The last part of our little holiday was to Inle Lake- one of the biggest tourist destinations in this country. We loved it there. Quite touristic but also a bit quieter, more pastoral and cooler than the other places we visited.
Our original intention was to trek from one of the hill towns to the lake and stay overnight in a village, but heavy rain and a little case of Burma Belly (Mike's belly) made us change our mind and instead head to Nyaung Shwe for the comfort of a nice guest house with A/C, TV and good wifi. The town is the staging point for trips out on the lake and also has many nice restaurants, a good museum, and some nice bike riding, including a trip to a really honest to goodness winery. Luckily Mike's gut discomfort only lasted a day so we were able to bike around and enjoy the sights.
The highlight was probably the boat trip. Lots of interesting things on the lake. We were lucky to see the final day of a festival and see dozens of boats coming in to the Pagoda with some famous Buddha images. A boat trip also involves visits to a bunch of little villages (all on stilts) where local people are making (and selling) all kinds of traditional handicrafts.
After 4 days, we flew back to Mandalay and I went back to school yesterday. We were excited to get back "home" to our little neighborhood.
Young monks on their alms rounds
Lake Inle in the distance
Beautiful vineyard
Red Mountain Winery
Boat Ride
Boat making- Mike was pretty fascinated
Smaller boats
Cheroot rolling
Floating tomato fields
A beautiful wooden monastery
Lots of teak and Buddha images
Traditional fisherman- the Inle Lake fish was so delicious!
More fishing
A woman selling lotus flowers to take to the Pagoda
The long necked Padaung women weaving
Boats arriving at the Pagoda
Dozens of boats
Monk puppets
This little guy kept shouting Mingalaba (Hello!)
Weaving lotus strands
Blacksmith
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