One legged rowing

I'm having issues with not only a poor wifi connection, but also, my email won't get or send mail - it says the address is wrong, so I've not got my posting done. First world problems! Not that there's much time to write the journal.

Jenny and I are having a wonderful time, and now we are at 800m, it is a nicer heat of around 28degrees. Today we shared a long tail boat with another couple of women to explore the lake. First we enjoyed the spectacle of the fishermen who stand up to row with one leg wrapped round the oar, and balancing with the other, so that he has one hand free to manage his conical net. The fish they catch are not killed - the market is only once a week so the fish live under the stilt houses till market day. It is quite a tourist attraction.

Inle Lake is beautiful, set amidst the mountains. People get about by boat. We seem to be in the backpacker town. I noticed a very swanky floating hotel, and we were told that the enormous excavation on the hillside is a government approved hotel complex. The consequent erosion of the mountainside is causing mud to get to the lake and it is silting up. Each year the water level in the lake is lower, possibly due to climate change, and the building exacerbates the already fragile situation.

We then visited the Monastery of the Jumping Cats. This place was also used as a kind of community centre as well. The monks had rescued some very old marble Buddhas which were on view. (The cats no longer jump and do tricks.)

After that we floated down through the floating water gardens. There is a huge amount of water hyacinth on the lake. It floats down to certain areas where it is harnessed. As the roots decompose and more hyacinth gather, the gardeners plant tomatoes and cucumbers on it. Presumably they get the nutrients they need from the decomposition below, and of course the water. The slim Burmese have no problem standing on it to look after the plants. There were acres and acres of it in neat rows with small channels between for them to row in to tend the crops.

We visited a place where young women made a kind of silk from lotus stems. They cut the stem and twisting as they went, pulled out thin strands which were wound on a reel. It is extremely labourious and goes to Armani who sell it at a big mark up, then we saw the blacksmith making knives - both these enterprises were taking place in wooden buildings on stilts in the water. We also saw a boat builder making teak longboats, before having some lunch. Again very tasty, a grilled fish from the lake stuffed with spring onions, garlic and ginger.

Then it was on to another pagoda complex with Mr Blobby Buddhas. We couldn't quite work out why they looked like this. It appeared that only men could go up to touch them and add a bit of gold lead so I can only surmise that they have not placed the gold leaf very appropriately, and over time what had been a Buddha shape got more and more like a good cottage loaf.

We returned as it got cooler and were able to walk back to the hotel before it got dark.



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