Sleeping Above Inle Lake

While it gets pretty hot during the day, it also gets pretty cold at night, and I needed all the blankets I had. I slept ok and got up to catch the morning sunrise.




I would eat breakfast with the head monk. I had a chance to ask about his typical day. He is kind of like the justice of the peace, he helps settle disputes, performs marriages, helps people solve their individual problems, over sees funerals, etc. He does not meditate or study ancient texts, and if you look at his right hand, he enjoys that morning cigarette.


Kids who brought the monks food this morning also clean up afterwards and do the dishes. I have to say I wouldn’t mind being a monk in this village, I never cared for doing the dishes.


We said goodbye and headed out of the village.


We passed more villages and I handed out more pens.


Sometimes things just work out. I got to the village Pa-O, and handed out more pens. There were a lot of kids and I just happened to have enough pens. No one was left out, I had no extras, and no longer had to worry about handing out pens to a group of kids and running out in the middle.




We continued on as the day rapidly warmed, no place to hide from the sun.


We passed an old stupa.


We passed an old mule.


Our destination was in sight. We were heading down to a village for lunch, and then a driver would pick us up to go to the jetty, where we would catch a boat on Inle Lake to take me to my hotel.


When we got to the village we looked in on a kindergarten class.


Uhhhh, I thought he was going to make it, nope. Even though we were going in the same direction as before, we were meeting people on the trail who apparently, according to my guide, were coming back from the balloon festival in his home town. This trail must make a 180 degree turn not too far from here. Pretty cool tree though.


Once in town we stopped at another monastery.


They had a lot of nice wood carved Buddha display cases.


Many of them covered in gold leaf.


Not really comparable to Bhutan, but at least you can take pictures.


Here is where my meal was being prepared. I ate a lot of strange things, prepared in a lot of not so sanitary places, and never once got sick. I figure at this point my digestive and immune systems are either super human, or just about all used up. Either way it did not matter, I was not going to change my path.


My driver arrived and we headed out to the jetty, stopping for a bathroom break in a town along the way.






A more roomy bus then the one we previously saw.




Once we got to the jetty we took a look around and visited another monastery where class was being taught.






A few monks skipping class, I guess that kind of thing happens everywhere.




The monks bedroom.


There was also a temple here.


With hundreds of Buddhas.






We got to the jetty and found our boat, which would take us 30 minutes up Inle Lake to my hotel for the next three nights.






The lake is only about 12 feet deep and surrounded by mountains. They still use the two traditional methods of fishing. One where they watch for fish, paddle after them, and then plung this cage in the water, trapping the fish.


Once trapped they then spear the fish and bring it up.


The other method involves three boats, two to drag a net across, while a third one beats the water with a paddle to scare the fish in to the net. We arrived at my hotel, which was built on stilts over the lake. They have floating bamboo around the hotel to try and prevent waves from entering. The boat speeds up, cuts its engine, and then lets it momentum carry it over them. We pulled up to the dock and I checked in.




This place was awesome. It was not level and it felt confusing as you walked around, but I loved it.


Inside was just as amazing.


There were cracks in the floor to let in mosquitos, and they were plenty large enough for a memory card to fit through, fortunately I did not test that theory.


It had a bathtub, and my favorite, and open air shower. I was low on clean clothes and as I was going to be here for three nights I filled the tub and cracked open my remaining detergent packets. I did a wash and then showered.


It also had a great deck.


I then headed to the bar to relax, which sat in the middle of the hotel.


It turns out spinning those prayer wheels back in Bhutan had worked, they had a local Myanmar red wine by the glass and I gave it a try. OK, so maybe they didn’t work, this was my first and last glass of Myanmar red wine, it was terrible, earthy vinegar, so I switched back to beer. They also offered free mini cigars that are made here on the lake. I’m not a smoker but they were small and looked like a cigar for a beginner, so I gave them a try. There was more than just tobacco in these and I gave up half way through in fear that they would find me around 2am up on the roof trying to build a nest. I finished my beer and got up without knocking over the inverted glass of water and flowers, and headed back to my room.


I sat outside to clear my head and watched the sunset.




It was great to be here and I spread out a little. I engaged the mosquito net and called it a night.


VIDEO: Day 3 - Shan Villages