Inle Lake - Myanmar (Burma)

March 2013

Day 1:

Beautiful Inle Lake, in the highlands of Shan State, is one of Myanmar's top tourist destinations. It is served by Heho Aiport, which is where we land after a short flight from Bagan. To our astonishment there is an immigration booth. We have just arrived on a domestic flight, so I have no idea why our passports and visas get checked again, but they do.

Heho Airport, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We spend about an hour in a car, for the first time in Burma we are driving through some hilly terrain. We pay a 5 USD fee to enter the Inle Lake area, which I knew about. What does surprise me is that we need to pay for our 9 year old daughter too. So far all entrances in this country were free for her.

En-route from Heho Airport to Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

En-route from Heho Airport to Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We reach the village of Nyaungshwe, where we transfer to a narrow wooden boat so typical to the lake. When the engine is off I constantly feel like we are going to tip over. When the engine is on the noise is deafening. Life vests and umbrellas (against the burning sun and splashing water from passing boats) are provided.

Boats lined up in Nyaungshwe, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

The boat ride is absolutely lovely. Most of it is not on the lake itself, but on the Nan Chaung canal. As we will soon find out it is quite hard to determine where the lake starts anyway, because it is surrounded by large areas of marshes.

Leaving Nyaungshwe, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Nan Chaung Canal, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Nan Chaung Canal, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

The area is famous for it's abundance of waterfowl, in fact we pass a sign declaring that this is the "Inle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary". We see plenty of birds, unfortunately my wildlife photography skills are no match for the combination of shaky boat and moving animals.

I do a bit better with stationary targets, the stilt bamboo houses so common on the lake. There are entire villages built over the water.  Seeing these it really sinks in how much life is lived not only around the lake, but also directly on the lake. Watching people going about their everyday chores, like washing the dishes, on the steps of these houses, is a unique experience.

Stilt houses, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Stilt house, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Stilt house, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

By far the most famous, and perhaps most bizarre, feature of Inle Lake is the traditional leg rowing practiced here.  Pretty much any picture you see of the lake is likely to show a fisherman rowing with his leg. But for some reason I thought that this was an already disappearing tradition, perhaps only practiced by a handful of old man, or simply as a demonstration for tourists. To my surprise leg rowing is very much alive, and we constantly see it being used on the lake.

Leg rowing, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

As we approach our hotel, the Inle Princess Resort, the engine is switched off, and a young man hops on-board to leg-row us into our destination. This happens every time we arrive to or leave the hotel, I wonder if it is simply a way to keep the noise of the engines away from the hotel (they really are very noisy).

Another interesting thing we see here is a bamboo "speed-bump" stretched out across the water. We will be seeing many of these around villages on the lake.

Arriving to Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Leg-rowing to Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

"Speed bump" in front of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We get a lovely welcome to the hotel by the super friendly staff. Too bad that this experience is quickly destroyed by a less friendly manager, who handles a double-booking mistake in our airport pickup in a very unpleasant manner.

Still fuming from this nasty exchange, and determined not to let it destroy our stay, we head to the restaurant terrace for a late lunch. The food (in my case baked Shan tofu with vegetables) is good and the view is lovely. There is a little island just in front of us, with resident rabbits. A local farmer brings his water buffalo there every day (farmer in boat, animal swimming) , so my guess is that the island is part of his farm.

Restaurant of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

View from restaurant terrace, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

One of the fun statues on the restaurant terrace, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shan tofu with vegetabes, Inle Princess Resort restaurant, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Indoor restaurant, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Our room is actually a standalone cabin, with very pleasant Shan-style decoration, and, in the spirit of the place, a boat-shaped bathtub. Lots of things seem to be boat-shaped here, like the counter in the restaurant and even the peanut dish in the bar (excellent nuts by the way!). The only thing which baffles me about our room  is its size. It really is unnecessarily enormous.

