Stuck on Inle Lake with Leon

We left early one morning for our flight to the Inle Lake area.  Actually, the name – Inle Lake - is redundant.  The word “le” translates to lake in the native language, so we English speakers are actually saying: In Lake Lake.   But, redundant or not, Inle Lake is commonly used now, including on entrance tickets where it is spelled Inlay Lake.  And, inlaid it is.  Inle Lake is nestled in a valley, with foothills on either side.

We loved the Inle Lake area.  The place where we stayed had free bicycles available, so after checking in, we jumped on, rode through the town and then out into the countryside.   The surrounding area was filled with tree-lined roads, cutting through a patchwork of sorghum and vegetables plots.  Leon, Beth, and Jim decided to see if they could rent a boat to take them out for a short ride on the lake.  I knew we were going out all the next day, so I decided to poke around and slowly ride my bike home.  For example, I took a side road to explore yet one more pagoda.  This time, I was all alone at the pagoda.  I sat in the shade, admiring its side rooms with gilded umbrella tops and little bells that tinkled in the gentle breeze.  Very peaceful.

Leon, Beth, and Jim came back filled with tales of their first sighting of the one-legged fishermen for which this area is famous.  Whatever do I mean by that?  The small fishing boats in this area usually contain one fisherman per boat.  The fisherman stands on one leg at the very back and uses one arm and his second leg to paddle and steer!  (His other hand is usually occupied with nets.)  It is amazing to see.  But because this way of fishing is so unusual, tourists like us have been flocking here to see it. Unfortunately, these fishermen need quiet to fish, and with the multitudes of tourist boats - each with a motor cobbled together from various parts, there are few quiet parts of the lake left.  Some of the fishermen have found it is much more lucrative to pose for the tourists taking pictures than to actually fish.  This is probably a way of life that will disappear.

Posing for tourists

Going to town

Fishing, with trolling net

Fishing with basket net

We're off

The next day, we all go for our lake tour.  We climb into a very long boat with a comfortable, regular lawn chair-like seat for each of us.  We four had a boat and boatman to ourselves.  We saw others with thirty, probably local people packed on one the same size. 

We set out to explore the whole lake.  We would motor for awhile, then pull up along the shore or at a small village or craft center.  

We saw -

The market at Nan Pan Village.   On Inle Lake, there is always a market along the shore somewhere, but its location rotates.  Depending on the day of the week, you go to a different area.  The one we hit happened to be the big market with “tourist goods” in the front and a “local” market in back.   The tourist stalls were lined with all kinds of artisan wares – silver items, wooden artifacts, woven goods, jewelry made from shells, etc. etc.  The local market offered fresh fish, rice and vegetables.  In either, you are expected to bargain, but the vendors do not hassle you.  If you say “no thanks,” they accept it right away.  This makes very pleasant shopping for me, and I buy a tapestry, a silver bracelet, and a wooden Buddha.  (This Buddha was “my” Buddha because she has very long earlobes as do I!)

Building a teak tourist boat

2.     Teak boats.  We stopped at one location where they were building the long tourist boats that ply the lake these days.  Jim paced one off and estimated that it was about 50 feet long.  Each was made from teak.  We asked the price, just in case we might want to have one shipped to Sharon’s cabin in Richmond, MN.  They cost about $2500.  They were also making the smaller fishing boats which cost about $400 each.  We ended up buying only three chinlons, which are small rattan balls passed from player to player in the air with one’s feet or knee.

3.     Diners on stilts.  We ate lunch in a restaurant built on stilts in the water.  It was some of the best food we had in Myanmar.  Jim had a whole fish – and it was fresh!  I had a tealeaf salad that tasted something like pesto.  It was made with fermented tealeaves, sesame seeds, garlic, nuts, and rice.  I liked it.

Yummy!

