Inle Lake

MON 06 MAR 2017

This morning we spend exploring the villages and crafts of Inle Lake. We first visit  a silver and goldsmith, a blacksmith, cotton and silk weaving industries.

Each of these crafts are house in building on or along the water and we get to see how the items are made with virtually nothing but human power and a bit of fire in some cases.  The sell their products in shops adjacent to where they are made.  The people are very friendly and not too pushy about sales. We then visit Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery.

We walk along the paths of the village to see the houses and how the people live.  It is a simple life they have running water and electricity in most cases.  They are quick to say hello as we pass by on our way to the restaurant for our lunch.

Stuppas

Next a boat excursion to Indein Village, located at the western side of the lake. Passing Nyaung Ohak Monastery and following a stair path lined with many hundreds of wooden columns, we reach the impressive Shwe Indein Pagoda complex. The complex of stupas is amazing as we move in and out of the shade of vender's stalls and the stupas. On the way back to the boat, we walk through a bamboo forest at the riverside.

We return to our hotel and once again we are the only quests.  We improve the dinner situation by ordering ahead and having family style meals, which are very tasty local dishes.