Inle Lake Myanmar
After arriving in Myanmar we jumped straight onto a 20 bus to Inle Lake in central Myanmar.
Inle lake is a natural lake 800m above sea level. It is 22km long and 11km wide. Either side isa row of beautiful mountains. Ine the daytime the temp is about 28 oC but at night it drops rapidly to 10 oC.
Shocked by this we found ourselves going early to bed and with as many layers of clothing on. Our room had no heating and when they gave us an electric fire the whole hotels lights started to flash on and off and the generator didn't like it.
Breakfast throughout the whole of Burma is egg scrambled or fried. Sweet bread toasted as pale as possible with butter and jam and a piece of fruit. We were sick of egg by the end!
We took a boat trip around Inle Lake which was fantastic. The local people are super kind and welcoming. One lady took us to her house and showed us her village. We saw the local cigarettes being made called Cheruts. Made of tobacco, tamarind, tree bark and wrapped in dried leaves.
We saw some women from the Long neck tribes. Chris almost felt a bit sick at this point. The metal around their necks is really heavy and I have to say they looked the most un happy of all the people we saw that day!
We saw silk weaving and extracting silk to weave from the lotus flower which was their local speciality. But a shirt would set you back 60 us dollars so we just window shopped.
The local fishermen steer their small boats using their legs. Quite and lot of good balance and practice must be required.
There are lots of villages dotted around the lake. Some richer and some poorer. This can be seen by the size and the quality of their houses. All make from wood and raised above the lake on stilts. The local women and men all bath and wash their clothes at the end of their jettys. They keep a sarong on whilst washing. But the water is very cold!
We also walked to a Buddist religous shrine perched up high on the mountain side. It contained 1050 stupas. Stupas are small to middleish sized religious shrines. They are solid with a small arch containg a small statue of Budda. The main part had a Pagoda - which is one where you can walk inside. They contain large Budda sculptures made from stone, wood, jade, bronze - anuthing really. The local people come and pray twice a day. They bring offerings of food and water. They also buy gold leaf and rub it on to the budda statues.
There are monks and nuns everywhere in Burma. Local people donate food and money to them all the time. It is a way of bring luck, and good health to themselves. The monks and nuns quite happily put their hands out and ask for money, food and shoes! I think maybe its bad luck if you turn them down.
A young couple showed us their wedding photos. At their wedding many of the local Monks came to share the food too. The wedding dress was beautiful and her face was made up to be very white.
All the local women made a natural sun cream by adding water to a certain tree bark and srcaping it and mixing it up. They then put it on their face. Different areas have different techniques and have different patterns. Its almost like make up and fashion is back home.
Inle lake is also full of floating gardens. They grow tomatoes. cucumber, beans, flowers etc all on these floating flower beds that are held in place with long bamboo canes. It is very beautiful.
We went to a local silversmiths and bought 2 necklaces for me. The rooms are very dark, I'n not sure how they manage to see clearly to make such beautiful delicate designs.
Inle lake is a natural lake 800m above sea level. It is 22km long and 11km wide. Either side isa row of beautiful mountains. Ine the daytime the temp is about 28 oC but at night it drops rapidly to 10 oC.
Shocked by this we found ourselves going early to bed and with as many layers of clothing on. Our room had no heating and when they gave us an electric fire the whole hotels lights started to flash on and off and the generator didn't like it.
Breakfast throughout the whole of Burma is egg scrambled or fried. Sweet bread toasted as pale as possible with butter and jam and a piece of fruit. We were sick of egg by the end!
We took a boat trip around Inle Lake which was fantastic. The local people are super kind and welcoming. One lady took us to her house and showed us her village. We saw the local cigarettes being made called Cheruts. Made of tobacco, tamarind, tree bark and wrapped in dried leaves.
We saw some women from the Long neck tribes. Chris almost felt a bit sick at this point. The metal around their necks is really heavy and I have to say they looked the most un happy of all the people we saw that day!
