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Published: November 24th 2012
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A leg rower at Inle lake. An iconic image and a common site throughout the lake.Day two at Inle lake begins at 6:30 in the morning, too early. I feel like a wreck. In the dining lounge, I demolish several cups of coffee before I remember why we are up so early, today we are taking a tour of the lake.
Hiring a boat and driver for the day, and doing the usual tourist route of the lake will set you back around 15,000 kyat, depending on your negotiation skills. The typical tourist trail takes you to places around the lake littered with souvenirs, trinkets and somewhat staged scenes of tribal village life, something for which Liam and I care little.
After breakfast we meet the boat driver we hired the previous day. The plan is to travel to the far south end of the lake, twice the distance of the usual tourist route. We negotiate a price of 23,000 kyat.
The tour begins with a scenic and noisy two hour journey towards the furthest point on our adopted itinerary. In the back, the Chinese engine sounds like artillery fire. Aside from this, the initial stretch of the journey was quite enjoyable.
Our first stop found us drifting peacefully through a village
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Whole communities including schools, grocery stores and schools are built on stilts throughout the lake area. located on the lake, with residences being built on stilts. We float to a primary school raised 2 meters above the water. We thought it might be a great treat for us and the kids to teach them a bit of English, so we launch into a ‘my name is..’ lesson, which put smiles on everyone’s faces. After high fives all round, we sadly depart.
The southern tip of our tour takes us through a maze of narrow passages that divide the reeds and hyacinth to a village specializing in pottery and a tribe that wears only black.
After landing, Liam and I meet a lady who’s keen on showing off her pottery skills. With a quick demonstration she produces two bowls and an ashtray, amazing considering it was within three and a half minutes. Liam tries his hand at what he thinks might become his backup career, but he carves too deep in the clay, misshapes the rim and his ashtray is left hobbled and pathetic as it spins around the pottery wheel. I already know I’m an amazing potter and decline the offer to make my own.
Following the embarrassment of Liam’s failure, we move
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Communities along the lake make for interesting and sometimes surreal scenery. on to a monastery on stilts in the lake, where we meet and enjoy a cup of tea with a monk while we communicate with each other in Thai. The monk doesn’t speak English and our Burmese is inevitably pathetic. Liam and I both put our Thai skills to good use speaking with the monk while some locals stare at the odd scene. Looking back, I can understand their confusion at the surreal experience.
We then move on to view the hundreds of pagodas—old temples for Buddhist prayer—just off the shoreline. The image is beyond what words can describe, the whole group is silent as we ascend the long staircase leading to the sight. At the summit you come across these hundreds of beautiful and sometimes dilapidated pagodas, with such character they inspire awe and silence, only the old chimes hung on top make a sound. The background of storm clouds only adds to the surrealism. Things get even deeper when we enter the center monastery where three wise old men sit in silence and smoke cigars. They’re quick to hand us a blessing to offer the Buddha shrine, and so we commence with our own quiet ceremony before
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School kids lined up and looking at Tyler as he balances on a beam connecting two classrooms on the lake. giving thanks and silently exiting.
The day ends with us finding a restaurant on stilts with no customers, having a beer and deliberating on the day’s extraordinary events.
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