We left the beauty of Bagan and headed for our next destination- Inle Lake. Before getting there I had no idea of what to expect. In fact when planning the trip I questioned whether we should even include Inle Lake in our Myanmar itinerary. Reviews said it was worth seeing so here we go.

It was a short 30 minute flight from Bagan to the closest airport, Heho. When I asked why we are not simply driving there the answer was it was at least an eight hour drive. Obviously the road infrastructure here is not that great.

Surprisingly even on this short of a flight they served us a pastry and a beverage. US Airlines would have simply said the flight was too short to offer beverage service. Not only that the flight was on time!

We were met, as promised, by our new tour guide, Zaw. The first surprise of the visit was we would be driving about 1 hour to the lake shore where we would transfer to a boat to make the 20 minute trip to our hotel.

The landscape has changed. We are in an area of hills and more trees, situated about 2,900 feet above sea level. The view from the plane showed many farm fields, reminding me of a patch quilt.  The road, although a main thoroughfare through the region, was two lanes and driving was not fast.

However the time went quickly and we soon arrived at the “boat terminal” which presented surprise #2.  Our “boat” was a long (~ 30 feet), narrow wooden boat powered by a one cylinder engine with a straight shaft to the propeller. They are called “long boats” and are the main (only?) mode of transport on the water. There are individual wooden chairs for the passengers but we did note there were life vests, blankets and even umbrellas for us. Our luggage was loaded onboard and within minutes we were on our way, via this waterway to the lake proper. We then had a beautiful, sunny, ~20 minute ride, cruising along at about 20 mph on this fairly large(45 sq. mile) shallow (5-12 feet deep) lake.

Surprise #3 was reaching our lakeshore hotel (Myanmar Treasure Resort). It is built over the water with individual cottages for guests located along a wooden boardwalk suspended above the water. Although there is a road to the hotel virtually all the guests arrive by water. We pulled into the dock where hotel personnel helped us out of the boat and unloaded our luggage.  Needless to say our wives really thought they were going to like this place. For the record I felt the same. At first glance, this was a really, really lovely place!

 

We went to our rooms where we were pleasantly surprised by the decor, the canopied beds, a covered veranda overlooking the water AND an outdoor shower! Now we all were sure we would like this place.

We reconvended with our guide to start our exploration of the lake. Surprise #4 soon emerged. Generations of Intha (the local ethnic group) people have lived on this lake and adapted to the ecosystem that it offers. We motored past “floating gardens” where they grow vegetables of all types. The gardens were developed by capturing floating patches of hyacinths, anchoring them with bamboo poles, and gradually building them up with mud from the lakebed, ultimately creating the land they now farmed on-ingenious! This was probably the precursor to hydroponics as we know it today. The various beds are separated by waterways so the farmers can easily get to their fields.

Leaving the farming area we next toured their villages-surprise #5. Their homes are built on stilts over the water-fascinating, to say the least.  To go anywhere you either go by boat or swim. There’s is no walking over to see a neighbor in this village. The homes are laid out in a street fashion but separated by water, rather than concrete.  Electricity is available to them but not all have indoor plumbing. Potable water must be retrieved from centralized water stations located in the village. We could not imagine their lives.

Lunch was at a local waterfront, floating (obviously) restaurant where we again were served traditional Burmese food. Afterwards we stopped (docked) at the local village Buddhist temple to see a rather unique set of small Buddha statues that have been and are continuously being covered with gold leaf by worshipers. What make them unique is that the statues have so much gold on them that they have lost any resemblance to Buddha and now look like round gold colored balls!

We also made two stops in the village to see some local craft people at work. the first stop was at a weaving business where women were making thread from fibers in the stem of the lotus plant (I did not know you could do that), then weaving cloth using a combination of lotus and silk threads. The second stop was at a boat builder to watch them hand-making long boats from teak wood.

It was then back to the hotel so that we could enjoy the evening sunset from the outdoor cocktail lounge that overlooked the lake. It turned out to be a spectacular show of mother nature, enhanced by a hotel employee portraying a local fisherman on the water and posing for pictures for guests. I have included my “Kodak” moment picture from that evening.  Of course the evening was enhanced by the $4 cocktails and free freshly made burmese snacks they were serving on the lakefront deck.

Being isolated and having had another big lunch we simply decided to grab a light dinner at the hotel. There was a featured BBQ buffet tonight and we were not hungry enough for that, but they did offer an ala carte menu that actually looked quite good. Gerry was hungry for a steak and a surf & turf option featuring Australian tenderloin priced at $20 (is that a misprint?)  that looked appealing. I settled for a tenderloin steak sandwich with fries ($12). The steaks were large and even more important, there were really tender. We both agreed they were some of the best we have had in a restaurant. Coupled with a nice bottle of Australian wine (also inexpensive), it made for a great ending of a fabulous day at Inle Lake. Then it was off to bed as we had another busy day tomorrow, exploring more of Inle Lake.