two days at Inle Lake: seeing the lake

January 3, 2017

As promised our boat driver picks us up at our hotel right at 8am. As we follow him back to the boat dock we see many similar parades: a longyi-clothed boat driver leading a couple of muzungus to the boats. It will be a full-day excursion since we added the side trip to Ithein in addition to the standard tour sights.

The boat driver sets us up in our longboat with a wooden chair, comfy seat cushion, life jacket and blanket, it can get cold on the lake. The two-stroke engine is cranked to life and with a roar, black smoke and water spray we join the procession down the canal that leads to the lake. Right where we enter the lake there are several fishermen balancing precariously on the tail of their boats. We don’t catch on immediately, but it is obvious they are there so all of us wanna-be National Geographic photographers can get an iconic Inle Lake shot. Their balance skills are impressive.

After these posers we see several “real” fishermen doing similar feats. They stand on the narrow tail of their canoe balanced on one leg. The other leg is angled over the water and wrapped around their oar. The top end of the oar shaft is wedged between their arm and upper body and by moving their leg they move the boat. This leaves two hands free for working the fishing nets they are setting or retrieving. Their balancing skill is amazing. We think our fishing/rafting friends in Idaho should adopt this method so they can fly-fish and raft at the same time. Bob, Gordon, take a look at these photos and give it a try.

Our first stop on the tour is a lakeside market. There is market every day somewhere around the lake, every day in a different town. This keeps the tourist dollar flowing to separate towns but also keeps the market from getting overrun by people with cameras. There are a fair amount of tourists, but most of the market is the real thing, with locals selling and buying fresh produce, meat and clothing.

On the way into the village and back out we pass through the “floating gardens”. Inle Lake is only about three meters deep and the people have created huge areas of floating gardens. The beds are made from layers of floating composting organic material, staked to the lake bottom with bamboo poles. On it they grow tomatoes, cucumber, beans, cabbages and many other vegetables. Between the rows are narrow canals for boat access to the crops. Each family plot has a bamboo shack on stilts where the workers can rest or sleep during the busy season.

Our next stop is a village in the middle of the lake, most of the houses rest on stilts. In quick succession we visit a couple of works shops. First a weaving shop where we watch women weave silk, cotton and lotus-thread. Next is a silver shop where silver is made into jewelry. Lastly a carpentry shop where they built teak canoes and sell wooden knick-knacks. It is all interesting to watch, but of course the main goal is to get the tourist to buy some stuff. Since we are going on a family visit real soon, and have a bad reputation for showing up empty handed, we take this opportunity to buy some gifts.

We also visit the local temple and pagoda. Lunch is at an overpriced restaurant, but since it sits on stilts in the middle of nowhere there is not much choice. We also stop at the local “long-neck” village where we gawk at a couple of tribal women wearing the neck rings to make their necks longer. Whoever invented this tradition surely was a man. Why would anyone want to be uncomfortable like this their whole lives? We still make photos and leave them a tip though…….

The highlight of the day is Ithein, a village set away from the lake, but accessible by going upstream on a small river. Behind the village is a hill covered in stupas at least a couple of thousand. There are many older ones still bearing beautiful carvings, but in rough shape with bricks separating and stupas leaning at crazy angles. On the top of the hill are more and more stupas, many modern one covers in gold paint. And we thought we’d seen the last stupa…..

On the way back to town we are scheduled for one more stop at the “cat monastery”. We are delayed though because our boat breaks down. After a couple of minutes of tinkering our driver flags down another boat who gives us a tow to the cat monastery. While we visit the sights our driver gets the drive shaft repaired. We are delayed though, but this rewards us with a nice sunset while on the lake. We don’t actually see the sunset, because it seems a storm is moving in from the west, but there are large clouds all around the lake that light up beautifully.

At about five our driver drops us back off at the boat dock. The cost for this ride was 22,000 Kyat, or about $18. These boats cost about $3500 to build we were told and who knows what the repair today cost. These boat drivers work long days for little money. Again we realize how lucky we are. Our driver was awesome, slowed down just at the right moments for good shots and knew exactly what we were interested in. We leave him a very good tip, but still feel bad about the inequality of it all.

A couple of beers and a pizza settles our conscience and we head back to our hotel with over 500 new photos to process and sort through. A successful day.

On day two at Nyaung Shwe we planned to ride our bikes around the north side of the lake and visit another temple just north of town. But the clouds we saw last evening came with a storm that dropped rain all night and all morning and afternoon, so far. The power also went off sometime during the night and only came back at noon today. So we call it a rain-day and hunker down in our room.

Tomorrow on the road again, we have a week to get out of this country before our visa expires.

Loading up at the boat dock in Nyaung Shwe.

These longboats produce a lot of spray. When they pass each other though, most drivers dip their propeller a little deeper to reduce the spray.

Taking a break from posing for pictures.

Market day in a lakeside village. This is the cold season in Burma, notice the hat on the little one. He is ready for snow!

Lots of boat traffic at the market. Tourists and locals.

The floating gardens. You could see similar scenes in Holland where the ground water can be very near the surface in the "polders". Here though there is no solid ground underfoot, the "land" is floating.

Fisherman pounding the water with their paddles to scare the fish into their nets.

Amazing balance. The fisherman is using his leg to move the boat while having two hands free for the net. All that while balancing on one foot at the end of a dug-out canoe. Bob, Gordon you guys should practice this move.

Teak long boat under construction. About $2500 of teak wood goes into one on of these, finished they cost about $3500.

A large pagoda on an island in Inle Lake.

Boat load of Shan women, probably headed to or from a market. There is a market every day, somewhere around the lake.

Narrow canals connect the villages. The land could be land, or just floating islands.

"Long neck woman". It should be called "abuse".

Pagodas in Ithein. The older ones are falling apart but are very beautiful. Reminds us of some of the temples in Angkor Wat.

Nice plaster carvings over deteriorating brickwork.

Our boat breaks down. Another longboat gives us a tow to the next village.

Headed home under dark skies. It starts to rain a little and our driver gives us umbrellas. We get back before the storm really hits and continues overnight.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0