After a great night’s rest, we’re headed out to spend the next couple of days exploring some the wonderful sights and places around the lake. Inle Lake is located in Shan State in the northeastern part of Myanmar, which borders Laos, Thailand, and China. It is the second largest, fresh water lake in the country (the largest is Indawgyi Lake in the northwestern part of Myanmar) and a very popular destination for the Burmese people to get out of the heat (at an altitude of about 3,000 feet) and to enjoy the escape and tranquility it offers. The shores are dotted with more than 200 villages, totaling a population of about 70,000. Most earn a living by fishing or farming on floating islands. Tourism is rapidly becoming an important component of their economy, with more resorts and rooms being added every year, and many places to tie up your boat and get a bite to eat – mostly fish fare.
For visitors the main activity is cruising around the lake in narrow, wooden canoes. A noisy, two-cycle motor is coupled to a tiller to allow the ‘captain’ to pull it out or drop it into the water, depending on water depth or desired speed.
Inle Lake is not only a beautiful area, it also serves an important role in the country. Four major rivers feed into the lake from the north. The river flowing out of the southern end of Inle Lake feeds a smaller lake, which in turn supplies a river that flows yet to a third lake – like cascading pools. As the water exits the third lake through a dam, it feeds the country’s largest hydroelectric generator plant. This power plant supplies 70% of Myanmar’s power. This is very problematic in that the country’s power is heavily dependent on rain in the north and adjoining China. During times of drought, as was the case in 2007, 2011, and 2012, Inle Lake’s water level drops way down. This not only impacts the local farmers and fishermen, but the ability to generate power further downstream. The result is that the country cannot deliver reliable power to its citizens as the hydroelectric plant is shut down for several hours each day.
Ready to head out for the day.
Making our way to the dock, we cautiously step down into our boats with the help of several people – one person at a time, please, to avoid an unintentional swim. There are four boats in our party. I’m in number three. Thiha is on board the first boat, the rest follow in order. Despite encouragement to race to the front, our driver just smiled, and stayed in line.
Floating islands of farm land.
Planting, caring, and harvesting by boat.
Leaving the Aureum Palace Resort and Spa, to reach the main part of the lake we needed to pass through many acres of floating islands, planted with a variety of vegetables – tomatoes, beans, squash, to name just a few, as well as flowers. The islands are held in place by hundreds of bamboo poles. All tending to the plants and harvest is done from small, wooden boats that can make their way thru the narrow paths between the rows of plants. Huts, sitting on stilts, provide a place to rest and watch their fields.
One legged-rower tending to his fishing lines.
As we reach the main body of water, we find fishermen working their nets and lines. They use a unique leg-paddling technique to move the boat while freeing up both hands to fish. The paddle is not strapped on but rather held in place with their shoulder and leg.
Living along the lake.
No walkways – it’s all about boats and the water.
Wash Day.
Very peaceful work.
Crossing over to another island.
Coming home from the market.
Our first destination for the day is a half hour ride away at the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda. Along the way we get a glimpse of where and how they conduct their daily lives. It is very colorful with many postcard photo opportunities. We’re beginning to get the drill on how to get out of our boats, but our guides, not open to taking any chances, are all-hands on deck to make sure we and our cameras don’t make a big splash. At the entrance, we take off our shoes and socks, before entering the most important pagoda in the lake area. It is home to five statues of Buddha, varying in size from nine to eighteen inches, dating back to the 1300’s. Sitting on an altar, under a gilded canopy, followers press gold foil swatches to the statues. The amount of gold added over the recent years, has obfuscated any noticeable features to the point that they look like blobs of Play-Dough, and has made them extremely heavy. A sign clearly states that women are prohibited in the area. As Roselie kneels in the prayer area out front, it is clearly a ‘ne na na na na’ moment as I stand next to the statues and press on a gold foil. She doesn’t see the humor in this and refuses to take a photo of my badly executed ‘you can’t catch me’ dance.
Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda from a distance.
Entrance to the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda
Pressing gold foil onto the statues – men only!
Women prohibited!
Every September to October, the area hosts an 18-day festival to mark the time of a full moon and the end of the harvest season. During the festival, four of the five figurines are loaded onto a beautifully decorated replica of a royal barge designed to look like a bird. The barge is towed by several boats of leg rowers, rowing synchronously similar to one of our rowing crews, but using their leg instead. The barge is towed from village to village along the shore. At each stop, the four figurines spend the night at the main monastery of that village, giving the local followers the opportunity to show respect and give thanks.
