It’s really
relaxing to be on the countryside. We stay in Nyaung Shwe, the biggest village
nearby the Inle Lake.
It’s all
about boats here, as the commercial pulse is on the water.
Of
course there is a big temple, too.
The
people a little outside of the village centre live in simple stilt houses…
Walking
around is really nice and we have our fun.
Street congestion...
The next
day we hire a captain to get to know the lake and its floating villages.
Unfortunately
it’s pretty cloudy and we start with rain. But soon after the sun shows its
best, even with clouds – so the clouds stay but it’s really hot anyway.
You
notice the busy merchants passing by. But the main business is fishing. People
here have their own special fishing technique…
They’re also
going for seaweed…
We let
the lake behind us and enter a small channel. Floating tomato plantations are
to our right and left…
And suddenly
there appears a floating village…
Of
course the Burmese people want to take the chance to get the tourists into
their houses to buy something from their handcrafts. We guess that most
of the money here is done by selling fish and handcrafts. Well, it’s a little like on
a selling trip. But people are really friendly and it’s nice to chat with them.
A "silver factory"...
They all
work on silver jewellery. It’s a family business like almost always.
Next
stop: a “tobacco fabric”. They do here the so called Cheeroots.
We have a nice and long chat with this family.
We also stop by lotus and silk weavers. Crazy how they make fabrics out of lotus plant stems!
Here the silk and cotton weaving fabric.
We also stop by a smith.
Again at some weavers: long-necked
women from Padaung tribe.
And last at a paper umbrella factory...
It's a
pretty intensive and long day: we see a lot, learn a lot and talk a
lot. It's time to go back to our guesthouses' village to relax.
The next day we start with a hike to - hear and be amazed - Red
Mountain Estate Vineyards & Winery
They really
produce red and white wine here. It’s situated on a nice hill with a great
restaurant on the top.
Naturally
we have to try the Burmese wine.
The
influence is from a French winemaker and we have to say, we expected worse. We
are even surprised about the wines. But between us, they still have a long way
to meet our wines. With "our" we mean the great wine nations!
Another
great day passes by and we are ready for some new and different experience!
