After another day in Bagan (a memorable trip to Mount Popa resulted at us being greeted by the locals who seem to see few foreigners and attacked by the monkeys) we made the long and unusually timed journey (bus left at 4am) to Inle Lake. This journey will live long in the memory as being the longest 12 hours of my life. A local bus with hard wooden seats, locals crammed on with all their goods, combined with the worse roads in existence and crossing a mountain range made for a bumpy ride to put it mildly. We had be joined now by Maureen, a German girl who we had met cycling around Bagan, and with who I was to be roomies with for the next few days.
Inle Lake is often seen as one of the most memorable places in Burma and it didn´t disappoint. The highlight was a boat trip for a day and visiting floating markets, workshops, villages, monasteries and even the local floating school! I will never forget the sight of the excited children leaving school at the end of the day being picked up by boats (some motor powered, others rowing boats), as a teacher I found it particularly interesting. I´ve attached a picture just to show you!
The surrounding countryside was so lush and green, we saw beautiful rainbows and steamy mountains in the distance. Fishing in the lake, the Intha fishermen are famous for their one leg rowing and you cannot fail to find it fascinating how this tradition is maintained. Inle is often seen as a ´´tonic for the soul´´ and it truly was. I would love to have spent more time here, certainly to have had time to cycle the Lake too but time was at a premium as Yangon and my flight back to Bangkok were beckoning. If I ever make it back to Burma it is one place I would certainly revisit. One other memorable experience, walking back from dinner one evening. Some locals treated us to a jamming session, a sort of Burmese version of an unplugged set. One word: awesome.
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