Beautiful Bagan and Inspiring Inle Lake

Bagan

I saved the best sights in Burma for last. The Temples of Bagan and the floating gardens of Inle Lake were the highlights of this country.

I am already getting used to seeing temples and religious shrines because there are so many of them in Burma. However, Bagan is unique in that there are thousands of them all in one valley.

In Bagan I rented a bicycle and slowly went from the shade of one temple to the next, trying to avoid the blazing hot sun. Unfortunately, I wasn't so successful in avoiding the very slick souvenir sales people. Despite being alert for their schemes, they still managed to convince me to buy postcards at the first temple. I'm too soft-hearted.

The temples are between 200 and 800 years old, with many of them being at least partially rebuilt due to earthquake damage. My favourite part was climbing the temples for panoramic views of the valley. Sunset was particularly nice from my perch on the side of Bagan's highest temple.

Inle Lake

After Bagan, I took a bus ride to a mountain town for the start of a 3 day hike to Inle Lake. I thought the bus ride was really interesting because the road wound past rice fields and other agricultural communities. The people were using oxcarts instead of trucks and tended the crops by hand.

It was nice to arrive in Kalaw and leave the hot weather behind (for a little while). I got lucky and joined on a trekking group of 4 other people.

The hike took us over low mountain ranges, past villages and fields of rice, chili peppers, and cauliflower. Our guide's name was Go-Chi and he had eyes like a hawk. He could spot caterpillars, unusual insects, and chameleons – lots of chameleons – while we were hiking.

On the third day of walking we could finally see Inle lake. After a long, hot descent, our group reached the water and the awaiting boat.

Inle Lake is really incredible. The boat drove down a narrow path between floating plants. Just beyond the plants, on either side, are tidy rows of crops floating in the water. Grass huts are perched on stilts and the inhabitants tend their crops from long, narrow wooden canoes.

The floating gardens and stilt villages go on and on. We visited a stilt monastery where monks have taught the many pet cats to jump through hoops. Unfortunately they don't do cat jumping shows anymore, but a tour guide showed me how to get the cat to jump through my arms.

Inle Lake is really authentic, and while there are lots of tourists, the lake and communities are so big that I didn't notice the other foreigners. It's hard to believe that a place like this exists on earth.

I wanted to sample the tomatoes that were being grown in the floating gardens. The boat driver said we would find the tomatoes for sale in the town where we were staying the night, and he was right.

What we found were people sorting tomatoes for shipment to other parts of Burma. Staying true to warm Burmese hospitality, they offered us a bag for no charge.

I had allowed myself 4 weeks to explore Burma, but I am satisfied after 2, and ready to move on to another country. The places I have visited are all on the 'tourist trail', and fairly convenient and cost-effective to reach. Much of the rest of the country, however, takes more time, requires expensive flights, and government permission.

Overall, I really enjoyed Burma's sights and its friendly people. At the same time its political situation is sad and frustrating, but eye-opening to me.

I was originally planning to go to Laos and Cambodia after Burma, but I am really itching to get to the water and try some surfing. I'm flying from Rangoon to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today, and then I'm going to hop across the water to Indonesia.