Inle Lake, floating farms, acrobatic fishermen and fascinating villages

On our tour of Myanmar with Stray Asia, we arrived by boat after doing a two day trek near Kalaw, Shan State.

After lunch at a cafe of noodles, avocado salad (which I REALLY got to enjoy this time!) a peanut salad, assortment of fruit and a coke, we walked to the river where we caught a boat that took us up Inle lake to the Sin Yaw guesthouse in Nyaung Shwe . Along the way we say lots of water farming and fishermen, one of whom entertained us with his gymnastic ability to manipulate his net.

 

Acrobatic fisherman

Nice fish!

Floating farm

Everyone knows how to use a boat. It’s primary transportation

Navigation channels

Dinner was entertaining as we enjoyed some amazing Indian food at the Innlay Hut which is owned by a fellow obsessed with Eminem. It’s definitely different and not for those easily offended with his f*** Trump tee shirt and rapper way of speaking. At one point he got on his hands and knees and sprayed our feet with bug spray.  Interesting character to say the least!  I think his mom cooks the food which is delicious.  All 5 of us had a different dish and all were really good.  Indian food may be my new favourite.

The next day we took a boat tour of Inle Lake and a few of the 80 villages on it. It seems each village has a speciality In one they wove cloth out of lotus, silk and cotton and made longyis, scarves and a few clothes. Another is into boat building and carpentry. Silversmiths reside in another, and there are lots of floating farms. They all seem to work very hard for very little money and are very family oriented.

Later we climbed in a chariot (tuk tuk) and visited the local winery to do some wine tasting and watch the sun go down over the valley.

Floating farms on Inle Lake

Typical village home on Inle Lake

Weaving

Women from a tribe in the mountains who adorn themselves with brass rings to give the appearance of a long neck.

Making ciagrs

Inlay Lake village homes

Navigating the “streets” of a village in Inle Lake

Inle Lake market. San buying sticky rice treats

Fried ants anyone?

Market

Everyone goes to the market

How’s that for tight parking spots?

Inle Lake village home

Gathering lake weeds to use for fertilizer

Weeds make great fertilizer

Random stupa

Going out for dinner in our longyis

11 thoughts on “Inle Lake, floating farms, acrobatic fishermen and fascinating villages”

  3. The necks look elongated but what is actually happening it that their shoulders are being pushed down. The rings also cause atrophy of the neck muscles to a point that they can no longer hold up their heads without the rings.

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    • Yes. They never take the rings off their necks. They’re solid brass and very heavy. She showed us how they adjust them to make sleeping easier as well as how they clean them and the neck underneath. Sometimes they remove the rings from their legs as they’re just for decoration but the neck rings are important to them.

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  5. Pingback: Mandalay | Where in the world is Grandma?

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