Inle Lake

George and I agree that a favorite place on our trip was Inle Lake in Myanmar.  I admit that I had not even heard of Inle Lake until we started reading about the itinerary.  Located in the eastern part of the country we used to call Burma, it was a fascinating place!

About 70,000 people live in small cities bordering the lake or in numerous small villages along the lake's shores or even on the lake itself.

Some of the buildings in the lake are homes and other are stores or restaurants or bars.

I especially loved seeing people going about their normal activities in this real 'waterworld'. I caught this couple washing their dishes together on the dock of their home.

Maybe she was going home for the evening or to visit a friend!

As you can see they do have some modern conveniences like electricity or at least some people do.

There were satellite dishes on a few homes!

Naturally fishing plays an important part in their lives.

The men practice a rather distinct style of rowing which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar.  This unique style evolved because the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants which are difficult to see while sitting.  Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds.

Their great balance also allows them to throw their fish traps in a rather unusual style!

We saw more fishermen cooperating to set their fish nets in a more conventional way as these two demonstrated.  The lake isn't very deep so the nets are held in place by bamboo poles..

In addition to fishing, locals grow vegetables and fruit in large gardens that float on the surface of the lake and are also anchored by bamboo poles. These green areas are actually ON the lake, not by the lake.

The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor.

 The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds and dirt from the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into gardens.

Because they rise and fall with changes in the water level, they are resistant to flooding.  The constant availability of nutrient-laden water makes them very fertile gardens. 

They two days we spent on Inle Lake were a quick peek into a totally unique culture.