laid back

At Inle lake I stayed at a small hotel with separate cottages,

so pleasant, & not cut off from the village nearby, a laid back

place. The Princess Garden hotel.

There are markets around the lake, in 5-day rotation,

the ladies were there, & the boys with their snazzy haircuts.

& a teak monastery.

Here are more during the festival - didn't I see those faces

in Mexico, or Guatemala? You can see how they balance

at the back of their skiffs, & row with one leg.

The rattan houses use different patterns in their weave.

Depending on your interests, it would be easy to spend more

time here, & at Bagan. It's really quite different at other

times of the year, too.

Not all places in Burma are open to foreigners.

eleven

Back in the here & now, it's the supposed 'big' date,

though it's not 11/11/11 everywhere on the globe..

'the end of the world as we know it'.. that gives quite a lot

of wriggle room, though am happy if the more optimistic

meanings come to pass.

The Petrea vine is flowering in my garden.

inle lake

More from the festival at Inle lake, in Burma; I took a lot.

north

I flew to Inle Lake after a few days in Yangon, there was

a big annual festival happening ~ boat races the

day I was on the lake, a great spectacle: the misty mountains

all around, the sunrise, the stilt houses, the amazing balance

of the leg rowing, & of course the colourful boats, one or more for

each village. Boats full of villagers too.

Our boatman took us to his house, made from woven bamboo

on stilts, the lake is not so deep. A simple place with

zero excess. The water looks clear, & there are floating

gardens in another area, I saw very healthy looking tomatoes.

horse and cart

Was fortunate to find a horse cart driver via my friends,

such a sweet & easy-going man. He took me one afternoon

to his village to meet his family top left, & to see their

festival. His horse was well cared for. I thought their

children so good looking, especially the girl, right.

If you stay near old Bagan, ask for cart number 173.

The extra drive to my hotel, near New Bagan

was a bit too far, 6 kilometres, though he did it.

Stayed at the Kumudara, a good place, great staff,

surroundings dotted with pagodas, even a pool.

One night there was a cloudburst, accompanied by

an extremely loud & scary noise like an alarm,

it took me an hour to realise it was about

5 million frogs, it continued for 6 hours,

but gradually became more melodic.

by horse

My lovely horse cart driver in Bagan top left.

There's about 250 in the area I think. Life must get very

sparse in the off season. If they are from the same village

they all know each other, & shout greetings as they pass.

It was very wet one day, which made it bumpier - water

quickly covered the holes in the road, not so good for

photos, though generally it was easier to stop.

vistas

I went to some of the main pagodas & temples, but

there are thousands, each with it's own charm &

half sensed history. It was still raining a lot.

Though not the most sophisticated, these were

my favourite buddhas, beatific smiles ~ & twins!

& yes, these are still the small files..drat.