to the village of Kyun Daw.

Kyun Daw is one of the wealthier villages along the northern Irrawaddy and features a number of homes that are more elegant and finished than is typical.

Despite the village's wealth, Kyun Daw still lacks electricity and running water, and its homes feature simple kitchens where meals are cooked over wood fires.

An Avalon guide talks with a local fish seller coming back from market in the village of Kyun Daw.

Children pose for visitors in the village of Kyun Daw.

Fishing boats sit at anchor in a sandy stretch of the Irrawaddy River in the northern part of Myanmar.

Among the stops for Avalon passengers in the village of Kyun Daw is its one-room school house to meet with students.

A young girl giggles at tourists visiting her one-room school in the village Kyun Daw.

During a visit to the village of Kyun Daw, Avalon passengers also talk with nuns at a local Buddhist convent.

Buddhist statues fill niches in pagodas that fill the grounds of a local nunnery in Kyun Daw.

Lined with forests, rice fields, betel nut trees and small villages, the northern segment of the Irrawaddy River often takes on a mysterious, misty quality at sunset.

Sparsely populated, the northern section of the Irrawaddy River often reveals such serene sights as lone fisherman floating on calm water.

Sticky rice and other staples are on the menu for locals shopping at the market in Katha, Myanmar, a riverfront town that is one of the stops for the Avalon Myanmar.

Stops along the Irrawaddy River include small villages with colorful local markets.

Fish from the Irrawaddy River are a staple of the diet along the river.

It's a bit of a tourist frenzy as Avalon passengers snap photos of a woman selling betel nuts on the streets of Katha, Myanmar.

A glittery USA hat is among the wide range of merchandise available in the market of Katha -- a regional hub.

Avalon Myanmar crew members give alms to Buddist monks during a stop at the Irrawaddy River town of Katha.

From Katha, Avalon Myanmar passengers travel inland to a visit to a forest camp to meet elephants used in teak harvesting operations.

Among the stops during an Avalon Myanmar voyage on the Irrawaddy is a forest camp where elephants are used to carry logs.

Eric Arthur Blair, who wrote under the pen name George Orwell, lived in this home in Katha, Myanmar in 1926 while serving as a police officer during British colonial rule. It's still used as housing for local police officers.

A typical village along the Irrawaddy River, as seen from the Avalon Myanmar.

Children from the village of Kya Hynat greet passengers arriving on the Avalon Myanmar.

Children of the riverfront village of Kya Hnyat, including a young monk, marvel at the Avalon Myanmar.

Young monks in the village of Kya Hnyat receive alms from Avalon Myanmar passengers.

Monks eat in silence at a monastery in the village of Kya Hnyat that is visited by Avalon Waterways passengers.

A young monk at a monastery in the village of Kya Hnyat.

School girls in the village of Kyuk Myaung pose for visitors.

Giant "ali baba" jars made in the pottery town of Kyuk Myaung await transport to regional markets.

A street scene in Kyuk Myaung, a riverside village that has been producing pottery for centuries.

The sun sets over the bow of the Avalon Myanmar.

Young Myanmar girls are dressed up for a ceremony at a pagoda in Mandalay.

Ox graze in a field near Mandalay.

Among iconic sites for passengers visiting Mandalay is the U Bein Bridge, billed as the longest teak bridge in the world.

The U Bein Bridge was built in 1793 from teak reclaimed from a royal palace.

Lwin, the bartender on the Avalon Myanmar, delivers local Myanmar beer, sangria and snacks to passengers by boat during a sunset visit to the U Bein Bridge.

The sun sets over the U Bein Bridge as passengers watch from small tour boats.

Avalon Myanmar passengers visit a market in Mandalay, a former royal city on the Irrawaddy River that has become a tourist hub.

Teak Buddas and other souvenirs at a market in Mandalay.

A cafe in Mandalay caters to locals and tourists alike with Coca-Cola and other Western drinks that only recently have entered the country.

A woman from the village of Shwe Pyi Thar hauls water from the Irrawaddy River.

An older villager in Shwe Pyi Thar tends to a fire used for cooking.

Village children in Shwe Pyi Thar take part of sorting locally grown peanuts.

Teams of Ox are a common sight in the village of Shwe Pyi Thar.

Women of the village of Shwe Pyi Thar work together to sort locally grown beans.

The village of Shwe Pyi Thar is known for a sugary candy made from the syrup of a local palm tree.

Baby pigs roam free in the village of Shwe Pyi Thar, much to the delight of Avalon Myanmar passengers.

Villagers in Shwe Pyi Thar live in simple dirt-floor, thatched-roof huts and yet often have their own mopeds and cell phones.

A temple in Bagan.

Avalon Waterways passengers visit a lacquerware factory in Bagan to learn about the process.

Two workers at a lacquerware factory in Bagan cover bowls with cracked egg shells.

Among the highlights of Avalon Myanmar sailings on the Irrawaddy River is a visit to the ancient ruins of Bagan.

Avalon Myanmar passengers ride carts pulled by oxen to a temple to watch the sunset.

One of the most famous historic sites in Southeast Asia, Bagan is home to more than 2,000 stone temples.

Avalon Myanmar passengers climb to to the top of this temple for a view across the pagoda-filled plains of Bagan.

A giant Budda greets visitors to a temple in Bagan.

Temples and pagodas are visible as far as the eye can see in Bagan.

A temple in Bagan.

Tourists watch the sun set over the pagodas of Bagan.

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