Inle Lake

Burma is an interesting country that has experienced, and continues to experience, many periods of unrest. It is not possible to travel freely in all states, but the main sights are accessible. As always, I was more interested in people than in temples.

The main religion is Buddhism. It is interesting that every boy between the ages of 9 and 11 must spend a short period in a monastery with the monks. This is believed to reveal his life path: some remain monks forever, while others return to monasteries several times during their lives. Anyone can come to a monastery; at each monastery there is a kind of retirement home where elderly women gather if they have no one to live with.

On the lake there are famous floating gardens where tomatoes are grown — a very rare and expensive vegetable in Burma — as well as other crops. New gardens can no longer be created, as they already cover about 25% of the lake and the lake is protected. The “beds” are anchored with poles; lake silt is placed on them and algae and a bit of soil are constantly added. Such a bed can be moved to another place by pulling out the poles — the bed itself floats. I shot a separate reportage about the floating gardens.

Fishing is also practiced on the lake using various methods. Observing the calm life of the lake is quite fascinating. There I also found a guide who showed me much more over several days, including a visit to the home of his sister and aunt. Inle Lake is one of the places where it is worth staying for several days.