7 memories from Inle Lake
Inflight to Heho airport - the landscape looks like a chessboard. Squares of rice paddies, spread out around a small village. - Darn, I should have had my camera ready, says Jan. Have to do with mine then. The small pizza shaped candies just given by the air stewardess drops to the floor when rush to press the camera lens all I can towards the dirty window.
Transfer to the lake - without stopping at the local market in Heho would of course have taken only around an hour. But Jan, now well prepared with his camera, find endless personalities to document at this colorful market. Then there are; old trucks, oxcarts, Pao-O tribes women carrying their children, snacks and more snacks, and the whitest garlic we have ever seen. (Well, I did get some pictures myself also.) Then an absolute need for a snack break at the local tea shop. Coffee with lime, and sweet roti style pancakes with sugar spread on top. In the car again but stopping at the local monastery, checking out the novices doing their daily studies.
Boat trip – we see clouds licking the mountains surrounding the lake. Birds are flying over and next to the boat, local people living their life on house on stilts, harvesting tomatoes and bottle gourds from their floating gardens – themselves becoming the tourist attraction. Time stops when the boat moves slowly through their communities in this late afternoon. I am here. Now! Not planning tomorrow, not brooding about yesterday.
Fishermen – on wooden boats wiggles their oar with the leg making way for their boats across the lake. Some other tourists pass us on fast moving speedboats heading back to land after overnight at some resort built on stilts in the lake. A short noise, then silence again.
Handicrafts - before we check in at our resort we learn how they mix lotus fibers and silk to create some really nice clothes and fabrics. Quite costly to be Myanmar, but really not expensive considering the work behind.
Handicrafts - before we check in at our resort we learn how they mix lotus fibers and silk to create some really nice clothes and fabrics. Quite costly to be Myanmar, but really not expensive considering the work behind.
Nighttime – freezing. Extra bedsheets, cardigan and double t-shirts. December in Inle Lake can be rather cold. Manchester United beats Arsenal. Kind of sleeping with the TV still on.
Facts:
Inle Lake is located in the Shan State. The lake is located around 875 meters above sea level, 22 km long and 10 km across. Shan people are most probably the largest minority group in Myanmar. The Shan state is covering almost 25% of the country. Around the lake there are also other minorities as Pa-O and Intha people.
Facts:
Inle Lake is located in the Shan State. The lake is located around 875 meters above sea level, 22 km long and 10 km across. Shan people are most probably the largest minority group in Myanmar. The Shan state is covering almost 25% of the country. Around the lake there are also other minorities as Pa-O and Intha people.
© Text & photos: Per Sundberg
© Photos: Jan Friman
© Photos: Jan Friman
