Week Four: Inle Lake
Week Four: Inle Lake
I feel like a broken record because I say this about every place I’ve been in Myanmar, but Inle Lake was absolutely incredible. My mom and I were quite lucky with the weather because it only rained after we had turned in for the night, and our resort was virtually empty.
During the week, my mom and I continued exploring Yangon. We went to many local shops and markets, and I showed her many of the restaurants that I have come to know and love in my time here. Because I’m staying in hostels this summer and don’t have access to a kitchen, I’ve had lots of opportunity to try new restaurants and foods. It was a luxury at first, but I’ve definitely come to miss being able to cook for myself. We then spent the weekend traveling to Inle Lake.
Inle Lake:
I took the day off on Friday so my mom and I could take the night bus to Inle Lake on Thursday night. We arrived early on Friday morning and immediately made our way to the hotel to begin a busy day. After arriving at the hotel, we decided to take a boat tour because the weather was perfect. It is impossible to overstate just how amazing the experience was.
We spent half a day on the boat stopping at several different destinations. First, we stopped at a traditional silver shop where they showed us how they have refined the silver and made jewelry for generations. Second, we stopped at a textile shop where they showed us how they spin lotus fibers into thread and use colonial style looms to make various types of clothing, which you can see here. I was amazed to see someone using that type of loom in a modern business. Finally, we stopped at In Dein, which holds hundreds of small stupas.
On Saturday morning we went to the local market in Nyaung Shwe to explore and possibly buy some souvenirs. It consisted of hundreds of stalls linked together by narrow paths which were covered by a litany of low-hanging tarps. After my mom found a few souvenirs, we made a couple stops before heading back to the hotel to relax. I was able to spend much of the afternoon reading, swimming, and getting some much-needed rest.
Sunday morning proved to be an interesting experience because it was my first time on a domestic flight in Myanmar. While it was much nicer than I expected, the plane was most definitely not designed for someone my height. At six-foot-six, I spent the whole flight with my knees jammed into the seat in front of me unable to move. I like to consider myself an experienced flyer, but it was also a little unsettling when the pilot began to announce that we would be landing soon and an alarm began going off in the background. Nonetheless, we landed safely, and it was a great experience. I have only one major form of long-distance transportation to try in Myanmar: the night train. I’m hoping to take the train up to Mandalay one of the next two weekends.
My Internship:
My research has been quite consistent recently, and I’ve spent most of my time dissecting Myanmar’s Special Economic Zone Law. I’ve been fortunate in the fact that Myanmar’s government website seems to be up to date, and the information I need is available in English. The writing style has also been much clearer and easier to parse than many U.S. statutes that I’ve read for class.