jwg

Inle Lake (or Innlay as spelled on one sign) was to me the most fascinating place we visited in Myanmar - although every place was pretty fascinating. The lake is about 44 sq miles, between 5 ft and 12 feet deep but the water rises at least 5 feet in the rainy season. It is at 2,900 hundred feet of altitude. There were numerous villages with houses on stilts. We rode speedy longboats from the town nearest the airport to our hotel. Wherever we went it was by boat. There are little canals leading to villages. There is a huge floating garden with huge clumps of grass to hold the dirt anchored by bamboo stakes where they grow produce - among other crops a large percentage of Myanmar tomatoes are grown here. There was lots of fishing and we saw many instances of men standing on the back of a small boat on one leg with the other leg paddling the oar so that both hands were free to manipulate the nets and traps. The longboats were about 30 feet long powered by an inboard motor with a long shaft with a propeller and rudder on it so it can be used for power, steering and lifted up when necessary. When we rode them there were just 5 of us in a boat but we saw other boats with more than 20 people or loaded with cargo.

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