Inle Lake – Myanmar

inle_plane

Another short flight, and we arrive in Heho.

We’ll be staying at Nayaungshwe township, on the bank of Inle Lake, a 2 hour drive away.

umb_making

Another refreshment stop.

Several people had commented on Kay’s parasol. She takes us to visit this guy, who makes them.

The entire intricate mechanism is made on this foot powered lathe.

wine2

We’ve got free time in the afternoon, so Kay recommends the Red Mountain winery.

Sounded like a fab idea, so Kay organised a chap to take us and wait until we were ready to come back.

We get a tour of the winery and its beautiful grounds. It must be said, the climate here isn’t ideal for red wine, but the owners (from France) are convinced of its viability.

Whatever the quality of the wine, the grounds were incredibly beautiful.

wine1

We were shown around the production facility and then we did a wine tasting, including a tasting board with 4 red wines.

ihv2

Kay had also recommended somewhere nearby to eat.

lunch2

The Inle heart view had spectacular views across the valley and the food was superb.

hotel

Back to our hotel (which was superbly fitted out and practically brand new).

A gin & tonic before bed, and a good nights rest.

view2

In the morning, we wonder to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast.

As I look out on the view at the back of the hotel, its not nearly so lovely as the view at the front.

Things are improving, but many of the local people are living in poverty.

boat1

We head for the lake moorings and set off.

boat2

It’s 4 people to a boat and we take it in turns to sit at the front (the boat operator, sits at the back).

These things fly along at an exhilarating speed.

expanse

This picture gives an idea of the size of the lake (when it was my turn to sit at the front).

fisherman1

The lake is famous for its fishermen, who stand up to get better visibility of the fish, while rowing with their feet.

It has to be said, this has more to do with tourism these days, and whenever you photographed one, the hand was out straight away (and there didn’t seem to be many fish in his boat).

indiwalk1

Indein on the western banks of the lake. An intricate pagoda complex with hundreds of Shan style stupas clustered together on its hillside.

market

Funny how a walk to a major site of interest usually involves walking through a market of some kind.

indiwalk2

We reach the hillside and there are literally hundreds of small Stupas to explore

indiwalk3

Following years of decline, and with the forest reclaiming the site walking amongst these hauntingly beautiful ruins has a very Indiana Jones feel.

stilt_rest

Inn Paw Khone village.

A community of buildings on stilts.

weaving

Inside, entire industries making Silverware and Lotus fibre weaving.

lunch

They also have a restaurant and I have lunch of crinkle cut chips, egg fried rice and a bottle of the local beer.

boat_fmarket2

We head deeper into the lake.

fgarden1

Although some people make their living through tourism, others do so, from subsistence farming and literally live on the lake in huts.

collapsing

Not sure I’d want to spend a night in this particular hut, it seemed like it was about to fall down.

fgarden2

Exploring the floating garden.

name of monastry

Located on the lake, the famous Jumping cat monastery.

The previous person in charge had been famous for training cats to jump in the air and this had led to the name of the monastery being changed.

He has since died, nobody does anything with the cats, so there’s not much there to see (although its considered an iconic must-see sight in the area).

boat_making

Finally, on our way back, were shown how traditional boats are made.

one_owl_grill

After a shower and change of clothes, we decide to head into town and see a bit of the place.

We find this friendly bar, and I’m delighted to see on the menu “chip butty”. I’ve been away from home for a few weeks now, and can’t rest it.

chip_butty

So when it arrives, I’m a bit surprised. It’s basically, some oven cooked chips, in the sort of pancake you use for crispy duck.

Didn’t matter, I ate it anyway, but I’ve never seen a chip butty with so much salad 🙂

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