Steintore
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Steintore
Fri, 14.02.2014: Bagan −> Inle Lake, sunny, 28°C
We didn't sleep much and Kirsten got a shock when she looked into the mirror - she had mosquito bites in both eyebrows!! They were both the shape of rooftops!
When we went to breakfast at 6am we woke up the staff who were sleeping on settees in the reception area! They got up to make us breakfast - we got Lipton tea bags, omelettes, bread and jam. No one mentioned Kirsten's eyebrows!
We drove to the airport where all the passengers wait in one large hall. There are digital display boards but they weren't working. Instead, someone came along to announce each flight as it was ready to be boarded. We were really glad Kelvin was there because the announcements were very hard to understand. After three flights had been called they brought out boards with the flight numbers on - probably because all the foreigners kept asking if this was their flight or not!
Then our flight was delayed because there was no parking space at the airport we were flying to. They meant it literally. Heho airport near Inle Lake is such a small airport that there is a limited amount of parking spaces for the planes to drop off and collect passengers!! Well, that's a new one for me!
We didn't have to wait long and then we hopped on a bus that only drove us 100 metres to our plane! Was that really necessary? It was only a 40 minute flight but the attendants had time to serve us Danish pastries, juice and a sweet.
We landed at 9-30am Heho and our luggage was carried directly into the airport, no conveyor belts here, and put on the floor for us to collect! How quaint!
It was an hours drive to Inle Lake but we stopped at the Shwe Yaungwe Kyaung Monastery for photos on the way.
On the way in to Nyaungshwe we saw signs for a French Bakery which we hunted out as soon as we had checked into our hotel. We shared a chicken vol au vent and then bought 4 chocolate croissants and a passion fruit tart to take away. (Cakes to die for!!)
The croissants only lasted as far as the market which was closed because it was a full moon day. Something else new to us. Apparently, every month certain places close for the full moon (but not the banks - they have bank holidays!)
We enjoyed wandering around the town exploring and then returned to the hotel where we were taken for a very bumpy ride on a rickshaw motorcycle to hot springs. According to the itinerary we should have cycled this stretch which would have taken us an hour. But Nigel can't ride a bike - we were very grateful because it would have been a very dusty ride. Maybe that's something for the 18 to 25s but not oldies like us!
Anyway, we had been expecting bubbling pools in their natural setting but it turned out to be outdoor pools in a spa hotel. Not that we were complaining. The others got in for an hour - my low blood pressure prohibits me - so I sat beside the pool with a Sprite and we chatted for an hour. Very relaxing.
Hot Springs near Inle Lake
Just as we set off in our rickshaw again there was some kind of altercation on the street in front of us. There had been a major volleyball game in the town - a final between two rival towns who all turned up to watch the match. Maybe the problem was sore losers? It was over before it started so we continued back along the dusty track and over the rickety bridges. They weren't very stable but we had seen numerous large coaches driving along here - how on earth those bridges carry that kind of weight is beyond us!
Sat, 15.02.2014: Inle Lake, sunny, 30°C
I got another bout of bad diarrhoea. I made it down to breakfast twice but had to turn around immediately to go quickly back to our room! We were due to go on a boat trip and meet at 7-30am. The others waited until 8-30am when I told them they would have to go without me because I couldn't leave the toilet!!
We'd only been on this trip a week and this was the second time I would miss a day. We're not used to being ill at all as it is so rare but this trip has changed things for the worse.
At least Kirsten could go along and she told me they went in a long boat along a beautiful stretch of canal to get to the lake. She saw fishermen using their feet to both paddle and fish, lots of floating garden type channels growing beans, tomatoes, gourds, cucumbers, aubergines and Aster flowers and went past various villages with houses built on stilts.
They got off the boat for 30 minutes to see lotus weaving and later saw silk weaving, knife making, a blacksmith and cheroot making. They were also invited to lunch at a wedding celebration - rice, beans and pork.
They went to two pagodas - Paung Daw Oo, built around 1957 and Innlay Shwe Inn Tain built in the 19th Century. There are over 1,000 pagodas in the area! They also saw women wearing brass rings which pushes down their shoulders thus giving them elongated necks. The rings can weigh up to 8kg in total and it takes 25 years from the age of 9 onwards. It started out as a way to make the women less attractive to men from rival tribes - a tradition that still continues but is not as widespread today.
After seeing umbrella and paper making, the boat took 1.5 hours to get back, arriving at 4-45pm. Kirsten told me that they'd had a very good guide - Mo Mo - who spoke very good English but there were too many souvenir stands touting for business with the tourists and the boat had loud engines. But she'd taken photos and videos for me to look at - hundreds of them!
Day trip on Inle Lake
We were just looking at them when Cynthia and Nigel came round. Cynthia had drawn a picture of a Myanmar fisherman and his boat for me. That was really sweet and it was also a very good drawing. I asked her to sign it in case she gets famous one day!!
