Inle Lake

Inle Lake is Myanmar’s second largest lake. Due to its abundance of fish and the fertile lands around, it has been feeding the people of Inle Lake, the Intha, for hundreds of years already. Most of these people still live a simple and traditional way of life with trade and craftsmanship playing an important role in their lives. The lake is very picturesque, and is one of the main tourist attractions in Myanmar. The lake is 22.4 km long and 10.2 km across and has a population of some 150,000, many of whom live on floating islands of vegetation.

We arrived early afternoon and took a slightly harrowing drive to Inle from the airport. A weird fun fact about Myanmar is that it is the only country in the world that drives on the right side of the road....IN RIGHT SIDED DRIVER CARS! The military dictatorship apparently changed the side of the road they drive on many years ago overnight, but due to the sanctions the country has been on they couldn't replace the cars with left side drive cars.
Now, imagine if you will: curvy winding road, narrow two lanes, blind corners and your driver is passing perilously...only HE CAN'T SEE IF THE LANE IS CLEAR UNTIL THE ENTIRE CAR IS DRIVING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC!!!! Oh yeah, and no seat belts, livestock on the road randomly to boot. We survived.

Our hotel is really beautiful and the nicest place we have stayed at yet...the bed is the hardest yet too though. Asian beds are all firm but this one takes the cake.

Streets of the town we are staying in.

So many watermelons!

Fields behind our hotel

 It's like sleeping on a block of wood. No matter how firm the next bed is, it will seem like a cloud compared to this one!

The first day here, we took an all day boat trip that took us through parts of the lake to see fisherman, villages, monasteries, temples and we ended at Inn Dein where an entire hillside is filled with earie super cool crumbling 17 century stupas.

We also visited one of the frequent markets around the lake. It's called the 5 day market...it floats around to different towns around the lake and a different town hosts it every 5 days. Here you could buy everything....name it, they sold it. The market serves the most common needs of the people, ranging from all sorts of local produce to tools, textiles and tobacco.

You can buy any chicken part here!!! eww....

Most women were still dressed in their traditional garments which were very bright and colorful. We wandered around, soaking in the sun and atmosphere and snapped a picture here and there. After a while people started to load their goods on small boats, some with small motors, others just being paddled or start walking home with their large baskets somehow balances on their heads.

With no roads or sidewalks to speak of, locals and visitors alike get around in one-person-wide wooden boats outfitted with outboard propellers, which emit a noisy whine when at full throttle and can be raised and lowered depending on water levels. Villages of rustic single- and two-story wooden stilt houses straddle active waterways.

Hydroponic tomato farming is also big here, based on an aquabiotic system in use since the 1960s. Cruising along channels you can see miles of floating gardens!

Watching local fishermen bring in the day’s catch was quite the sight . They stand on the stern of a wooden canoe on one foot and one leg to balance and one leg to propel a small oar in a snakelike pattern, all while holding onto a conical-shaped net bumbling with fresh fish. The rhythmic movements and balancing skills that comprise the fishermen’s unique rowing style are one of Inle Lake’s most well recognized characteristics.

Inn Dein was the coolest part. The hill is covered with hundreds of pagodas that have been abandoned to nature which has taken over. They really should be roped of and off limits to tourists because they are so fragile but you can walk through and explore. One day I'm sure they will be more closely protected. It felt a bit like Ankor Wat and we had a great time exploring. As we climbed the hill, the stupas had been restored and they all contained wind chimes on the tops which made the most amazing tinkling sound with the wind.

We spend our last day in Inle lake visiting the Pandaya Caves. 

The Pindaya cave is an important pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists. 

The cave is set in a limestone hill in Central Burma not far from Inle Lake. The hill contains three caves, only one of which is open to the public. This cave that is about 150 meters long contains thousands of Buddha images in various styles and from different eras from the early Konbaung dynasty era to present day.

Every small corner and nook of the cave is cramped with Buddha images up to the ceiling. Between the images are also a number of small pagodas as well as stalagmites and stalactites.

During the course of several centuries, thousands of Buddha images have been put inside the cave. Many statues bear the name of the person who donated it. The number of images is constantly growing since people are still adding more, by now there about 9,000.

It is not known with certainty when the first images were placed inside the cave, but the oldest ones bearing inscriptions date back to the Konbaung dynasty of the second half of the 18th century.

The view to the town below from the top of the caves.

 

The Buddha images are in different styles, representing the various eras in which they were made. Many are gold plated, others are made from teak wood, marble, bronze or other material. Many are very small, some are life size.

Some smaller sections of the cave can only be entered by crawling in them. Some of these are used as meditation chambers that contain a smaller number of Buddha statues. 

It was a good half day trip and we spend the afternoon vegging out in a local cafe having lunch and cappuccino and a really delicious lemon mousse. We left the next morning for Ngapali  Beach where we are right now and we are spending the next 4 days suntanning and reading and eating our body weight in fresh seafood.