4th January 2015 - Inle lake MYANMAR (BURMA)

4th January - Inle lake MYANMAR (BURMA)


Today we set off on our trusty long tail boat again for a day travelling across and round Inle Lake.

As we set off across the lake we saw some of the leg rowing fishermen for which the lake is famous.

The Inlay Lake Fisherman - use their time honoured skills to fish.  They smack the water with an oar to attract the fish and then row with one leg.

Inlay lake from our balcony - every room had a private balcony that nobody could see

Its really had to explain how vivid the colours are early in the morning.  This is our hotel on Inlay lake.

 

Local girl sells flowers by coming alongside any boats,  Its a reminder thet $1 is normally a days pay for manual laborers, women and children earn less... The use of Thanika to cover face and protect from the sun starts very early

First stop today was a visit to one of the fishing villages to see the long necked tribal women of the Intha tribe. They have the neck rings put on gradually from the age of 8 years believe them to add beauty. They also have them on the arms and legs to protect them from snakes. We admire them as they weigh a ton ! Apparently their biggest fear superstition is around thunderstorms as they are frightened of the lightening due to the metal. We watched them weaving their traditional fabrics as well. All very interesting and Steve was first out of the blocks with the purchase of a 60 year old Buddhist hand written folding book which then got loaded onto the wobbly boat.

The mayhem of the interception point where guide boats are a sitting target for local vendors although they are never aggressive and always with a friendly smile

Keepimng the mud and silt out of the channels is a full time job

Silver ore from the nearby mountains

From there we went on to see the silversmiths for which Inle Lake is famous. It was quite amazing. In this small silversmiths in a wooden stilt house on the lake, they use silver ore (which none of us had ever seen before) grind down the powder from this and use nitric acid to extract the silver (which was demonstrated by the guy waving a jar of this around. No health and safety here as that could melt bones !!) From there they melt the silver in a tiny furnace and pour it into trays to hallmark it and from there beat it manually to make jewellery and offering trays for the temples. We watched them making earrings & bracelets of the most delicate designs, all quite beautiful.

We regret to advise that both women were struck down by the lesser known "must have one" syndrome and soon after we were loading pur next purchases onto the wobbly boat.

A Young David Beckham is still the factory pin up

The whole town is on stilts

The Buddha Barge although it not clear why he wants one - there is a massive boat race every April where this great monster gets wheeled out...all 140 feet of it.  With a nation on about $1 dollar a day, its sickening to see the size of the military vanity projects

Sex Sells - in a lake of nothing and the people ern next to nothing ....am advert for a video camara!!!

On to the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda where there are 5 sacred Buddah images. Everyone who goes there buys gold and hammers some gold leaf on to the Buddahs, so the results if they are now 5 gold unidentifiable blobs !  The Pagoda was packed as it was full moon (still a lot of animist superstition mixed in with the Buddhism here), national independence day (so a holiday) and a Sunday, so we got to see lots of the local & tribal people at worship. They however stared at us more than we stared at them !! Steve was followed round by 4 little boys who thought he was a giant ! 

Water is provided by charities and not the government

Stupas are very impressive and range in all sizes but after you see them everywhere, it gets less remarkable but actually they really are

Remarkable, this is lotus stems dried and woven into cloth

Everyone wears the traditional clothes, longi’s, both men and women, which are very pretty fabrics and look very elegant. We stopped off at the local weaving centre and watched the women making not only silk longi’s but also silk and lotus root. From the water root of the lotus flower they extract a strong silk like twine which is fine and very strong & use this to mix with the silk. The fabrics and colours were just stunning.

 Needless to say Mandy and Janette could not resist, and Mandy came out with a beautiful green longi and Janette a silk and lotus root shawl and duly loaded the purchases onto our very wobbly boat

The cigar maker enjoying her own products 

The cigar ladies earn 70p per day (about $1)

By this time after the silversmith and the weaving, Steve and Paul were hyperventilating at the expenditure so off we went to the cigar factory, another bamboo shack on stilts where local women make cheroots and cigars. All in all just fascinating the creative and diverse traditional industries they have developed on the lake.

Next was a trip through one of the fishing villages and the floating gardens where the villages have made beds of mud water hyacinths and use these to grow all sorts of crops including in this season tomatoes & courgettes. It’s just  amazing what people can do with so little & how inventive they are.

Wasn’t too sure about the outside toilets on the stilt houses though …


On then to the Jumping Cat Monastery where the cats no longer jump for display, but there are still lots of Burmese cats kittens that follow the monks round the temple. Very funny to watch. The monks started to teach the cats to jump through hoops between prayer sessions for something to do but when it started becoming the thing that drew visitors about 2 years ago, the abbott stopped the practice in public. The cats looked just like Burma, the Burmese cat Janette’s mother and father had, which also used to follow her father round !

Inlay Lake at its majestic best - the most stunning sunset we ever saw. So many shades and colours

Loaded with shopping and our locals and boat passengers happy, we returned to our hotel

Back then across the lake as the day ended to our lovely hotel, to sit on the deck and watch the sunset over Inle Lake. Perfect day !

Burma does not disappoint, it is as beautiful, interesting and as different as we hoped it would be.

Exhausted, off to bed at our usual time 10.15pm.....  How the mighty have fallen!!