Messages From Myanmar #07
08 December 2015
“The more I see, the less
I know for sure.”
John Lennon
Photo Update Alert:
“Inle Lake” “Inle Lake Stupas”
Hello there… Rodger French
here.
After almost three months
in Yangon, Anne and I were ready for a break. So, in the great British
tradition of international travel, we elected to spend a month - well, four
days - by a lake. Specifically, Inle Lake in southern Shan State.
Inle Lake is a picturesque
place and, at an elevation of 880 m (2900 ft), offers a cool respite from the
heat. The downside, of course, is that tourists both domestic and international
visit in large numbers; like, in herds. Granted, this means a lot of cash coming
into a local economy that can surely use it. But the strain imposed on the shallow
lake ecosystem by this relentless influx of visitors presents an enormous
challenge.
At A.J.’s suggestion, the
Embassy travel office booked us a room at the Inle Lake View Resort & Spa,
a very comfortable and relatively low-impact establishment located on the west
side of the lake, a 35-minute drive from Heho Airport, which is a 65-minute
flight from Yangon. The resort is tastefully fraught with teak, grows much of
their own food, and employs more than 60 people who live in the nearby village
or in staff housing across the road.
The staff, in typical
Myanmar fashion, were extremely courteous and helpful. One of the services they
provided was to arrange two half-day private boat trips so we could hit the
lake along with all the other gringos and see the sights. It was tons of fun,
if a rather intense tourist experience.
[Nautical Sidebar: There are two types of boats in use on Inle Lake.
Fishermen use a flat-ended canoe, which they row with one leg while standing,
thus freeing their hands to fish. Major tourist photo op. The other type is a
long boat made of teak (costs about $2500, lasts about 35 years), powered by a
very noisy diesel outboard motor, and used to transport goods and passengers. We
loved cruising in these.]
Cue the highlight reel:
Floating Market - Moves daily to different lakeside locations; caters to locals as
well as tourists, who get the hard sell. That wears very thin very quickly.
Cottage Industries - Including textile weavers, boat builders,
silversmiths, blacksmiths, and umbrella makers. Bought a grand pink and black
paper parasol, with no clue where it’ll end up. Doesn’t matter, it’s fabulous.
Monasteries - Bare feet on cool teak floors, Buddhas galore, and (allegedly
trained by the monks) “Jumping Cats.” It seems, regrettably, that the latest
generation of feline troupers has decided to change their schtick to “Snoozing
Cats.”
Stupas
- In a fantastic variety of sizes, colours, and conditions. Acres of stupas… forests
of stupas... a righteous plenitude of stupas… and splendid photographic
opportunities.
Floating Gardens - Farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds and transport them back in
boats to create floating beds for growing fruits and vegetables. To quote Mr. Spock:
“Fascinating.”
After two days, however, we’d
had enough of the lake thing for a while, and decided to spend our third day
exploring the road to the aforementioned village. It was cool and overcast as
we schlepped along, occasionally waving greetings to adorable small children
and taking photoz of more - altogether, now - stupas!
On the final day, we were
scheduled for an evening flight to Yangon, so our accommodating innkeepers graciously
let us linger long past checkout; which worked out very well indeed since a
cold (by Myanmar standards) rain had settled in for the day; a pleasant, low-key
coda to our little holiday by the lake.
In our absence, meanwhile,
Christmas had broken out all over Yangon, especially here at the Shangri-La
Residences, aka “The Shang.” We’re all for it. What the heck, why not celebrate
everybody’s holidaze? More fun, less work, and good diplomacy, too.
Onward.
Rodger
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