We wake up to blue skies and calm waters at the Paradise Inle Hotel. Wherever you choose to stay, you can make arrangements with the hotel for a boat ride around Inle Lake. I didn't do prior research as there is little or no specific information on the area online. There are a few floating villages, morning markets, monasteries and temples that are worth visiting.
The boat rides takes you to on a unique journey where you take a glimpse into the lives of the Intha (meaning "sons of the lake" people living in Inle. There are about 70,000 Inthas who are mainly self-sufficient farmers living around and and on the lake itself. hey are largely self-sufficient farmers.
Paradise Inle Hotel: The simple rooms on stilts imitate the traditional houses of wood and woven bamboo homes of the area
Rooms stretching out into the lake
Off we go!
An Intha farmer
On the way to the morning market
Children on the way to school
Locals leaving the market
Intha men are known for their leg-rowing techniques: rowing with one foot. This method evolved due to the lake being covered by floating plants making it difficult to see the distance ahead while sitting.
Boating through the shallow waters with dense growth of reeds and plants
We stopped to visit a silversmith
Our lunch venue
The mountains are a real, although it looks like a rolled down picture
Fried Fish balls
Sweet & Sour Fish
Leaving the lunch venue
Children on the way to school
Spinning Lotus thread to make clothes
Old sewing machines still being used by the locals for business
We visited the Ngaphe Chaung Monastery with trained cat, also known as the Jumping Cat Monastery. Built in 1843, the ancient monastery is open to public and you can enter freely to view the Buddha images and look at the cats jump!
The inside of the monastery
Locals harvesting tomatoes: Inthas support themselves through the tending of vegetable farms on floating gardens
The natural beauty of the lake set amidst the mountains
Paradise Inle Hotel:
