Trip to Inle Lake in Shan State
Hello readers! Apologies for the delay in posting- it has been quite busy here wrapping up at work and dealing with applications for jobs next summer, and had some technical difficulties as well.
One of my favorite excursions this summer was to Inle Lake in Shan State. I flew up with my friend from work, and as the plane was descending, I looked out the window and felt instantly relaxed- it was mountains, clouds, and rich green as far I could see. Shan State is known for being lush and green, and it was a refreshing getaway after weeks in busy Yangon, with cement everywhere and a constant buzz of people.
After a failed attempt at negotiating taxi rates - they basically have a union at the little airport and negotiate as a block- one guy offered what we thought was an exorbitant rate, so we walked up to the next taxi driver and the entire group of twelve just laughed hysterically then finally explained that no, we have one price - we arrived at Nyangshwe, a little town just north of Inle Lake. As we travelled during the rainy season, there were hardly any tourists in a town that is normally flooded with them.
After having a delicious dinner at a social enterprise restaurant that supports young women, we wandered over to the local puppet show. The proprietor is the 4th generation in his family to study traditional puppetry and he has a performance every night- sometimes for a full house, and sometimes for just one or two people. There were about six difference scenes, each with a new background and characters, and an accompanying audio presentation explained the plots.
The next day, we set out on our big adventure- a bicycle tour consisting of a 25km ride through rice fields and villages, and kayaking and boat rides on the lake. It was us, another woman and the guide.
We biked through fields with butterflies flying around and kids reaching out for high fives as we passed. Along the way we stopped to take shelter from the monsoons, watch local bakers at work and sample the traditional snacks:
Donut dipped in molasses
Our guide was incredible and stopped us often to give cultural information.
One of the magical sights along the way- monastery in the middle of a lotus pond
Then we loaded our bicycles onto a boat to cross the lake:
We passed floating gardens, where they grow produce- we saw tomatoes hanging on the vine, and a boat speeding past with the day’s harvest of gourds in a stack.
We stopped for a fresh lunch at one of the restaurants on the lake and then hopped in kayaks for about an hour. The lake is enormous and would take hours to cross by kayak, so eventually the boat picked us up again, in the middle of the water (quite a delicate operation as tried not to fall in- however, apparently the entire lake is actually pretty shallow- if we fell in we could probably stand up and walk to shore) and we had a wonderful hour long boat ride back to town.
Along the way we saw water buffalo cooling off! I asked the guide how long they hang out in the water, and he said that if it’s really hot out they will stay there for hours.
Stay tuned for posts about Bagan, Martyr’s Day, and goodbyes at work.
-KLP