sights around inle lake

after visiting the weaving shops

we spent the rest of the day

visiting a silver workshop,

stopping for lunch,

and visiting several monasteries.

the sights were beautiful

but some of the most memorable 

were seeing people living their day to day lives 

on the lake.

we saw kids swimming, families bathing, and school children 

paddling home on little boats.

it was a fantastic escape from reality...

-e

lunch!!

a silver smith pounding out a silver baby rattle 

burmese puppets 

the only public trash can we saw in all of myanmar...

weaving on inle lake

the first workshop we went to on inle lake

was a weaving shop.

the owner took us through the entire process 

from harvesting and creating the different threads,

(they used lotus, silk, and cotton)

then washing and dyeing,

next spooling the colored thread, 

and putting those spools onto the weaving machines

(i'm sure i missed a step or two here...).

we got to see workers demonstrating every process and they were each as fascinating as the next.

i could have stayed there for hours.

after seeing the entire process we were taken to a room

where we could buy products they had made

and i'm sure our boat driver 

got some sort of commission for anything we bought.

after being in myanmar for some time it became clear that everyone you encountered

from taxi drivers, to restaurant owners, to long distance bus operators,

any one who gave you advice on where to go or took you somewhere

got a commission from your business.

we also got to see weaving done by traditional shan women

which was captivating.

the three women we met were some of the kindest people we encountered

and used their small grasp of the english language

to say wonderful things about humans 

and how much they enjoy visitors...

-e

making lotus thread

lotus. the back one is washed, the front before washing 

silk and lotus mixed scarf 

beautiful creations

the shan method of weaving. they used cotton and silk

the most lovely shan women

five day floating market

after crossing inle lake

the first thing we did was explore the

five day floating market.

this particular market is located 

somewhere different on the lake

every day of the week.

we had a lot of fun

wandering through the many little alley ways,

finding something small to snack on,

and visiting with locals that knew english very well.

at every booth we were requested to "just looking",

so we spent over an hour visiting nearly every booth,

seeing the unique and intricately handmade goods at the market.

we then got back into the boat and were taken to visit

the workshops where all of these goods were actually made,

in little huts on stilts on the outskirts of the lake...

( more on that next time, for now just some shots form the five day market)

-e

approaching the floating market

these were called "market bags" and EVERYONE had one

this little shop was fascinating with all the local fishermen inspecting, choosing, and bargaining for new paddles

something familiar in a world of unfamiliar things

the famous myanmar betel nut being made into little bits for chewing

the "streets" of the market (the roofs pictured here are just a little over 5 feet tall so the entire time at this market we were crouching and trying not to whack our heads)

inle lake

inle lake is everything wonderful about myanmar.

just north of the lake is a small town

called nyaung shwe where you can find

tasty food, lovely guesthouses, few cars, and friendly individuals.

we stayed in a larger guest called friendly inn,

and the owners were, in fact, extremely friendly.

they were very helpful when it came to ideas for what to do around town,

helping us hire a boat for a tour around the lake and renting us bikes 

to explore the countryside on our own.

when it came to leaving the inle lake area 

they were very knowledgable about other parts of myanmar worth venturing out to.

after the horrible seven hour "bus" ride

we plopped into bed and didn't move until morning.

when we woke up we enjoyed the complimentary american breakfast 

that was offered at every single burmese guesthouse

and them hired a boat to take us around the lake.

we shared the boat with a couple from vietnam and a young man from japan

(we got to practice our newly acquired japanese phrases with him!).

we spent all day on the lake- leaving at 8am and returning at 5pm.

we got to see a huge market, several monasteries,

as well as visit multiple shops specializing in handmade goods 

from hand woven silk scarves to silver jewelry.

it was an incredible day that deserves at least a couple blog posts...

-e

this was not our boat- but it was essentially the same thing. with lawn chairs for sitting...

an inle lake fisherman

there were many guesthouses and restaurants in the middle of the lake

there were also whole villages on the lake including schools for the children to attend

a day of travel in myanmar

traveling from city to city in myanmar was

interesting.

to start with, the taxis within bigger cities

are- if you're lucky- old toyotas 

that are being held together with ducked tape and wires.

the roofs leak water when it rains

and it wasn't uncommon to see the ground moving 

through holes beneath your feet.

if you weren't as lucky

the taxi was a little motor bike 

which costs nearly the same as a car

but was putting your life in much more danger

as the driver weaved in and out of the chaotic traffic.

for longer rides we usually 

ended up on a large passenger bus 

with reclining seats and tv's 

for watching burmese music videos at full volume for 13 hours.

there was no such bus to take us from mandalay 

to our next destination of inle lake so we had to get creative.

we first took a three hour train from mandalay to thazi.

it was one of the best travel experiences,

not due the comfort of the ride (as it was absolutely not comfortable)

but for the incredible scenery we got to witness as we slowly passed by.

we got to thazi much sooner than we had anticipated

so instead of spending the night and catching another train in the morning

we hopped on a horse drawn carriage that took us to "the bus station"

where "the bus manager" arranged for a "bus" to pick us up and take us to inle lake. 

this "bus" turned out to be a truck, it's bed covered and packed with burmese travelers.

the roof was piled high with luggage and food (think ikea volkswagon bug).

we got the "special front seats" (we were crammed in the front of a manual truck with the driver)

and spent to next seven hours vowing we would never ever ever do this again.

but when we got to inle lake and saw how beautiful our surroundings were,

we stopped complaining...

-e

our train. we paid $7 for first class seats

leaving the city of mandalay

riding the train

rice fields from the train window

once you get to the smaller towns in myanmar, this is a major form of transportation 

the "bus" we spent 7 hours in

the view from our window at inle lake...