We travelled to Inle Lake from Bagan on one of the smaller propeller planes and arrived just before lunch time. The first thing we noticed was that the temperature was considerably cooler than Bagan and this was a welcome change from the sweltering heat.

We took a taxi to our Hotel, which again was another good find by Lærke, and spent the afternoon relaxing and having lunch in town.

At 4pm we took a taxi to the Light Festival which is a religious festival that takes place every year where light balloons are sent up into the sky. This was one of the most amazing experiences of our trip so far and hard to describe!

When we arrived there were thousand of Myanmar people and hardly any tourists at all. There was rubbish everywhere as the festival had already been going on for 4 days. The festival was set up like you might see in England with loads of little food stalls and shopping stalls.

There was a big funfair in the middle of the festival and it had a huge faris wheel that had to be turned by men who climbed to the top of it and hung off until it started to turn! It was crazy and Lærke was a little concerned she may have to put her doctor skills into action if there was an accident! Near the funfair was a fenced off area where the balloons where meant to be lit and sent into the sky. They were also playing very loud dance music everywhere we went, it seems to be the cool thing to do.

The location of the festival was at a university quite high up in the mountains so it was fairly chilly and unfortunately raining. We spent the evening drinking 50cent cocktails, beer, Myanmar whiskey and eating fried noodles and I even tried a chicken feet soup :-)!! The people at the festival were fantastic, they loved us and all said hello or waved or wanted their picture taken with us. They all chew this red beetle nut so the men look a bit terrifying when they grin at you with red teeth and lips!

At one point we went to see some people singing awful music on a stage and we ended up jumping up and down and dancing Bollywood style with a group of local boys, there was even a man with his small daughter on his shoulders jumping around. This drew quite a crowd and you could see loads of people watching these weird white people dancing in their ponchos!

Lærke was cold and wet so she bought a white rice sack (which most of the locals unfortunately chose to wear on their heads klu klux klan style :-/!) and fashioned a dress out of it. The local ladies thought this was absolutely hilarious and would point and laugh at her everywhere she went.

There were so many people at the festival that you could barely move and at times Lærke and I felt uncomfortable being squished and shoved along the lanes. People around us also started to get drunker and drunker so we headed back to the more open areas.

Unfortunately because by 11pm it was still raining the balloons were never sent up and we decided to make a move back to the hotel. Although disappointing not to see them it was fantastic to see the festival and all the locals. An unforgettable experience!

As you can probably imagine we were all a little tired the next day and it continued to rain all day. In the morning we headed to the local hot springs and relaxed in the well built warm pools. Next we had wanted to see noodle making but it was a national holiday so nobody was working. In the end we decided to relax for the afternoon and then go out for Dim Sum in the evening.

Friday was Emil's last day so we got up early and took a full day boat trip around Lake Inle. Lake Inle is huge and it took us 1.5 hours to reach the bottom of the lake. We were very lucky with the weather and the cloud lifted and the sun shone. The lake is surrounded by green mountains and it was a very beautiful scene.

During the day we saw fisherman balancing and paddling with one leg whilst fishing with their hands, banana leaf cigarette and cigar making, lotus plant scarf making (one scarf $500!!!), pottery, a silver and gold smith and a market and two pagodas. We also sailed though the floating garden where they grow vegetables in the middle of the lake. As we passed between our stopping points we sailed through huge towns built entirely on stilts in the water. It was really different and interesting and from the comfort of our longboat we were able to see how people in the area go about daily life.

We were all exhausted by the time we floated back in the dark to the town. We stopped off on the way home for some traditional Myanmar curry before heading back for an early night.

Now we are waiting at Heho airport for our flight to Ngapali and it is time to say goodbye to Emil and start out final beach adventure.

I will blog again soon.

Alice
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