Inle Lake – 8th Wonder of the World

Inle Lake, located in Shan State, Myanmar

To say the least, without a doubt, Inle Lake was the highlight of my trip in Myanmar in terms of sheer beauty and fascination.  A wonderful watery world of floating gardens, stilted villages and crumbling stupas, Inle is one of the few places that is a tonic for the soul.

My favorite fisherman!

We were up early and in a boat by 7:00am on our way to explore the 44.9 square miles of Myanmar’s second largest lake.  I wore six t-shirts, one on top of the other, my new sweatshirt, and my towel wrapped around my neck as a not-so-fashionable scarf.  My Dad always said that ladies chose fashion over practicality…today was a day when practicality won.  I had rowed in boats for four years, and I knew how cold it was on that water, and how the wind whips through all of your layered clothes, so both Suba and I came out ready.  We were not about to miss our one chance to see Inle.

As we crept up the canal to the mouth of the lake, it was uncanny and quiet.  It was dark and there was a thick morning fog that hung over the lake.  It was difficult to make out what was ahead.  All of a sudden, a huge canal boat carrying 15+ local passengers would part the dense fog and speed by on its morning commute.  Although it wasn’t quite as early as my morning rowing practices, it felt all too similar to be back in a boat freezing when it was still dark and foggy outside.

Enjoying the views from our canal boat...

 As we entered the mouth of the lake, you could make out silhouettes of fisherman, each in their own boat, casting out their nets and emptying their fish baskets into their boat.  We watched fisherman raise their paddles over their heads and beat the water to stun the fish before quickly casting out their nets.  What we didn’t know at the time was that the lake, at its deepest, is only about 7-10 feet, and so the fisherman could see most of the fish and would position themselves in a place where there were many schools.

 

My first art purchase (was on our trip back through Yangon) but I put a picture of myself with the artist in this blog entry however, because the reason I purchased this painting is because it is of the fisherman on Inle.  It is perhaps my favorite memory from my time in Myanmar.

My first art purchase - to remember my fisherman on Inle Lake!