Boat-shaped bathtub in our room, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Our private terrace has a view of the lovely grounds, and our daughter is thrilled to discover that there is a bird-watching kit in the room (complete with binoculars and a book) which she can use during our stay. She will be carrying it everywhere we go.

This being a cabin surrounded by nature, the occasional ant in the bed is normal, but otherwise the room is very clean. There is no TV, but there is a phone, which is only useful to call reception. In general telephone usage is annoyingly cumbersome in this country. We experienced it already when we tried to call the Burmese hotels from our home in France. Even if we were successful at getting connected, the line was usually so bad that we could barely understand what was being said. And trying to place an international call from Burma in most (even fancy) hotels requires going to reception, where they seem to have one special cell phone for international calls, which they will dial for you as long as it takes to get through. Usually at least for 10 minutes. And the price reflects the effort.

Terrace of our room, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

View from our room, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

At 5:30 pm we head to the restaurant terrace for drinks in the sunset. The local Sauvignon Blanc  (Lonely Planet calls Shan state "the Bordeaux of Burma") is very pleasant, even for my taste buds so spoiled by years of living in France. But the main attraction is the view. The fiery red sun reflecting on the water is absolutely breathtaking. And yes, there are men leg-paddling into the sunset. Lovely.

Leg-rowing into the sunset, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Sunset, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Sunset, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

In the distance we see what looks like a quite large fire ball creeping up the mountainside. The locals don't seem to care, so I assume it's something they are used to. We ask the waitress, who simply shrugs her shoulders and says "fire ladder", which makes me think that it's some sort of religious ceremony. But Kinkin, a very friendly lady at reception, explains that it is harvest time now, and farmers burn their fields after harvest. That's what the fire is. And that's why we have seen smoke rising from various locations during the afternoon.

"Fire ladder" on the mountainside (the orange dot in the middle) Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

In the room, there are earplugs on the night-table, courtesy of the hotel. According to the accompanying letter, it's the time of the Buddhist Lent, and the chants of the monks can get quite noisy. But we don't hear anything. It's a quiet night.

Day 2:

We wake up at 7 am and it's chilly. For the first time in Burma I need to wear a sweater. We can hear the helicopter-like noise of the boat motors in the distance.

Morning view from restaurant terrace, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Morning view from restaurant terrace, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Morning view from restaurant terrace, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

After breakfast they escort us to our waiting boat and introduce us to the boat driver. We are heading out for a whole day on the lake. Based on what we want to see Kinkin, the very nice lady at reception, prepared a numbered list of stops for us. It's in both English and Burmese, which makes it easier to communicate with our boat driver. If we for example want to skip something, we can just explain this by pointing to the list. This makes me feel good, given the difficulties we experienced when trying to communicate with our Bagan taxi driver a couple of days earlier.

A young man leg-rows us out to the bamboo speed-bump then hops off, and the noisy engine comes on. We see lots of ducks, many stilt houses, and even what looks like a movie screen rising above the water. Could it really be? A drive-in movie theater Inle Lake style?

Leg rowing out of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Stilt house, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Ducks on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Is it a movie screen in the distance? Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

After a couple of minutes we reach the open water and we accelerate even more. At this speed it is quite cold, even under the covers provided to us. But the approximately one-hour ride is worth it. There is so much life out on the water. We see a lot (a lot!) of leg-paddling fishermen and a group of people harvesting seaweed (to be used in their famous floating gardens - more about these later). There are also lots of birds out here.

Seaweed harvest, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Watching the fishermen work I can guess where the idea of the uncomfortable-looking leg-rowing came from. Paddling with their leg frees up one of their hands, making it possible to handle the net while rowing. Makes sense.

