Myanmar Part 5 - Lake Inle

We arrived at Lake Inle at 6am after traveling for 12 hours and felt totally exhausted. I was full of cold and Nic had food poisoning. We collapsed into bed but unfortunately our hotel was right next to the very busy canal and the motors on the longtail boats were stupidly loud.

The people at the guest house were so nice that they made up for the constant drone of the engines. Plus, from our balcony, we could watch all the franetic activity along the canal and wave at all the Myanmar tourists in the boats. We'd come to Lake Inle for the beautiful scenety, cooler air and the famous Balloon Festival in nearby Taunggyi.

Once we'd spent a few days sleeping and recovering from our illnesses we had went on a longtail boat trip. The views were amazing and it was great to see all the local fishermen and villages on stilts. The guy below with the hamster-cheeks is chewing his Betel nut.



We went to a market that also had a monastery.


We saw these 2 ladies, wearing their traditional clothes, having a great gossip:


We went to see lots of small factories making various local crafts and I bought a traditional hand-woven bag that the Shan state is famous for. The lady/girl below wearing the traditional clothes and neck/leg rings are from the Padaung tribe in the Kayah state. They start wearing the rings around their necks from the age of 9 and increase the number every year for 10 years. The weight of the neck rings is around 7kg. It lengthens the neck and they never take them off. Very bizarre.



We visited a local village and saw some locals and animals cooling down in the river:



This dog was blending into the background when we walked around a pagoda:


The Shan state is also famous for its leg-rowing fishermen. They twist the oar around their leg so that they can hold the net with both hands. It looks very awkward but they have the most incredible balance.


We went to see some cigars being rolled and had a smoke. The cigars were very nice and cost 3p each.


Next we went to a very busy pagoda and hung out with the Myanmar tourists. Below are some Buddha relics that are covered in gold balls. The balls have grown and become odd shapes due to the amount of gold leaf that has been applied to them over the years. Only men are allowed to go near them.


Below is a lady monk. Ladies are not expected to become monks but we saw plenty of them in Myanmar. The men are expected to become a monk 3 times; one as a child, once as a young man and once as an older man. Most of the young men that we met had had 2 separate weeks as a monk but we also met some that were around 18 and had been monks for 10 years.



It was very peaceful being in the amazing villages on stilts, such a strange place to grow-up:


We went to a monastery to see the famous jumping cats but as it was late in the day when we arrived the cats didn't seem to have much enthusiasm left and the show was rather disappointing.



Some of the many very happy Myanmar tourists that we waved to during our trip:



During our stay in Lake Inle we went to the final night of the Balloon Festival, when it was full moon. I cannot describe how hilarious, crazy, dangerous and completely wonderful this experience was. We've put a video on YouTube to give you a clue. If you listen cloasely you can hear Hiro, a Japanese man that was with us, screaming when he got burnt on the face by a firework and me saying "my hair's been singed".

http://www.youtube.com/user/JeanetteGurney?feature=mheeat

Nic, Hiro, me and Scott, an Englishman that lives in Yangon and who also came with us, all survived the night and had a total blast along with the hundreds and thousands of other people that were there.


You can just see Scott in the background:




Each time a balloon goes up there is music and dancing. Nic and I had a great time dancing to the great Bhangra music that these guys blasted out:


The festivities go on for hours but we left around midnight. Our driver drove right through a massive crowd that was watching a band on a stage. I'll never forget the surprised looks that we got as our mini bus ploughed through!

After recovering from out insane night we had a peaceful canoe trip around some of the quiet villages on stilts.



We then said goodbye to the wonderful Lake Inle and the smiling hosts at the guest house.

Because there were so many visitors all the buses out of Lake Inle were full for days so we decided to save ourselves a long wait and another long bus journey and fly back to Yangon.