lifeisacelebration

Expectations ran high as we neared the end of our holiday in Inle Lake. The 45-minute boat ride was uneventful for the first 20 minutes, till we found fishermen rowing their flat narrow boats with one leg, arms free and ready with their basket nets to catch fish. I almost threw out the blanket I was using during the boat ride just to capture the scenes with my cam. Fingers nearly freezing as photo-snapping followed a ryhtmic beat, we dismissed the wind chill just to save the dramatic scenes in our memory-keepers. What a sight! Never mind that it’s running 10 Celsius while we baked under the sun on a roofless boat.

Fishing In Inle Lake

Busy fishing or modeling?

Never found this scene in any other fishing village. There were waterways serving as “main highways” edged in by floating flower gardens and vegetable patches. The hum of the boat engine somehow lulls you to sleep as the boatmen maneuvered the boats along the canals. In no time, the floating gardens were replaced by residential and commercial structures on stilts as the waters ebbed up and down with each passing boat. We passed many including silk and lotus weaving centers, some with weavers from the Padaong tribe with their elegant stretched necks bedecked with gold rings nearly touching their chins. Every now and then, there were women doing their laundry on boats parked in front or beneath the cottages on stilts, laundry out drying on improvised clothesline, waving and swaying with the wind. If not out fishing or ferrying tourists on their motorized boats, some men busied themselves tending the gardens. We were happy to see taro and “patola” (gourd?) gardens side by side with rows of floating flower gardens. This is truly one community here.

Seagulls of Inle Lake

The Waterways of Lake Inle

Such vibrant fishing community. Was I surprised to find floating hotels price-ranged from luxury to backpackers’ budgets? Not at all. But I was pleasantly surprised that there are floating restaurants like Golden Kite Restaurant serving freshly-baked bread and pizza pies, great pomodoro pasta, delicious tomato basil soup and simple but delicious avocado salad. A good first lunch was had. We skipped the wine and instead tried the Myanmar Beer. All those Myanmar beer adverts hanging on lake restos, hotels and floating houses must have conditioned our minds. (The next lunch was in a place called “Heritage House”, where local food was served. Interestingly and regrettably, hardly any seafood foraged from the lake waters by local fisherfolks, though some of the vegetables may have been harvested from the floating organic gardens)

A local in the Fishing village.

Traditional way of fishing uses one leg with hands free to catch fish using a basket net.

Our hotel is heaven-sent. Baked under the sun for nearly an hour, plus more for the boat rides to the floating restaurant and a visit to a local village, the lovely Shwe Inn Thar Floating Resort was simply what our minds and bodies needed. It was inviting to just sit in the balcony the whole morning while sipping coffee, counting off the happy (not angry) birds “guarding” the arched entrance to the floating resort, and people-watching while boats sailed past the hotel by the main waterway. The lake is a bird sanctuary and my only regret is not bringing bread to feed them birds. I envy those who did, as my eyes followed their boats being chased and surrounded by the happy birds. Happy birds, Happy tourists. Pio de! (means “happy” in the local language)

Shwe Inn Thar Floating Hotel

Golden Kite Restaurant serves real good pizza, bread, pasta, soup and salad.

As we left Inle Lake, I had this nagging fear that the place will soon — if it hasn’t — be overrun by tourists and commercialism. The traditional fishing method is unique to this community. Consequently, the group of DSLR-toting men with their long zoom lens I sighted angling about 4 men dressed in colorful local londyin skirts may soon be the order of the day. Between fishing and modelling, the latter may yield more kyats. So with the happy birds. Why swoop down to catch fish when tourists come to feed them regularly? When I visited a local village and a child of 7-8 asked me for money, my heart broke. Someone should teach this child to string local beads into bracelets, or sell flowers, fruits or any local food to sell rather than just asking for money. And I didn’t even take any photograph of him. A pity.

The long-necked, golden rings-bedecked ladies of Padaong.

“No man is rich enough to buy back his past” —- Oscar Wilde

(More photos to be uploaded soon as wifi connection is stable. Watch this page……)