Leg-rowing on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Fisherman, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Fisherman, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Leg-rowing fisherman, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Fisherman, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

One of the must-dos on my list was visiting the floating market at Ywama, but Kinkin told us that, because of the low water levels, it is not held these days. She proposed a visit to Nampan's market instead, and that's where we are heading. I have read that markets rotate in a 5-day cycle through various villages around the lake, so I made sure to check with Kinkin (twice) that it really is at Nampan today. Imagine our surprise when we get there and there is ... nothing.  We pull up to a place, the driver points to the empty space and says "Nampan market". We just look at each other, is he joking? Just to make sure I ask "Nampan market? No market today?". The answer: "sorry, no market". Well, the sightseeing didn't start out very well, but I am not really annoyed. The ride itself was worth it. And I like Nampan. With all of it's houses built on stilts above the water I find the village picturesque. There is a certain Venice-like quality about Nampan, in fact the hotel booklet calls it "the Venice of the East".

 Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Dog on the stairs of a stilt house,  Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Speed bump, Nampan, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Empty Nampan market, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We haven't really seen any tourists yet, but I am sure there are some, judging by the number of really good-looking restaurants in this area. They look quite fancy compared to the surrounding villages, so my guess is that they were not built for a local clientele.

Golden Kite Restaurant, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Off we go, to our next sightseeing stop. Let's hope we will have more luck this time.

Stilt house and outhouse, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Stilt houses, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Stilt houses, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

On Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Birds on the fence of a hotel, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We enter a narrow canal, and are heading toward the village of Indein (also spelled Inthein). The boats here are passing each other at high speeds, and way too closely for my comfort. Another slightly unnerving aspect are the "gates" or "steps" we have to go through. I am not sure what these are called or what purpose they serve (other than giving me a heart attack). They are basically barriers made of pieces of wood, with an opening just wide enough to fit the local boats. And when I say "just wide enough" I am not exaggerating. Sitting in the boat it looks almost impossible that we can squeeze through, but we always do. And not really "squeeze". More like "zoom". These barriers create "steps up" in the water, and the boat  has to actually accelerate to "jump up". Needless to say, our 9-year old is thrilled by the ride and can't wait to repeat it downstream.

On the canal toward Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Approaching a barrier on the canal toward Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Approaching a barrier on the canal toward Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Boat traveling through one of the barriers on the canal toward Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

While my daughter is shrieking from happiness on the roller-coaster-like ride, I distract myself by admiring the beautiful scenery. There is plenty of natural beauty here, but what I find most amazing are the romantic scenes of rural life along the canal. Children playing in the water. Entire families taking a bath. A man watching his swimming water buffaloes. Men and women carrying heavy loads along the canal (it never ceases to amaze me how other people's hard work can look so picturesque to a well-rested, lazy observer like me).

A man watching his water buffaloes, canal toward Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

On the shore of the canal toward Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

The arrival to Indein (Inthein) is a complete anti-climax. There are way too many tourists, and we are dropped off basically into a touristy handcraft market. So my first impression is not the most favorable. But if I look hard enough, past the crowds of foreigners, I can see charming scenes of local life. OK, let's give this place a chance.

Arriving to Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Arriving to Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Handcraft market, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Behind the handcraft market we take a quick look at the ruins of the Shwe Inn Tain Monastery, then stroll between more market stalls and across a bridge toward the village's main sight.

Shwe Inn Tain Monastery, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Monastery, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Hats for sale at the Indein (Inthein) market, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Children at the Indein (Inthein) market, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

People, animals, dishes and clothes getting washed in the canal, Indein (Inthein) , Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

The main reason why tourists flock to this village is Shwe Inn Tain Paya (Pagoda), which contains 1054 stupas. A covered stairway leads up the hill, and, as customary in Myanmar's temples, there are plenty of market vendors in here to keep our eyes busy.

Access to Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Traditional local bags for sale, Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Having just arrived from amazing Bagan, with its thousands and thousands of temples, I don't expect to be impressed. Inle Lake is the fourth stop in our Burma trip, and we are starting to suffer from pagoda-fatigue. How many more of these can we see? But as soon as the first stupas appear, my jaw drops. There seems to be an infinite number of them, densely packed next to each other, old and new, one more beautiful than the other. Especially the older structures, which create an almost other-worldly atmosphere. A very special place!

