Inle Lake in Myanmar (Video 23 of 24)
Inle Lake is a freshwater lake in the Shan State. It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).
The lake is known for its floating markets that rotate around between villages.
Village of Nampan is situated to the south of Ywama village. The whole village is situated on the stilts over the water, which is a traditional way of building houses in Inle Lake. The Oldest pagoda in Inle Lake, Alodaw Pauk Pagoda, is situated in Nampan.
The village of Inphaw Khone, situated to the west of Nampan village, is famous for its traditional weaving workshops. One of the specialty products of Inphaw Khone village is the famous lotus-silk shawl. The delicate fiber strands from lotus shoot were carefully extracted to make strings for the shawl. The process of fiber string extraction from lotus shoot is a tedious and time consuming as well as expensive process. As a result, the shawls made of lotus-silk are very expensive – cost a minimum of US$ 30 for a small shawl. Apart from famous lotus-silk shawl, Inphaw Khone also produce a large quantity of silk and cotton fabric.
The other tourist trap sort of places visited on the trip included a silver smith and a cigar/cigarette maker...
North of Nampan are these famous gardens, where Intha farmers grow flowers, tomatoes, squash and other fruit and vegetables on long wooden trellises supported on floating mats of vegetation. In the morning and afternoon, farmers paddle up and down between the rows tending their crops.
On the western side of the lake, the Nga Hpe Kyaung (Jumping Cat Monastery) is famous for its jumping cats, trained to leap through hoops during the slow hours between scripture recitals. However, my hotel receptionist said: No more jumping cats. The old monks who trained them died. Now they are just sleeping cats...
Since I was joined by a British girl from my hotel and her Mexican/Danish friend who lives in Denmark, the trip was 6k (US$6) instead of 18k but then the boatman said he was only getting 10k or something and that its cheaper to negotiate directly with a boat man.