Inle Lake

We travelled for eight hours in a tightly packed minibus from Bagan to a small town called Nyaungshwe on Inle Lake. While the town was bustling with tourists, shops and restaurants, it did not feel overrun with tourists as is often the case with small towns located near big tourist attractions. The town still had a lot of character and charm, and the bars were populated mostly by local residents rather than tourists. I imagine this is what Thailand was like 50 years ago.

We checked into our hotel at dusk and went for a walk around the entire town, which took less than an hour. We were unprepared for the chill that descended once darkness fell; at an altitude of 1,000m, Inle Lake is cool at night and we both woke up the next day with sore throats and stuffy noses.

We were up at the crack of dawn to take a day trip out on the lake and by God it was freezing. The icy predawn wind bit at our cheeks and blasted through our thin clothes as we motored through the canals towards the 116km² lake. I was so grateful for the blanket given to me by our boatman.

We stopped just as the sun was emerging from behind the mountains around the lake. I greedily soaked up the sun whilst watching the local fisherman defy gravity as they balanced on their narrow canoes, carved from a single piece of wood. They have a fascinating way of rowing their boats with one leg whilst standing on the other, casting their nets with their hands. 

Fishermen on Inle Lake.

Keeping warm at dawn.

The remainder of the day involved stopping at a lot of naff tourist traps: a silverware workshop with a souvenir shop, a weaving mill with a souvenir shop, an umbrella-making workshop with a souvenir shop. It was all very pre-packaged although I enjoyed the chance to leave the boat and sit in the sun outside the shops, drinking the free hot tea.

At one of the stops Kayan Lahwi tribe women we were working at the looms weaving scarves. The women wear brass rings around their necks giving them the nickname the Long Necked Women. The rings were originally worn to discourage the men from other tribes from stealing or raping the women. They do not actually stretch the necks, rather they gradually crush the muscles in the shoulders, pushing the shoulders down and leaving the women unable to support their heads without the brass rings. These women have suffered greatly in the name of tourism; they have been taken from their villages and forced to work at tourist sights in Burma and Thailand, such as the one we visited. I took a photograph of the women and then instantly hated myself for partaking in their exploitation.

Shwe Indein

Among the more interesting stops on the tour was Shew Indein, a mountainside covered with thousands of stupas in various stages of ruin and restoration. We visited a monastery known as the Jumping Cat Monastery, where the monks used to train cats to jump (apparently this is of interest to tourists). Thankfully some animal rights activists stepped in and the cats are no longer required to jump. Finally we passed some floating gardens and stopped at a cigarette factory where Ric had a go at rolling a cigar with banana leaves.

All in all, the trip was a bit short on culture and a bit too heavy on ridiculous tourist attractions for my liking. The highlight was seeing the fishermen at work and watching the sunrise, even in spite of the cold.

Cigarette rolling.

We Stayed At…

Good Will Hotel: Decent budget room in the centre of town, $20 for an en suite double.