As we approached Bhamo, our driver elected to go through narrow and very shallow channels, evidently a short cut. One man was posted on the bow, in hopes he could help the driver (operating the longtail engine at the back of the boat) avoid grounding. We got stuck once, and were freed by men standing in the water pushing and people aboard rocking the boat from side-to-side. This channel will be unusable later in the dry season.