11/25: Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar: Stilt Houses & Floating Gardens

Yesterday Steven and I had made reservations to go on a day long boat tour on Inle Lake stopping at a number of prearranged locations en route. We were delighted that Andreas, the German journalist whom we had met last night at the Balloon Festival, decided to join us on the tour too. Andreas told us his son was interning in Bangkok before graduating from university next year.

I forgot to mention in my last post that Nyaung Shwe means ‘Golden Banyan’ and is located in Shan state.

The three of us were at the jetty at 6:45 as instructed although all of us were still tired from our late night.

Photos of our boat ride on Inle Lake:

It was exciting traveling down Nyaung Shwe's main channel known as Nan Chaung in our elongated motorized canoe til the north end of the lake opened up. On paper Inle Lake is 13.5 miles long and 7 miles wide but it was very hard to tell where the lake ends and the marshes open up.

The water cooled the surrounding air considerably. A pall of mist hung over the lake before sunrise and during the morning. It was very chilly when we set out but luckily we were given cushions and blankets to ward off the cold as much as possible til the sun warmed us up later. 

Seeing the sunrise was worth getting up early for and braving the cold air.

Steven and I were lucky that we sat near the front of the boat and thus well away from the thundering pistons. Andreas: I hope you didn't suffer any hearing loss from sitting in the back.

The boat man kindly slowed down so I could take photos of the man from the Intha tribe balancing one foot on his boat and the other on his basket – how picturesque is that?

There were only a few boats that had men performing like the one above. It was all very touristy but lots of fun watching them even so. Of course, our boat driver stopped by the other boat so he could be tipped!

But our boat’s engine died directly after that and the driver had difficulty starting it up again. We all had visions of missing the morning market at Indein which was the only reason we had needed to leave so early as it only took place in the morning that one day per week.

We only saw 2 hot air balloons floating in the sky above Inle Lake.

Luckily the boat did restart after the driver got help from another boat man and we were off again – ‘calamity’ over! The monk we spoke to yesterday said that Inle Lake was very polluted because the lake’s farmers use pesticides on their crops.

We saw large farming areas and villages of stilt houses, one right after another.

Surprised to see satellite dishes on a number of homes although I probably shouldn’t have been in this day and age even in a pretty remote area of Myanmar.

 Women washing clothes in the lake.

I DO know that I've included a lot of photos of the stilt houses but they were so fascinating and intriguing to me, that I hope you will enjoy seeing them too.

Were we ever bummed when, about 90 minutes after we’d left Nyaung Shwe, the boat man stopped at a very small market that turned out to be well south of where our southernmost destination was supposed to have been. When we told him we were supposed to have gone directly to the market at Indein before anything else, i.e. before it closed, he said we’d get there too late even if we left immediately.

A rustic market rotates among several cities and towns in the Inle Lake region. The towns we’d be visiting today host the market once every 5 days but not on full moon days, i.e. the next day. One of the biggest was the one at Indein and that of course had been our goal that morning.

We saw an awful amount of ads, particularly beer ads, on the stilt houses as well as on stores.

Photos from Thaung Tho Kyaung (Monastery):

No gauntlet of shops here!

I don't have any information about the monastery but it was a beautiful place to walk among the zedi and stretch our legs after being in the boat for so long.

Onto In Phaw Khone next: 

It was still downright cold on the lake but as the clouds mostly wore off by 9:30, it got warmer but it was still very breezy on the lake.

 

Privacy fence.

Rather rickety electric poles.

In Phaw Khone was a tidy village of teak stilt houses famous for its weaving workshops. It was fascinating to see the skill of the weavers as they produced ornate, multicolored fabrics on looms made from bamboo poles lashed together with rope.

Photos from Pa Don Mar:

We stopped at a weaving store where we watched a woman extracting lotus fiber that would be used to make scarves, etc. 

Positively gorgeous lotus fiber scarf but the cost was $80, so too steep for our budget.

We arrived at Nampan next by 11.

We were relieved that even though we’d missed Indein’s market, there was still a large market at Nampan, the peaceful village built on stilts over the water. 

Photos from Nampan:

Steven and Andreas at Nampan.

We saw tribal people who had come down from the hills to trade livestock and produce.

We stopped next at one of the small cheroot factories in Nampan called Inn Joe Phya, and even though that would normally not be our cup of tea as neither us smoke, it was still interesting to see the cigars being made.

Star anise flavored tobacco.

We  watched a silversmith next melting silver over the open fire at a large silver jewelry store also in Nampan.

Once the silver melted, the silversmith poured it into the black piece above where it only took a minute for the silver to cool.

Probably a 12 gram piece of silver, our guide told us. The shop had some lovely silver jewelry for sale but I'm not partial for silver for myself and didn't know what you, Nina, or you, Natalie, might like, so we didn't end up getting anything.

