Day #11 Leg Rowing, Long Neck Women & Floating Gardens

Day #11 Inle Lake – Indaing - Leg Rowing, Long Neck Women & Floating Gardens 

January 14

Inle Lake and the Pristine Lotus resort seems like a relaxing place to meditate. Well if one doesn’t meditate at least to reflect on all the wonders one has seen while staying close to the toilet facilities. I am feeling better although after some serious morning runs I am nervous about the wisdom of a day traveling on the boats.  I don’t want to miss this so decide to forge onwards.  

Inle Lake 

The lake is 13.5 miles long and full of marshes interspersed with stilt-bamboo houses, people working on flat boats (without motors)  and amazing floating gardens which are tended by the Intha tribe.

There are four of us sitting in chairs placed in a motorized wooden canoe, supplied with blankets.  
Skip later tells me he is 
interested in the way this rather noisy motor works by taking water up through the engine and spraying it into the air behind it. 

Stilt Bamboo Houses 

I am thinking about John’s motorboat on Vashon and prefer this slower speed although in both cases it is too noisy to have discussions. 

John taking in the views 

John is viewing the scenery 
although I am sure
he would rather be at the helm controlling the motor so he could go faster.

I would prefer the flat
boats without motors. 

Intha Leg Rowing

As we proceed on this scenic trip through the marshes we stop to watch a local Intha man fishing in a traditional flat-bottomed boat propelled by a wooden paddle. His boat reminds me of the long-tailed boats we tried out in Bangkok. However here the unique Intha method of leg rowing is to wrap one leg around the paddle to drive the blade in a circular way through the water ~ their leg goes high in the air and it appears as an amazing, choreographed dance. 

I am fascinated by this and as a rower myself I wonder if I could learn to do this, or if my hip would rotate in such a manner. I wonder about hip displacement and why this leg rowing method developed.  Later I understand that by using their leg they still have the capacity to use both arms for dropping or removing the nets as they are fishing alone on these flatboats.  They also use huge funnel like nets, which are bigger than themselves that they lower into the water to capture fish and them pull out. Oo Myint says that out of every 10 lowerings they will catch some fish 1-2 times.  



The man we see seems there mostly for the tourists, although we see no money exchanged.  Nevertheless we see several other boats with leg rowers, but most boats now are motorized and leg rowing will soon be gone.  The balance between authentic and touristy is headed in the direction of the latter.   

Intha and Shan tribes

 Oo Myint  has told us that although the Intha people are Buddhist and wear longyis they are quite culturally distinct from the Shan tribe (his own tribe) and this Intha practice certainly demonstrates this. The Intha are likely from southern Myanmar.  On the other hand, the Shan from eastern and northern Myanmar, the biggest ethnic group after Bamar, most of whom are Buddhists; they call themselves Tai as they have strong ethnic, cultural and linguistic ties to the Tai people of northern Thailand and Laos. On this day our guide changes from wearing longyi to a type of pant I suspect is ethnic Shan but I need to ask him about this. The Shan in the past have fought the Bamar for control of Myanmar.

5-day Market & World Shoppers

 Our boat tour takes us to Indaing located on the western end of lake Inle at one of the 5-day markets. Here many different ethnic tribes (Pa-O, Danu, Intha and others) have come down from the hills to sell their handicrafts. John, Skip and Al find a comfortable riverside spot to relax while the women set off for a “shop till you drop” event. 

World Shoppers ~ Nicole, Avis, Virginia, Zanny & Carolyn 

This market also has a

Nick Knacks for Tourists 

 split personality with 
about 60% being clearly for local commerce (fruits, vegetables, utensils) and now about 40% for nick-knacks for tourists.

Entering the Village 

Local Commerce Market 

Selling Saffron 

Trading for Gems 

Selling Fish 

Selling Sugar ~ or something else? 

