WT045 - INLE LAKE

The trip to Inle Lake, with starting point in the town of Nyaung Shwe, was made with one goal - to see the unusual fishermen and the floating gardens (something we missed when we were in Srinagar, India). After our early arrival by night bus, we were approached by a guy in the streets offering boat trips to the lake, which is quite common in the area and with tourists. A boat costs in average 15.000 MMK (9,30 EUR) and takes max. 6-8 people. We paid for us three and did the recommended circuit for about 6 hours, with stops in different kinds of factories - silver, tobacco, silk and cotton - one pagoda, one monastery, the local market, whose location is not always the same.

After seeing the fishermen in action, we stopped at a silver factory to observe how silver is extracted from a natural stone and transformed into beautiful jewellery pieces by skilled workers. We also learnt that most silver is produced in mixture with other metals, like copper, nickel, iron or zinc, and is rare to find 100% silver as the metal is not that flexible to work it. After the presentation, we were shown to the shop where thousand products, not only made of silver, were showcased.

The Alodaw Pauk Pagoda and the Local Market were our next destination. We were lucky to catch the market there as it seems to change location often. You can buy whatever you wish, from fruit and vegetables to clothes, or souvenirs. Also in the temple there are a few stands selling postcards, silver and jade stone figures, local handcraft, etc. The pagoda is one of the oldest and richest shrines on Inle Lake. Its stupa enshrines a gem-encrusted Shan-style Buddha and according to the legend, King Alaungsithu rebuilt the pagoda enshrining the jewelled bowl, a stone from the clouds, another stone obtained from the ivories, a pearl, four gold statues and seven silver statues. Later on, King Narapatisithu rebuilt it again and added 15 silver statues and seven jewels. All of them are still intact today. The interior is filled in gold, and people praying can exchange money for gold(or silver)-leafs to be put on the central figures.

Close to the pagoda's location is a floating town, with some services and shops available like the post office. All houses were built on an upper level from the water, using wooden stakes as a base.

The next factory we visited produced clothes and accessories made from lotus silk (rare in the world), normal silk and cotton. We watched for the first time how the silk threads are extracted from the lotus stems and together form a thicker strip, that at the end is used to weave. This is was for us a new discovery. Around thirty women work at the factory but not all weave. Souvenirs can be bought at the end of the tour, but here an advise, be careful with the extreme price tags (all in USD).

The last factory we visited was the cheroot-making factory, where I tried for the first time real tobacco but a flavoured one. You could choose from five different types - mint, anise, banana, ginger and cinnamon - and smoke on the spot. It was not that bad, the smell was as a matter of fact great but the afterwards taste didn't quite convinced me.

One of the highlights of the boat trip came right after the factory. For us a surprise, since we already knew about the long neck villages in Thailand, close to Chiang Mai, but didn't imagine that we would have the opportunity to see it "live" in Burma. The Kayan are a sub-group of Red Karen, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Myanmar. Padaung is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi, the group in which women wear the brass neck coils. The Kayan residents in Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand refer to themselves as Kayan and object to being called Padaung. In the late 1980s and early 1990s due to a conflict with the military regime in Myanmar, many Kayan tribes fled to the Thai border area. Among the refugee camps set up there was a Long Neck section, which became a tourist site, self-sufficient on tourist revenue and not needing financial assistance. The two women (two generations) we saw in the Inle Lake were part of the Kayan people that remained behind. They explained that the purpose for wearing the rings is cultural identity or beauty, and every five years another five (heavy) rings are added to the neck. In reality the neck doesn't grow bigger, it is the collarbone and clavicle that adapt to the new procedure and get lowered. Additionally, the collar feels like an integral part of the body after ten or more years of continuous use. In the same place, they manufacture clothes and lovely paper umbrellas to sell.

Finally the place we came for - the floating gardens. A series of tiny artificial islands, atop the surface of the lake, rich not only in fruit and vegetables but also in plants. The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor. The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into floating beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo poles. These gardens rise and fall with changes in the water level, and so are resistant to flooding. The constant availability of nutrient-laden water results in these gardens being incredibly fertile, giving the locals food every year around.

The Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery is a beautiful wooden monastery built on stilts around 200 years ago. It is located in the middle of the lake, in sort-of an island and is considered the oldest and largest monastery in the region. Locally known as Jumping Cat Monastery because of the cats that were trained to jump through hoops. After the death of the head monk, the trained cats have all since died or retired, and the new head monk doesn't think it proper for monks to train cats to perform tricks for tourists. However, it is still possible to see cats lazing around.