We saw silk weaving and extracting silk to weave from the lotus flower which was their local speciality. But a shirt would set you back 60 us dollars so we just window shopped.
The local fishermen steer their small boats using their legs. Quite and lot of good balance and practice must be required.
There are lots of villages dotted around the lake. Some richer and some poorer. This can be seen by the size and the quality of their houses. All make from wood and raised above the lake on stilts. The local women and men all bath and wash their clothes at the end of their jettys. They keep a sarong on whilst washing. But the water is very cold!
We also walked to a Buddist religous shrine perched up high on the mountain side. It contained 1050 stupas. Stupas are small to middleish sized religious shrines. They are solid with a small arch containg a small statue of Budda. The main part had a Pagoda - which is one where you can walk inside. They contain large Budda sculptures made from stone, wood, jade, bronze - anuthing really. The local people come and pray twice a day. They bring offerings of food and water. They also buy gold leaf and rub it on to the budda statues.
There are monks and nuns everywhere in Burma. Local people donate food and money to them all the time. It is a way of bring luck, and good health to themselves. The monks and nuns quite happily put their hands out and ask for money, food and shoes! I think maybe its bad luck if you turn them down.
A young couple showed us their wedding photos. At their wedding many of the local Monks came to share the food too. The wedding dress was beautiful and her face was made up to be very white.
All the local women made a natural sun cream by adding water to a certain tree bark and srcaping it and mixing it up. They then put it on their face. Different areas have different techniques and have different patterns. Its almost like make up and fashion is back home.
Inle lake is also full of floating gardens. They grow tomatoes. cucumber, beans, flowers etc all on these floating flower beds that are held in place with long bamboo canes. It is very beautiful.
We went to a local silversmiths and bought 2 necklaces for me. The rooms are very dark, I'n not sure how they manage to see clearly to make such beautiful delicate designs.
To end the day we went to a Monestry where the local Monks put on a jumping cat display. Chris hated it, it was a bit of a joke. An old monk picked up a loud speaker, it didn't work so he just announced 'jumping cats, jumping cats' all the middle aged visitors gathered quickly. Some guy - not a Monk had a little hoop. He teased the cats with food until they jumped through. The croud looked on in awe. He even woke one up that was sound alseep and made him jump. It was really quite a joke. Funny. 
Mountain Trekking
The next day we went walking up in the mountains with a guide. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was fantastic. We passed a particularly nice family all sat outside their house and happy to chat. It turns out that they won the local lottery and so could afford to build themselves a nice big bamboo hut for the family!
There are lots of familys that work the mountains growing tea leaves, food, raising cattle etc. We walked for a good 8 hours with me Anna struggling at times. We drank green tea atop the mountain at a gorgeous monastry with 2 monks and some cats. We had food cooked for us by a local family whilst playing peekaboo with their shy children. We saw huge sugar cane fields being harvested by men women and cattle with heavy laden carts to pull. It was truly a wonderful day. We made it back just in in time for the sun to set and the temp to drop. My knees were shaking at the shock of all the walking over rough teraine.
The next day we went walking up in the mountains with a guide. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was fantastic. We passed a particularly nice family all sat outside their house and happy to chat. It turns out that they won the local lottery and so could afford to build themselves a nice big bamboo hut for the family!
There are lots of familys that work the mountains growing tea leaves, food, raising cattle etc. We walked for a good 8 hours with me Anna struggling at times. We drank green tea atop the mountain at a gorgeous monastry with 2 monks and some cats. We had food cooked for us by a local family whilst playing peekaboo with their shy children. We saw huge sugar cane fields being harvested by men women and cattle with heavy laden carts to pull. It was truly a wonderful day. We made it back just in in time for the sun to set and the temp to drop. My knees were shaking at the shock of all the walking over rough teraine.
posted by Anna & Chris @ 3:16 PM
1 Comments:
Hiya Anna & Chris
Nice pics, it looks like you are quite far off the beaten track. That long neck business doesn't look like much fun!
Have fun
Love Helen & Steve
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