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya interior, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

At this point our daughter couldn't care less about stupas or pagodas. The local dogs have her undivided attention (though we don't allow her to touch). There seem to be more of them than in any other temple we visited. Many of them are puppies, like the really cute one who seems to have crawled out of a bucket of green paint.

Lots of tourists and lots of dogs, Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Puppy with green paint stains, Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Puppy paw-prints, Shwe Inn Tain Paya, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Back to the village, where we stroll through the more interesting part of the market, the one with spices, dried fish and other goodies. Yes, Kinkin was wrong. The 5-day rotation brought the market to Indein (Inthein) today, not to Nampan.

Children, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Women doing laundry, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Women doing laundry, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Women carrying a load,  Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Food vendor at the Indein (Inthein) market, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Fish for sale at the Indein (Inthein) market, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Food vendors at the Indein (Inthein) market, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

It's very hot by now, so we have a drink at the waterfront. The place is quite a zoo, with tourists, locals, and boat drivers all converging at this location. There are a huge number of boats waiting for tourists they dropped off, and for a moment I am worried that we will not find ours. But the driver finds us, and we set out again, back on the fun ride down the canal.

Boats, Indein (Inthein), Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Kinkin has put a couple of workshop visits on our schedule, and we are seasoned enough travelers to know what these mean. A little demonstration, a little tour, and then (no pressure) the hope that we buy something. I don't particularly mind, as I know that this is a way to support the local economy. But I also don't want to spend my day hopping from one workshop to another. So my husband and I agree that we will only visit two.

We start with a silversmith, where, as expected, we get an explanation on how the jewelry is made, then end up in front of the store displays. It's not cheap, but it's quite nice, so my husband buys me a necklace - you might say that it was my woman's intuition which made me not skip this workshop :-).

Silversmith workshop, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We skip the traditional umbrella making and Shan paper making, but we do stop at a souvenir shop. It is the only store which I really wanted to visit, though probably for all the wrong reasons. As a way of attracting tourists, this shop employs Padaung "giraffe women", whose necks have been made unnaturally long by the tradition of wearing heavy brass neck-rings.

The Lonely Planet book calls their employment as tourist-lure exploitation, and apparently the UN has compared it to the treatment of zoo animals. So I am quite conflicted about coming to see them. I am very much against any traditions causing this kind of irreversible deformation of the body, at the same time I am terribly curious. I have seen pictures of these women since I was a child, and, growing up in Central Europe, I never thought that I would ever have a chance of meeting them in person. Now that chance presented itself. Should I not take it?

I tell myself that it's OK. This tradition was here long before tourism started, and if a poor woman has to live her life with those heavy rings around her neck, she might as well make a little money from it. It's probably a dying tradition anyway, so soon there will be no more "giraffe women" to see. After all this rationalization I am ready to meet them.

You can imagine my horror when I get off the boat, and the "giraffe woman" who greats us is really only a "giraffe girl". My heart sinks. She is barely older than my daughter. She is waving at me, encouraging me to take pictures of her, but I feel so guilty that I can't even take a decent one. It doesn't help that some of the rings are displayed on a nearby table, so that we could feel their weight. They are even heavier than I thought. I feel bad. Obviously I didn't educate myself enough before coming here. I simply assumed that it was a dying tradition, and that I will only see very old women wearing the rings. I am sad to find out that they are still doing this to children.

Padaung "giraffe girl", Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Padaung "giraffe women", Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

I can't get the girl out of my head for a while, as we head to our next stop, lunch at the Inthar Heritage House (or IHH, as the locals refer to it). We passed a whole bunch of very appealing restaurants already, but we are coming to this one at the recommendation of Kinkin, for a special reason. The building houses a Burmese cat sanctuary!

Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

The IHH building is lovely, and we sit on the pleasant terrace admiring the view of the surrounding fields. Once again, charming rural scenes playing out in front of us (or, more cynically, others working hard in the baking sun, while we are relaxing in the shade and staring at them).

