Myanmar︱Inle Lake

Inle Lake

In Inle Lake located in Shan State, you will feel like you are visiting the watery world of Shangri-La. Not owning a boat for travelling is like not having feet to walk when you are at Inle Lake. Ethnic minorities like the Pa’O and Intha people raft, fish and build artificial floating islands for agricultural use. They build houses on the water with bamboos and thatch – their lives are based on water.

Taking a boat to travel to the lake from the river, you can see an iconic scene of Inle Lake – fishermen in white shirts, orange trousers, straw hats are rafting with a paddle skillfully. Occasionally they would throw out fishnets and then slowly get the catch. Land reclamation is not needed for the lake residents, because they are so intelligent that they have developed the “agricultural activities on the lake”. They insert bamboo poles into the bottom of the lake as the “foundation”, then stack plants and lay silt on top. Voila! An artificial floating island is made for growing plants like tomatoes, melons and chrysanthemums.

“Buddhist temples on the lake” are not something surprising to find in the Inle Lake. Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery in the west is the largest and most historical. Apart from worshipping Buddha statues in the styles of Shan State, Bagan and Tibet, the temple is also famed for having a large group of trained cats which know how to jump through a hoop.