Selling beans 

Lady smoking while selling pita 

Selling Onions 

Selling tea and spices 

Beasts of Burden

Women's Support Group  

We all confess later than none of us are really shoppers at home but in this wonderful place we are fascinated by the unique and fascinating products often made out of local things like bamboo and coconuts, and enjoy the bargaining game with great prices. 

Avis buys a scarf ~ my colors

 I have previously avoided buying something because of not wanting to ask the price or engage in bargaining. It all seems so cheap that given the time it must have taken to make the item it seems ridiculous to bargain for a 50 cent discount. Yet Oo Myint has told me some bargaining is expected and it is more respectful to the people because it shows the value of the object to the buyer.

Most everyone buys something although Lucy tells us she and Al are trying to downsize and are not buying on this trip.  I am sure I should take on her philosophy but somehow I get entranced by the shopping frenzy. 


And I yes I am still in search for the perfect marionette monk. However, I buy several cotton scarves in my usual grey or white natural colors, and while I have probably 50 similar colored scarves at home I think these are unique. Of course I tell myself they would be great Christmas presents that is if I can part with them when I get home. Later I recall that I have been giving friends and family scarves from Italy, the Middle East and Turkey and other places for years. I can hear my friends saying at Christmas, “ this is probably another of Carolyn’s scarves”. 




Zanny makes immediate shopping
decisions and is a practiced bargainer. 
She buys a complete and every elegant outfit with Skip reinforcing her. 

Finally I spot the puppets ~ and suddenly there seem to be dozens of them everywhere. Given I can’t decide which one is better quality I go with Virginia and Janonne’s recommendation and buy a dusty and somewhat dirty monk puppet realizing this was the reason I rejected the earlier one.  And of course, I have no idea how I will get this home? 





I remain fascinated by the mothers and babies and parenting style.  I don't hear babies crying, they look well nourished and content with mothers are smiling lovingly at them with lot of face to face contact and playfulness. Babies are surrounded with colorful visual stimulation and tactile contact.

I

Mother selling scarfs ~ babies go to work with mothers 

I wonder about their schooling when they are older.





















People pack up and leave the market to go back to their villages around noon. I watch them leaving on the truck. 

Padaung Long Neck Women

John has contracted the same intestinal bug I have had and takes the boat back to the hotel at this stage. We continue by boat to another tourist fabric spot in a small village where we see what my tour books calls Myanmar’s famous “giraffe women”. These longneck women from the Padaung tribe are weaving on their looms and to my dismay they are very young, perhaps 20 years old. 


I mistakenly thought this custom had been discontinued. The ancient custom of fitting young girls with brass neck rings originally was intended to make these women less attractive to other tribes. Heavy, brass neck rings placed each year on their necks eventually causes deformation of the color bone and upper ribs because it pushes the shoulders away from the head. Apparently many of these women reach a stage where they are unable to carry the weight of their heads without the rings as extra support.  The rings cannot be taken off!

Today the reason for applying these rings is to provide impoverished women with a means to make a living by posing for photographs. Some of them are taken to Thailand to pose for tourists. I regret that I took pictures of them but try to assuage my guilt by telling myself I have bought one of their handloom fabrics. 



Later I talk with the other women in our group about this practice and find they have similar feelings. I don’t like that I am reinforcing this exploitation of women ~ how can this be stopped?  Perhaps by not taking pictures of them as if they are animals in a zoo and by only buying their fabric?  Or just leave them money and tell them we aren’t interested in their neck rings? Or, perhaps I suggest to our guide Oo Myint that the tour group not stop at such riverside stores.  Clearly these women are being used to attract tourists to this particular store to buy products most of which are not made by these people.  Oo Myint tells me this site is on our tour itinerary because previous tourists have requested to see this. He shares that he is also uncomfortable with this and appreciates getting the feedback. I wonder about giving people the option of whether or not to view but ask them to pay something or buy something if they do view.  I did not see any one either leaving money for them or buying fabric while I was there.  I am reminded of the Chinese women who had their feet bound and bones broken to make small feet. It seems this practice of long neck women is no longer a cultural tradition but a marketing effort at the expense of the women. How else can they make a living?

