Inle Lake - Day 2
On my second day at Inle Lake I again arranged a boat, because I wanted to travel all the way to the village of Inthein. It doesn't lie directly on the lake, but on one of the tributaries in the southern part. The journey there is quite long — 50 minutes just to cross the lake and then another 30 minutes or so up the tributary.
When I arrived at the harbor at eight in the morning, my boatman was nowhere to be found. But I found the boat's owner, who promptly assigned me someone else. This was a very young Burmese man who, on top of that, didn't speak any English at all, so I figured it would be an interesting day with him. And it started right away. After about 5 minutes of sailing he was already pulling over to pick up another buddy, who could manage a few words of English and had some idea of where we should sail that day, but the drawback was that he was either badly hungover or still drunk. He figured out where I was headed, wrapped himself in a blanket at the front of the boat, and tried to escape the morning chill. As I mentioned, the trip to Inthein takes over an hour, and on the lake in the morning you really do get chilled to the bone.
The journey up the river that flows into Inle was interesting. We had to sail against the current and cross several small weirs along the way. The driver — actually I should say the captain — would always build up a lot of speed and literally leap the boat over a small weir that had a gap in the middle so that boats could pass through. After the calm, monotonous journey across the lake, it was a welcome change of pace.
The tipsy, betel-chewing helper we'd picked up along the way was, as I'd expected, useless. He kept offering to visit places I'd already been the day before. You couldn't understand him, and he just complicated everything.
A market was taking place in Inthein, so there were already several boats of tourists and quite a few locals as well. But I hadn't come for the market. The main reason was the monuments. More precisely, a temple on a hill, around which over 1000 small pagodas spread, cluster, and crowd together. Most of them date from the 17th or 18th century. They were commissioned or built by the local people to win the favor of the Buddha himself. I walked through the large complex where one pagoda presses against the next, some crumbling, others new. Some are just clay, others entirely gilded. Each is fitted with a little spire with bells. Among the small pagodas and those that rise several meters high, I made my way up to the main temple. Near it the concentration of pagodas is even greater, and above all they are grander and gilded. To the constant tinkling of little bells I wound my way through the tangle of pointed structures, shooting and shooting.
Beyond this complex there are a few more solitary pagodas. One larger one, about 400 m away from the lake, and others on elevated spots above the main area. From here there was a beautiful view over the whole complex. Besides the temple, I also took in the entire stretch of countryside adjoining the lake. This part is predominantly agricultural, and the vegetable production from the whole area must be enormous. I descended to the boat by a wide staircase lined with countless souvenir stalls. It's a shame that the stall trade and the bustle around it disrupt and spoil the beautiful, dignified atmosphere of these places. After all, there's a marketplace below the complex, and that ought to be enough for selling souvenirs to tourists.
After I'd repeatedly explained to the captain's helper that I was already on my second day at the lake and had seen the main attractions, he understood that he wouldn't talk me into anything else, and we set off for the little village of Mine Thawk.
From Inthein the sail took about an hour. People come to this village mainly for the teak bridge, which is 400 meters long and connects the lake side and the mainland side of the village. In the afternoon I was already meeting large numbers of tourists here, and I soon found out why. They're brought here by boat from Nyaunghwe with bicycles, and the tourists then return to town on the bikes. So photographing the pier at least somewhat emptied out, waiting for the right moment to shoot, took me quite a while.
At one point a local woman sailed up in a tiny boat and offered me a tour through the village along small canals that the larger boats can't reach. It seemed like a good idea; I agreed and didn't regret it. For a sail lasting about 30 minutes I paid just 2000 MMK, and I can warmly recommend it. I got into miniature canals that run right between the houses built above the surface of the lake and among the floating gardens. There I was close to the everyday life of the village; I could photograph things and moments I never would have seen or felt from a big boat. Then all that awaited me was the trip to the hotel, dinner, and the overnight, 350 km bus transfer to the town of Bagan.
Tip 1: The trip to Inthein really does take about 1.5 hours. At the harbor they'll insist it's terribly far (they told me 2.5 hours) so they can raise the price. In the end I haggled the trip down to 23,000 MMK.
Tip 2: Set aside at least 3 hours to explore Inthein, and if you also walk through the market, allow even longer.
Tip 3: Don't miss a ride on a small non-motorized boat through one of the villages (e.g. Mine Thawk, as I did).