Local post office.

All morning we’d been passing boatloads of Burmese tourists who had come to the region to attend the Tauggyi Festival and then spend an extra day on Inle Lake. They were identifiable as Burmese because they all wore the same bright yellow sunhats. Unlike us who had comfy chairs with padded seats in our boat, their boats had no chairs so about 20 people had to sit squished together like sardines. Don’t think I could have done that. The price for a boat ride is a flat fee based on renting the boat and not the number of people in the boat. So you can see what a cheap way it is for people of limited means to tour the lake for several hours if everyone only has to pay 1,000 kyats or .80 apiece.

Even though almost every visitor to Nyaung Shwe takes a boat trip on Inle Lake, the lake is so large and the villages so spread out that Inle never felt too crowded.

We finally left for Indein at 1. There was much deeper vegetation and lots of reed beds in this part of the lake. As the channel left the reed beds, the jungle grew denser and denser on both sides. 

We saw a number of small footbridges linking homes on each side of the channel.

Photos from Indein:

The first group of ruined pagodas immediately behind the village are known as Nyaung Ohak. The crumbling stupas were choked in greenery but we could still see some ornate stucco carvings of animals, etc.

From Nyaung Ohak, we walked along a covered stairway probably past close to a quarter mile of souvenir stalls on our way up to the pagoda – definitely the longest gauntlet yet!

At the top was Shwe Indein Pagoda, a complex of 1,054 weather beaten zedi, most constructed in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Some of the zedi leaned at crazy angles while others had been reconstructed courtesy of donations from local Buddhists.

How lovely hearing the bells ringing from each of the zedi in the breeze especially since they were almost the only sounds we heard as the pagoda was pretty deserted.

I thought Shwe Indein Pagoda was another magical place - the assortment of colors, of styles, the fact we were almost the only ones there, the beautiful views - I could go on but I am sure you get my drift..

Motorcycle wash! At least this one was intentional unlike the one we witnessed in Hoi An, Vietnam when the motorcycle driver overshot the ferry and and his motorbike landed in the drink.

We had a pleasant lunch here. We thought initially that it would be lovely eating outside but the noise from all the passing boats was just too deafening,

Photos from Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda:

We’d planned to stop at Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda before lunch but our driver was too concerned about trying to find a parking spot for his boat as the pagoda was jammed with other boats. 

He hoped he’d have an easier time of it if he waited til later but he still had a tough time finding a spot for his boat when we arrived about 3:30.

The pagoda is the holiest religious site in southern Shan state. Enshrined in the huge tiered pagoda were 5 ancient Buddha images that have been transformed into amorphous blobs by the sheer volume of gold leaf applied by (male) devotees.

Local families often bring their children here as part of the ordination rites for the Buddhist brotherhood. 

During the annual Phaung Daw Oo Festival, the Buddha images are paraded around the lake in this ornate barge. 

Trying to find our way back on the boat with the scrum of people getting off theirs was not an easy task.

We were en route to Nga Hpe Kyaung aka the Jumping Cat Monastery a little after 4.

Photos of Jumping Cat Monastery:

 Another ‘shopping mall’ before approaching the pagoda!

Located on the eastern side of the lake, Npe Hpe Kyaung had been famous for its jumping cats that were trained to leap through hoops by the monks during the slow hours between scripture recitals. Apparently the monks seemed happy to put on a cat-jumping show for visiting tourists and the cats got treats for their efforts too.

We saw quite a few cats at the monastery but the practice of performing jumping cats has been discontinued.

A better reason for visiting the pagoda was to see its collection of ancient Buddha images. Constructed 4 years before Mandalay Palace, the huge wooden meditation hall. below, had statues in the Shan, Tibetan, Bagan and Inwa styles displayed on ornate wood and mosaic pedestals.

The huge meditation hall where mostly men were drinking tea and meeting the monk, above on the top right.

Directly across from the monastery north of Nampan were Inle Lake's famous Floating Gardens.

Intha farmers grow flowers, tomatoes, squash and other fruit and vegetables on long wooden trellises supported on floating mats of vegetation. 

We saw just a few farmers paddle up and down between the rows tending their crops.

Our driver told us that tomatoes are harvested here 3 times a year and so many are grown here that they supply Mandalay, Yangon and other cities with tomatoes.

We could see that the sun would soon be setting as we left the Gardens to return to the lake and begin the long ride back to the jetty.

Steven and I commented later that our day on Inle Lake had been phenomenal even with the foul up missing the morning market at Indein. We have been fortunate this trip having had a lot of fabulous days spent on water tours but I certainly count this one among my favorites.

As it was American Thanksgiving the next day, I was thrilled being able to have lovely long chats with both Natalie and Zachary. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get through to either Nina or Alexander to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving too. 

Posted on 12/9 from Varanasi, India.