 In Paw Khone Village, we visited a silk weaving center.  They did have beautiful silks.  But, what really caught our attention was the lotus weaving.  I had never heard of lotus weaving.  They demonstrated the whole process.  They take lotus plants, then cut into the stem about every 6-8 inches.  When pulled apart, fibrous threads are exposed. 

Sticky fibers are exposed

These sticky fibers are rolled together by hand into a slightly thicker thread.  Those are spun with others to get yet a thicker thread.  

Finished lotus "thread"

Weaving lotus cloth

After dying them in dyes, they are loom-woven into cloth.  

The cloth that results looks like linen, but is much
softer.  They said it was warm to wear in cool
temperatures, and cool in warm.  

They were selling lotus cloth for more money than silk,
and I could understand why.  This process is extremely
labor intensive.  They told us that one person can cut
into 16 meters of stalks a day on average, and that it takes around 4000 lotus plants to make a piece of material big enough to make one woman’s long skirt!     

Hand-dying

All the colors

Lotus scarves - natural dyes

Ywa Ma Village is known for its paper and umbrella making… and its long-necked ladies.  The Shan paper they make is from the roots of mulberry bushes.  The roots are smashed, mixed with water, spread thinly across a window screen, and left to dry.  The paper that results is beautiful, with pieces of the root pulp giving it a very textured look.  Shan paper is fashioned into small books or into handmade umbrellas for use as sunshades and as home decorations around lights.  I will attempt to hand-carry one umbrella home, but it may get broken in the journey.  We’ll see.

Pounding mulberry roots

Paper umbrella makers

Also at this village was one family from a minority group called Palaungs who admire long necks in women.  The girls, starting around age 9, wear broad brass rings to stretch their necks.  They put on more and more rings until they have necks that resemble giraffes.  At Ywa Ma, we met two Palaung sisters who each had one daughter.  They were singing for the tourists who stopped.  

I talked for a short time with the daughters.  These two cousins were about age 16 now, and wore about ten neck rings each.  I didn’t count the rings on their mothers’ necks, but I would guess that they were wearing over twenty.  I lifted one set of rings and found them extremely heavy!  It’s a good thing I wasn’t born as a Palaung.  My short neck and weak shoulders would have been pretty useless.

Long-necked lady

Cousins

Nga Phe Chaung monastery.   Jim read several posts on Trip Advisor suggesting that one skip this stop.  Also known as the “jumping cats” monastery, the monks here keep several cats and have supposedly trained them to jump through hoops.  We didn’t see any jump, but we did see cats there.  




What I liked the best, though, were the Buddhist 
paintings around the monastery.  Since I now knew more about the scenes presented, I enjoyed seeing these artistic representations. 

Carving the pages we had seen in Mandalay

Everywhere on the lake were homes on stilts and “floating gardens.”  When we asked about the history, we were told that a certain minority group had been pushed from somewhere else.  When they arrived in this area, there was no land available.  So, they lived on the water!  Somehow, they drove bamboo poles down into the bottom of the lake.  From there, they have fashioned houses onto the poles, and built hydroponic garden "bogs" between the poles.

Village street

Floating gardens

We now had been on the lake for over six hours.  We agreed to start back.  

Halfway there, we ran out of gas.  This is when Leon tells us that he always runs out of gas on boat trips!  When he and Glen traveled up the Mekong River, they ran out of gas mid-journey.  On their return trip, they ran out of gas again.  Why he didn’t tell us this before we stepped into the boat with him, I’ll never know.  

We just sang some variation of “Stuck on the River with You,” while first one boat tried to tow us in (didn't work), before another came back with gas. 

Our captain tying our boat to another's

That evening, when we relived the day over dinner, we couldn't believe all that we had seen.  And you’ll never guess the price?   All day on the lake cost us about five dollars each!  Later on, back in Yangon, we talked with an ex-pat who predicted that Inle Lake will vanish within 20 years - filled in with silt caused by shoreline erosion.  I was guiltily glad that I was able to see this incredible area now – before it is gone. 

The sign says it all!