View from Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

View from Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

View from Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

For lunch I have Inthar-style grilled lake fish, which comes complete with its head and a lot of bones, but is really delicious (is that lemongrass I am tasting in it?)

Inthar-style grilled lake fish, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

My daughter is too excited to finish her lunch. What she really wants is to visit the cats. Based on the guidebook, I was planning to visit a monastery called the Nga Hpe Kyaung (also called Jumping Cat Monastery), where the monks trained the cats to jump through hoops. But Kinkin claims that tourist visits are not possible anymore, and she recommended the Burmese Cats Preservation House at IHH instead.

The cat sanctuary has an indoor and outdoor section, and it is quite obvious that no expense is spared in the care of these furry cuties. The outdoor part is actually a Burmese Cat Village, complete with little houses. Wow! We can walk through it and play with the cats. Of course at the end we have to drag our daughter away.

Humorous cat warning sign at the entrance of the Burmese Cats Preservation House, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Indoor part of the Burmese Cats Preservation House, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Cat at the Burmese Cats Preservation House, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Burmese Cat Village, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Burmese Cat Village, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Burmese Cat Village, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Burmese Cat Village, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Cat at the Burmese Cats Preservation House, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Cat at the Burmese Cats Preservation House, Inthar Heritage House, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

After lunch we skip the silk and lotus weaving and blacksmith workshops Kinkin planned for us, and set out on the open lake instead. But not before snapping even more pictures of the farmers working on the fields nearby. The sun is baking incredibly hard by now, I can't imagine having to work out there in this heat. But it is quite a photogenic scene.

Farmer working on the field, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Farmers working on the field, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Bird, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Stilt house, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Leg-rowing fisherman Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Fisherman Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Fisherman, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

One of Inle Lake's most famous features are it's floating gardens. At first glance they are pretty, but not particularly special. That is until one realizes what they really are. A perfect example of human ingenuity. Not enough dry land to grow crops? No problem. Gather some seaweed from the deeper parts of the lake (we have seen this done earlier today). Make them float in long rows, anchored by bamboo poles. Cover the weeds by mud, sow some seeds, and voila...a floating garden. It rises and falls with the water levels, so it is flood-resistant.

When I first read about these I couldn't really imagine how they looked and how they worked. I thought they were just little patches of veggies somehow floating on the water. What I see here is completely different. Miles and miles of tidy green rows, alternating with the blue stripes of water the farmers use to access the plants (yes, all work is done from boats). It's pretty, fascinating, and covers a much larger area than I expected.

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We pass through a village, then more floating gardens. At times the passageways we enter are so narrow that our boat gets stuck. Luckily everything around us seems to be floating, so, even though it's quite thick vegetation, it can be pushed aside just enough to squeeze through.

Leg-rowing, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

A boy washing his hair, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Intersection Inle Lake style, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Bird at the floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

In places the vegetation is so lush that it's almost impossible to imagine that the plants are all floating on the surface of the water. I find it hard to believe that they are not somehow growing out from the bottom of the lake. Luckily we pass a farmer in the process of creating a floating garden, the various layers still clearly visible. Seeing this "skeleton" of a garden  really helps me to understand how the process actually works.

The making of a floating garden, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

The making of a floating garden, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Floating garden, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

And right here, in the middle of all these floating gardens, is our last stop of the day, the Kela Monastery.

 Arriving to Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

A boy by Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Interior of Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Boy at Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Architecturally speaking the monastery is not much to look at, but the monks are very friendly, and the view from the windows over the endless floating gardens is beautiful.

View of floating gardens from Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

View of floating gardens from Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

But I don't think the view is the reason why Kinkin sent us here. I suspect it has more to do with the monastery's non-human residents. Plenty of cats, who seem to rule the place. And one slightly neurotic monkey. My daughter is completely in love with one of the cats, and the feeling seems mutual. I like the monkey, though the monkey doesn't seem to like me. My camera makes it nervous for some reason.