Arriving at the silk factory.
Pulling lotus silk from the lotus stalks.
Stretching the lotus silk threads.
Our next stop was a Silk and Lotus weaving factory. They demonstrated how to take a lotus flower stalk, cut through the outer layers, pull the pieces apart, and expose the very strong lotus fibers. They look like very fine nylon fishing lines. After coloring and spinning the fibers into threads, skillful women at several stations weave wonderful designs for scarfs, shirts, runners, etc. Lotus cloth is much more expensive than silk. The silk thread they use is brought in from China, but the coloring, patterns, and weaving are all produced here.
Rolling cigars.
A cigar making shop is next. The tobacco leaves from the southern part of the country are dried, sorted and processed here. The undamaged leaves will be used as the outer wrapper, while the rest are chopped up for use inside the cigar. Each woman can produce about 800 cigars per day.
Lunch with a view.
Enjoying dusk from the deck of our bungalow.
Time for lunch! Our agility to get in and out of these semi-stable boats keeps getting better – sort of, as we motor to one of Thiha’s favorite restaurants. The restaurant setting is charming, but it is very clear that with 16 people, we’ve exceeded their skill to prepare the dishes and serve them. Always ready to make any situations smooth, Thiha jumped in to help take orders, deliver drinks, and even direct the cooks on what dishes to prepare next. It was a looonnnnggg lunch, made very enjoyable with several bottles of Myanmar’s local beer. Finishing after 3 PM, we were ready to head back to relax and enjoy the decks outside our huts until dinner. But first we slowly moved by several one-leg rowing fishermen, and watched them pulling in their catch and resetting their lines. Very peaceful with small waves lapping against the boats as they skillfully maneuvered to follow their lines…but we did have to ignore the invasive chuck-a-chuck noise from our boat’s engine.
Panoramic view from our hotel.
The next morning, we were off again, bright and early, boarding our little boats, to make our way to Indein Pagoda Complex, which includes more than a thousand stupas, many dating back to the 17th and 18th century. Some are in disrepair while others have clearly been renovated recently. It is very important for a family or small village to build and maintain a stupa containing relics of religious importance or meaning to the family. In some cases, the family has died out, so the stupa could be adopted by another group. Others are built, then another, larger is built to encase the older one, the sequence goes on. Why do people who are clearly impoverished spend scare money to build such artifacts? It’s all about the after-life, the next life. They want to make sure they have a good next life incarnation.
A thousand pagodas.
Pagodas dating back to the 16th century, now in disrepair.
Pagoda grounds.
Buddha in the Shwe Inn Tain Pagoda.
Our walk to the top of the complex, the location of the Shwe Inn Thein Paya Buddha statue, first requires us to walk through a gauntlet of vendors offering all sorts of crafts and cloth items. Our guides warned us that almost all items are produced in China and not by the local people. The locals and ethnic tribes only sell these wares for a commission. One of the women followed us, while balancing a pile of scarfs on her head, clearly wanting to practice her English. She told us about how she has three children and one baby.
Paloung woman selling her goods.
We can only say “No” for so a little while, until we give in and BUY.
The newest and grandest stupas are at the top of the hill and surround the pagoda. As we’re ready to shed our shoes and socks – another sign: Women Prohibited! This is not popular with our group. A couple of us decide to go up anyway and take some photos. It was nice but not much different from the many others we had seen. The most interesting aspect was the large number of stupas dotting the mountain.
Sein Thamadi Gold And Silver Smith – boys making jewelry.
Our final stop before lunch was at the Sein Thamadi Gold and Silver Smith shop. Myanmar is rich with gold and silver. One of the largest silver mines is about 50 km away in the mountains overlooking the lake. After mining and smelting, 20 kg bars are delivered to this shop to produce a large variety of jewelry, boxes, and other pieces of art. We had a chance to watch seven or eight young boys working at benches to create some of the pieces – mostly replicating the same design over and over again. Most of these boys left school after the mandatory five years of grammar school to help support their families. Following several years of replicating a master’s work, they may get the opportunity to create new art or to train others. Few leave this trade during their lifetime.
Winding down from another wonderful day.
Later we have the opportunity to visit the Red Mountain Estate vineyards. It is the only winery in the country. Needing some time to catch up on my blogs, I opted not to go. It is time to pack up and head to Mandalay tomorrow morning
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