Myanmar - Day 3 Inle Lake Afternoon

After lunch we loaded into the boats for the trip back down the river to the lake.

Life proceeds in these river front homes as it has for many years. Actually, I guess the solar panel is a newer addition.

These women are washing clothes. The river is actually a lot cleaner than the lake. The river originates in the mountains and flows fairly swiftly to the lake.

These boys are in charge of the water buffalo, I guess.

This is the hospital at the nearby village - complete with boat dock.

The village is un-named on Google Maps.  Village

Here is another home on the lake. Notice the blue PVC  pipe. I guess that is some sort of floating septic tank that it discharges into.

This is inside the Phuangdaw Oo Pagoda. Those gold blobs are actually small Buddhas covered with layer after layer of gold leaf.

Google Maps - Phuangdaw Oo Pagoda

Notice the small sign in the lower right corner. As I understand it, in actuality ladies are only prohibited at that time of the month. But it would be too impolite to ask and unthinkable to verify so they take the easy way out.

These must be Asian tourists given their precautions against sun exposure.

We next head to a Inpawkhone village which is famous for weaving silk on hand looms. They also spin and weave lotus fiber.

I think this guy is preparing bobbins of thread for weaving.

The looms are 100% people powered.

This is the raw thread dyeing operation. That is a cabinet full of dyes in the back. They no longer use natural dyes.

More of the dyeing operation. Notice the wood fired pot of dye.








This woman is preparing thread for the warp that will later be loaded onto the loom.

On the way back we stopped at a cheroot factory. They were all made completely by hand.

Take a look at this link for more details.

Cheroot

Here some of our group give them a try.

We passed this fisherman on the way back to the hotel. Keeping the net from getting tangled looks like a challenge.

These are basically floating fields. The farmers prepare a bamboo raft and pile soil on it. The raft floats up and down as the lake level changes. The vertical poles keep the rafts in place. The fields are tended from boats. These are tomato plants, I think.

The sun had just set as we arrived back at the hotel for dinner.