Inle Lake, Myanmar (part 2)

The fishermen of Inle Lake have a unique way of fishing, they balance on one leg and use their other leg to row the boat. This leaves their hands free to deal with the net. It is really interesting to watch!

Floating gardens are found across the lake, growing mainly tomatoes, cucumbers, and gourds. To make the garden the farmer secures clumps of water hyacinth with bamboo poles and puts alternating layers of mud and additional hyacinth until the "island" is about three feet thick. Seeds are planted in the top layer of mud and the plants are supported by bamboo canes.

 Piper stealing a tomato

 We visited another textile store that weaves using the fibers from lotus plants. They told us that it takes nearly 4000 lotus plants to make one scarf (those scarves were not cheap!). They also weave beautiful fabrics using cotton and silk.

 Piper in a traditional Myanmar longyi.

 Metal workers

 The cheroot cigars of Myanmar come in a variety of flavors - Anis, banana, honey, tamarind. The ladies roll about 500 cigars a day.

 Bamboo lacquerware is also a tradition in Myanmar and we got an up close view of how the beautiful and elaborate pots and plates are made. 

 Serene lunch spot!

 The Hpaung Daw U Pagoda on Inle Lake is famous for its five Buddha statues that have over the years been covered in so much gold leaf by worshippers that the original forms can no longer be seen.

 Piper was much more interested in feeding the pigeons than checking out the temple.

 Inle Lake is really an amazing place! We can't wait to go back and explore some more!

Piper is in heaven anywhere there is a kitty for her to play with!

If you missed the first Inle Lake post click here!