Pagoda Ruins of Nyaung Ohak

We walk through a small village to 14-18^th century pagoda ruins where many stupas are still in their natural form ~ crumbling apart with vines trailing through them and leaning at odd angles. They look both romantic and beautiful to me in their original form without the glitz of paint and light.  


Some have been sadly renovated by people not trained in historically correct ways to do this effectively or authentically. 

Badly Rennovated Stupas 

They look like completely brand new, grey plastered pagodas… as if done yesterday and are uninspiring and if continued will lead to the ruin of this magical place.  Reminds me of someone having plastic surgery trying to achieve a younger more beautiful beauty but somehow the authenticity has been lost. 

The view at the top of the village is breathtaking.

Virginia waits for me to be sure I'm not lost

Weaving Factory in Inpawkon Village

We walk through a quaint village of teak houses sitting on stilts and hear the chatter of weaving shuttles and shifting loom frames. 

It is fascinating to see the skill of these weavers as they produce fabrics on these looms made from bamboo poles lashed with rope. 

We learn how they use their dyes to make intricate designs.

 

A woman shows us how 

Threads from lotus plants

lotus plants are used to make 

threads that are then used to make even more intricate fabrics and designs. 

Lotus Plant Threads

I watch several women who are over 90 years of age sitting on the floor spinning threads.  They have been doing this work since childhood.  

I think I wouldn’t mind doing this beautiful work and feeling so useful when I am 90 years old.  

Weaver 90 years old 

We of course end up in the shop and all try on scarves asking each other if this is our color. I tell Virginia the expensive lotus-based scarf ($50) looks beautiful on her and she tells me this is not on her budget. Nicole our French design coach says purple is a better 

Nicole checks out color 

color for her and she finds one half the price. Janonne who looks good in every scarf buys several for her friends and reinforces everyone’s decision by saying “it looks marvelous” or some such positive superlative.  Zanny and I like the expensive lotus threaded scarves and tell ourselves it probably took a 90 year old woman a month to make this so it is incredibly cheap given the effort. We both buy one and I add to the mounting number of scarves I am buying and don’t need.

Bhaung Daw Oo Paya ~ Blob Buddha Images

Next we take the boat to our next village in order to see what our guide tells us is the holiest religious site in the area. Hmm, I have heard him tell us before how special each site is and when I see this site I wonder about his perspective.  In this case I am looking at 5 round, amorphous blobs that are apparently five ancient Buddha images. Apparently they have been transformed into blobs because of the sheer volume of gold leaf applied by local families. We are told that during annual festivals the images are paraded around the lake on a barge and that families bring their children her as part of ordination rites. Zanny and I once again look at each other and wonder what might have been accomplished if the money had gone to supporting their education.

Jumping Cat Monastery

We end this incredible day of excursions by going to Nga Hpe Kyaung a Buddhist wooden meditation temple that is famous for its jumping cats. Apparently these cats have been taught to jump through hoops by the monks during their non-eating or non-meditating moments.  While many cats were evident, no jumping cats were observed.  I think this is another marketing effort to get people to this temple which is said to be one of the oldest on the lake with 200-year-old Buddha statues.

Floating Gardens

Eva, Virginia, David and Oo Miynt in their boat 

We return to our hotel at sunset through the famous floating gardens. No special tourist attraction is needed to enjoy these bucolic and romantic views. 

There are rows upon rows of vines of squash, tomatoes, flowers and other vegetables that I don’t know the names of on trellises. 
They are separated by water channels and Intha farmers paddle these channels to tend their crops.  

Every few blocks we see a house sitting up on stilts surrounded by a flat boat and their laundry out for drying. 

Water Streets

Sometimes we see children washing and playing in the water or older children washing dishes or clothes. 


I wonder about how the children go to school ~ are there water buses? Where do they go to the bathroom and what do they do for lighting and doing homework at night?  If these people can garden why can’t I?

This feels authentic, peaceful and beautiful ~ I'd like to spend more time here.