Boat Tour
Inle Lake, Myanmar
March 21, 2009
Chan Chan taught us some cat related words. I wrote them out how they sound, so are not likely spelled correctly. Min-yawn (meow) and U-wan (cat).
I woke up at 6 am. I slept for 12 hours and feel like I was brand new again!
Chan Chan met us after breakfast at 8:30. 2 guys took our bags on a trishaw to the dock while we walked with Chan Chan through the town. The seats on the long tail boat look comfortable. The chairs have backs and cushions. There are even life jackets on board! Our boat sputtered to a stop before we left town, but we were repaired and on our way in no time.
On our way to the hotel we saw people washing their clothing, bathing, a few villages, fields, oxen (water buffalo), floating garden, monasteries, stupas, Temples,
Fisherman on Inle (paddling with their legs)
... so peaceful!
It was a one hour long tail boat ride to our hotel for the evening, Shew Inn Tha. We are going to splurge and stay at a floating hotel. It is pure luxury! There is a pool and in our room there is real toilet paper (not like the crepe paper in some other places), a kettle, a hair dryer, an outdoor shower, an indoor bathtub, our private balcony, a huge room, a king size bed with mosquito netting, a fridge, ect. WOW! If I ever escape the world again, I think this is where I will come!
Our first stop is the Pagoda market. Good timing! I am hungry! We purchased a few rice pockets with potato and onion, fried tofu pieces, small round savoury pancakes (with chick pea), chick pea crisps (chips) that were not deep fried, and some apples and avocado for later. I also bought a fake silver bracelet that was pretty, but I paid too much (9000 Kyat).
Phaung Daw OO Paya is near the market. It is one of the holiest religious sites in the Shan State
. It contains five images (4 are original, 1 is a replica; there was an accident once, the boat sank, and all five went into the lake, only 4 were recovered). Across the channel there is a boathouse that shelters an ornate boat (the front is their national bird). Every October for 21 days 4 of the images are take to neighbouring Temples (such as Nga Hpe Chaung) in the area for the Phaung Daw OO festival.
We then went by boat to Kyaing Kan East. This town is renowned for their silk and lotus fabric. The lotus fibre are removed by hand from the plant stalk. They can only be harvested 5 times/year. We were able to see women creating some fabric on a loom that had both lotus and silk threads. The looms look very difficult to operate and have 4 pedals to operate, plus they constantly have to change the thread to create patterns. Chan Chan's mother-in-law is one of the women who works on a loom. There are not set hours, women are paid by the meter
. So, the faster you work, the more you get paid. I would not make very much money at all.
In order to create a pattern like the traditional Sun of the Lake, the silk is dyed with elastics. Once dried, the elastic is removed and the thread with have coloured and white areas. (the picture will better explain)
I purchased a silk headband and a lovely scarf for $13. I wanted to buy more for gifts, but we will see more in other countries.
We stopped at the blacksmith shop. One older guy was in the bellows and was moving two sticks to flame the fire. One guy was holding the piece that they were working on and three others had sledge hammers to form the piece. It looks like hard, very hot work. They make tools like: scissors, a tool for peeling coconut, and a slicer that makes really thin cuts of peanuts.
We had lunch nearby at Nice Restaurant. The restaurant is also home to a tabby cat and a black and white cat that greeted us
. They were very loud!
We shared grilled fish and tomato salad (I love that stuff). We found out that Chan Chan has 1 sister in school, 1 sister who is a teacher and 1 sister who works in the government (that is a very good job to have). We already met her brother and 2 1/2 year old son at the restaurant yesterday. Chan Chan's husband works for another tour company and he is a boat driver. She also has a 4 1/2 year old daughter.
A monk had died recently and we can see the funeral procession making it's way across the field. It is going to come down to the water (people are waiting in boats), cross the lake and go to the cemetery on the other side. The monk will be cremated there. After lunch we went across the water and were able to get a closer look when they put him in the boat to cross. It was pretty neat and is obviously a big deal for the local people.
We went to a cigar shop. They make the filters for the cigars out of corn husks
Long Neck Tribe - Weaving Shop
. They paste the leaves closed with a paste from a tree. Bill bought one to try later.
The next stop is a cotton shop run by Padaung women (they are from the long-neck tribe and have traditional dress on and the rings around their necks). I was able to hold the first set of rings which is very long and very heavy. As they get older, they add more. I can't even imagine the discomfort. Two ladies are making cotton fabric. It takes 4 days to make a scarf. I ended up buying a very nice merlot shirt with and black embroidery for $5. They had a hard time finding one that would fit around me!
We are near a floating market, so some ladies are trying to sell us jewellery and statues. They sometimes hold on to the boat even when we are pulling away.
At several of the shops in the afternoon we were served green tea and some peanut flavoured toffee like candies. They are very good.
At the silver and gold shop we were shown many styles of chains. The knot style I previously purchased is a traditional Shan style. There was also an Inle link (boxy), floral, bamboo and fish. They had some gems there too - ruby, sapphire, jade, mother of pearl. A guy was cutting and polishing the stones and some others were cleaning the silver bowls and jewellery. I purchased a floral style bracelet for $16 and they cut it down to fit my wrist.
Along the way there was a lot of people gathered in a few homes on the water and in boats. In 2 boats the were 2 young boys who were all decked out (looked like they were going to a wedding) and the boats were decorated. Chan Chan explained that all boys become monks when they are 9 to 11 years old for at least 7 days. One boy looked younger, this is because they are allowed to go along with their older brother and join at the same time. I guess as 1 monk dies, 2 more are born (so to speak).
We also went to a paper and umbrella workshop. The paper is made from the marble plant. It is ground up (with ash and water?) and then beaten out with a hammer. It is then placed on a screen to form the paper and then dried. Often flower petals are added to the paper. We bought a lovely piece for 1000 Kyat.
Inside they were making umbrellas. Some had real flowers between two layers. They were very beautiful. Others had flowers painted on. They also had some paper lanterns. In the back room Bill spotted a mommy kitty with 3 babies asleep on each other!
On our way back to the hotel we stopped for beer and water for the room. Chan Chan and the driver are going to pick us up at noon tomorrow. We have the rest of the afternoon to relax.
We took a quick dip in the pool and sat on our balcony to do some reading. It was very nice! I finished the book that I traded with Katherine "My Favourite Wife" By Tony Parsons. It is about a young family that moves to Singapore. It was pretty good.
We had a bit of a startle on the way to dinner that night. One of the ladies in another room had her front door open (screen door closed) and she was naked. Yikes! She was older and heavy, not pleasant!
For dinner I had tomato salad and pumpkin soup. Bill had BBQ beef and we shared a banana pancake for dessert. This one was more like a crepe. I was also able to get a vodka and soda with a really good lime. Bill had some Grand Royal whiskey. For the first time in a while, our food was brought to the table at the same time. It normally arrives when it is ready.
There is a large older Italian group beside us with a young, pretty local guide. A menu item is called out and they raise their hands if they want to have it. It is pretty comical. We see our naked lady is with them. EWW!
We went to sleep under our nice little mozzy net! During the night my ankle hurt and I was convinced that a bug had crawled under my skin (having Peru flashbacks), but it turns out it is just a bruise. The path light is still on outside our room and it is shining on the bed, but it is nice and cool in our room (no a/c, it cooled off outside) and I went back to sleep.