Cats, Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Monkey, Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Monk and monkey bidding farewell to us, Kela Monastery, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

More floating gardens, more stilt houses, more fishermen rowing with their legs and many more birds later we get back to the hotel.

Stilt houses and floating gardens, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 On Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Fisherman on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Leg-rowing fisherman on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

After drinks on the terrace we stroll around the beautiful hotel grounds. Up to now I was so focused on the lake, that I didn't realize how pretty the dry land was. We check out the spa, the open yoga (or wedding?) pavilion and the pretty cool meditation chamber.

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Meditation room, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Candle holder, meditation room, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Grounds of Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

If we can believe the booklet left in our room, the hotel goes into great lengths to be environmentally friendly. This includes growing their own herbs, spices and vegetables, and we stroll by these gardens as well.

Herb and vegetable garden, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Herb and vegetable garden, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Another aspect of being environmentally friendly is that many objects used at the hotel are made on the premises. There are pottery making, traditional paper making, wood carving, lacquer-ware and basket weaving workshops on the grounds. They are all closed during our evening walk though.

Pottery workshop, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

While looking for the workshops we wander into what seems to be staff-quarters, and there, to my daughter's delight, we stumble upon a large monkey cage. I have no idea what the purpose of these monkeys is and why they are kept captive in the hotel.

Monkey, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Once we finally manage to convince our 9-year old to leave the monkeys, we head to a waterfront terrace for drinks. The sunset is not as spectacular as yesterday, but the view is enjoyable anyway.

Sunset, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Sunset, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Sunset, Inle Princess Resort, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Then it's back to the room to pack. It will be an early start tomorrow.

Day 3:

We wake up at 5:30 am (ouch!). It's still dark and quite cold. According to reception breakfast starts at 5 am, but at 6 the buffet is still not set up, so we need to order from the menu. This makes for a quite slow meal and we struggle to get to the boat on time.

We were told that we could have gone to the airport by car only (skip the boat part), which would have meant waking up 30 minutes later. While normally we would jump on the opportunity to sleep-in a bit more, we don't want to miss this last chance of seeing the lake in all it's morning glory.

And we are not disappointed. The morning mist rising from the water and the sun coming up behind the mountains provide a lovely backdrop to the hustle and bustle of people going about their morning chores.

Morning mist on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Morning mist, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Morning on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

Sunrise, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

We reach Nan Chaung canal, which, at this time of the day very much reminds me of a rush-hour highway. In addition to all the boats of locals going about their daily business, there are also plenty of boats shuttling tourists to the airport.

As I sit here, surrounded by so much activity, it mind-boggles me how the lake can stay so clean with so many people living and working on it. But it is, as far as I can tell, remarkably clean.

Morning rush-hour on Nan Chaung canal, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

 Birds, Nan Chaung canal, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

After the 30-minute boat ride we transfer to a car, for the 1-hour drive to Heho airport. Just like on the water, we see plenty of scenes of local life, mostly people on their way to work and school.

Monks on the road from Inle Lake to Heho airport, Myanmar (Burma)

Scenery on the road from Inle Lake to Heho airport, Myanmar (Burma)

Women walking on the road from Inle Lake to Heho airport, Myanmar (Burma)

Morning commute on the road from Inle Lake to Heho airport, Myanmar (Burma)

At the airport we go through passport control again. Bizarre, considering that we are departing on a domestic flight. As in other places in Burma, we get stickers on our t-shirts, color-coded based on the flight we are taking. The airport is crowded with tourists, many elderly. It's a bit of a zoo, as the waiting room serves a couple of flights leaving around the same time, and the only announcement is an airline employee weaving a sign with the flight number (depending on the airline a loud-speaker might also be used). Finally it's our flight. We are heading back to fascinating Yangon, where our Burma adventure started almost two weeks ago.

Flight announcement, Heho airport, Myanmar (Burma)