To get to our Inle Lake hotel from Yangon, we first flew about an hour to the aiport in Heho, then drive 45 minutes in a car to Nayung Shwe, a large town/city on the lake shore, then travel by wooden river boat another 45 minutes to “our home” (which is what Myo jokingly calls all of our hotels) for two nights, the Pristine Lotus Resort and Spa. We didn’t check in until about 4pm, so the only real sightseeing we did that day was a stop at an old wooden monastery during the road portion of the journey.

It was a relatively simple construction in comparison to some others we’ve visited, and though it had charming stained glass windows and that classic old-world appeal, it was clear from the moment we stepped inside that the accommodations are shared with a good number of cats. And while the animals themselves are adorable, the distinct odor of old cat urine – not so much.

Our full-day of sightseeing on Inle Lake began with a brisk 1 hour boat ride to the village of In Dein, that day’s market host (the local market rotates among 5 big villages around the lake).

Outside the market hall is where the flowers people buy to place in their home Buddha shrines are sold, as well as a few water buffalo we learned are actually for rent, not for sale.

Inside is where all the other goods are sold: fruit, vegetables, household goods, cell phones, dried fish, tofu, chili, and prepared foods. A lot of the market-goers travel several hours in each direction once per week for the market, and are happy to sit down with a bowl of noodles and rice cakes to refuel after they’ve done all their shopping.

After visiting the market we strolled along the river (where we were flanked on both sides by a repetitive array of tourist items for sale: scarves, “jade” necklaces, small brass bells and gongs…) to reach an impressive collection of stupas. Thanks to the soft clay of the bricks and a very wet rainy season they look much older than they really are, but the effect is really pretty nonetheless.

  

If memory serves, the local people believe that the Buddha himself visited this spot and that donating the money for a stupa here will bring good fortune, which explains why there are so many of these are jammed into this particular area.

The most unexpected and, to me, most memorable aspect of this site was the sound of all of the bells on te top of the stupas ringing in the breeze. Up to this moment I hadn’t noticed that bells are a regular feature; the belief is that this is a way to communicate with and pay respect to people who have died. The brreeze on this day was just perfect to tinkle the thousands of little bells, and lucky for us there weren’t very many tourists there so most of the time if we were quiet the bells were the only sound we heard.