Lake Inle Day Out
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Tue 5 Dec 2017 22:27
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Lake Inle Day
Out
  We went off at
eight this morning with a lovely young man, Udin. Lake Inle was covered
in mist and it was actually a bit nippy.
 Very excited about our itinerary. Lots of stops during the day, most looking
forward to seeing the ladies who wear coils at their neck and the Intha
fishermen who paddle one-legged. Lake Inle is the second largest in Myanmar and
measures
22 kilometres long by 10 kilometres wide, and sits in a valley between two
mountain ranges. Inle Lake is freshwater and sits in
the Nyaung Shwe
Township of Taunggyi
District of Shan
State, part of Shan
Hills. It has an estimated surface area of 44.9 square
miles (116 square kilometres), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900
feet (880 metres). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1
m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy
season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m). At the
Tourist Information Centre we had read the lake had become a Wildlife Sanctuary
in 1985 and was part of the UNESCO World Network of Man and Biosphere Reserve,
designated in 2015.
Lake Inle
is home to 124 villages, 12 of which are built directly over the water, the
population of about 70,000 is made up of mostly Intha,
with a mix of other Shan,
Taungyo, Pa-O
(Taungthu), Danu,
Kayah, Danaw and Bamar. Most are devout Buddhists and live in
simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts, they
make their living as farmers (millions of tomato plants are grown on floating
nurseries), fishing and ‘cottage’ industries such as weaving, silversmith,
blacksmith, eateries and the odd hostel. There are pagodas, stupas, schools, a
big market and a medical centre. We saw hundreds of tourist boats out and about
and only experienced a crowd at the market an the pagoda at Indein. The
following pictures are just a part of what we saw and
experienced.
                                             Our lovely driver, Udin.
ALL IN ALL A SUPERB DAY OUT
FASCINATING AND SO
ENJOYABLE |