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Published: June 26th 2006
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Fisherman on Inle Lake
The quintissential Inle Lake photo On the way to Mandalay...
With the Air Mandalay tickets we had purchased in KL before we got to Yangon we headed to the airport for the flight to Mandalay. We were a bit bummed that we were flying to Mandalay instead of Bagan or Inle Lake since we'd need to do an extra leg then between Mandalay and one of those places. The Yangon domestic departure area was like stepping back in time...no computers, big scales to weigh the luggage, no id check but at least easy to deal with. Once we boarded onto the plane we found out that we weren't on a direct flight but would be stopping through Inle Lake's airport, Heho. That got the wheels in our heads turning...what if we could just hop off and grab our bags in Inle?
Shortly before we were getting ready to land we asked the stewardess if that was possible. She said no but that we could talk to her boss. He came by and indicated there would likely be a "fee" but that they might let us. Lonely Planet had warned that bribery was a frequent occurence in Myanmar so we thought this was our first run
Some local boys
The middle one was the ring leader who was anxious for us to take their pic in with it. Of course, being recent MBA grads, we discussed how it was really just a facilitative payment and would not violate violate the Foreign Corrupt Policy Act! We landed and and walked down the stairs to the runway where we talked with the steward and another air rep. The "fee" was more than we were hoping for at $24USD but we quickly agreed. We walked into the airport, dealt with customs, and then had a baggage handler ask if we needed a ride to our hotel. He indicated it would be $18USD...ugh, we're going through USD too quickly so we countered with $15. He laughed and said no that that was the driver's fee and since it was the last car at the airport and we were the last people at the airport we didn't have a lot of other options. So out we went and piled into the Air Mandalay car with four other Air Mandalay workers. The one lady we paid the fee said we would stop by the Air Mandalay office so she could confirm exactly how much the fee should be...she thought it might just be $20. At this point the light dawned on
us that this really was a fee and not a bribe. At the office (a room with a desk, chair and phone) she couldn't reach the head office so just asked our hotel and said she'd let us know what the final amount was. Whatever it would be, we were just happy to be in this part of the country...
Around Inle
The air was so much fresher than Yangon, not as humid nor as dirty. After Yangon, it was an amazing relief. We were surrounded by green fields and rolling hills...now this felt like a vacation. We reached the hotel we wanted to stay at in a town at the north end of the lake and were very pleasantly surprised to be shown a triple room with tv (for world cup) and huge bathroom and porch area for $15/night! We were ready to settle in. That night we explored the town a bit. It was pratically overrun with monks of all ages and sizes. Turns out there was a festival going on to celebrate the monks who had decided to enter the monastery permanently. The scene we most wish we got a picture of was a room at
the restaurant we ate at which was showing the movie Problem Child on a 20" screen - the entire room was filled with probably 70 little monks all watching the small screen. When we got back to the hotel that night the power went out for a bit, but that only helped to intensify the stars in the sky - it was amazing (dare I say even better than at Breck!) and we had an awesome view of the Milky Way (Mike was itching to get his hands on a telescope).
The next day (Thursday) we rented bikes to do some exploring (after a fabulous free breakfast of eggs, toast, fruit, and crepes filled with banana). The beauty and peacefulness was incredible. I hope it doesn't spoil Vietnam, Laos, etc. for us. Everywhere we went children yelled out "hello" and waved. The houses were on stilts with chickens and roosters wandering the ground around the houses. The houses were very basic thatch type huts. Many without power. Mini-huts also on stilts were set up as pig pens (although I did still fear a pig waking up and deciding to chase us). The bike path quickly dwindled to a rutted
Lake Neighborhood
Some of the lake houses path barely wide enough for walking on so we turned and headed inland and circled back through town. By then the sun was really pumping and we were drenched in sweat. Nothing a pitcher of Myanmar beer (yes, that's the brand name) couldn't cure. Then we waded into the market area where we bought longyis, the traditional "skirt" that all men and woman in Myanmar wear. Once we figured out how people wear them, Mike actually got quite a bit of use out of his when we'd hang out at the hotel. He plans on going back to be a strictly pants and shorts kind of guy upon leaving Myanmar...
On the Lake
Friday we'd arranged for a boat tour of the lake. We set off a bit before 8am in a long boat with a small motor at the end, just us and the driver (captain?). The lake is mostly shallow with lots of seaweed. We saw traditional fishermen who throw a cone-shaped basket down into the water and then spear the fish who are caught in the basket. The coolest thing is how they manuver their boats, standing on the back end of a long thin boat
with a long paddle that they row with both a hand and their leg. A balancing feat! We saw the small towns built on stilts above the water and were impressed by the amount of agriculture on the lake. They've built up rows of tomato plants and they go through the rows on their boats to harvest the tomatoes. We stopped at a major market where souvenir peddlers paddled up to us and then left there to check out a few traditional artisans. We saw a fabric weavers (who had some beautiful silk scarves i would have loved to buy but we didn't bring any USD on the river with us), a blacksmith, a silversmith, a cigar maker (the local cigar/cigarette wrapped in a leaf - we bought 10 for 8 cents) and a paper maker. It got old quickly because we weren't really in the buying mood but there seemed to be a lot of hope that we would buy. The most awkward stop for me was one with two "longneck" girls who wear the gold coils around their necks, depressing their collarbone and giving a giraffe-like impression. It felt a bit too voyeuristic and we weren't going to
Laura & a sweet little girl
On her face she has the sunscreen-type clay that Myanma women and children wear. take any pictures until the boat driver really insisted that we take one. I guess in touristy places the locals get used to pictures but something just felt off about this particular experience. The last stop was Jumping Cat Monastery which lived up to the name when one of the monk's demonstrated how high the cats could jump through small hoops.
Serious Relaxation
As we returned back to town it started to rain but thankfully we were off the boat already when the skies really opened up. A torrential downpour is an understatement. We spent most of the afternoon on our porch, reading and watching the rain, while drinking tea. For dinner the rain had stopped and we walked to an Indian place that was highly recommended in the LP book. When we walked in there was one other table with an American guy and Thai woman and the owner who explained that they weren't really open since it was low season and if we wanted to stay they'd cook us a veggie meal similar to what the owner's family had had for dinner. We stayed and it was awesome! The owner was apologetic that there was no meat
Future leader of the tobacco industry
Okay, so maybe she seems a bit young to be rolling cigars... but the veggies and chutneys and breads were so fresh and good that we stuffed ourselves. We felt guilty when the bill came to under $2. And again we were impressed at the niceness of the people to open up for us even though they hadn't planned on it.
Saturday was pretty quiet. Wandered around town some more and did a lot of reading. We went to bed early to prepare to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to catch our taxi to the town where we'd get the 5:00 a.m. bus to Bagan.
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Beware the man in the dress!
A little scary how natural Mike looks...