“There are only 54 steps to the top,” said my guide, Mu Mu. Easy-peasy, I thought. I can do that without even breathing hard. Halfway up the face of Shwesandaw Temple, I realized I must have tuned out the part where she’d said each step was at least two feet high and the…
Tag: Myanmar
PHOTO: Betel Nut Vendor at Nyung Shwe Market, Myanmar
Click on title to view photo in large format: Betel nut vendor at the Nyung Shwe market near Inle Lake, Myanmar. His teeth are stained from chewing betel nut, which is shredded and wrapped in a slake lime coated-betel leaf, along with spices and alcohol-marinated tobacco. Over time, the concoction eats the enamel…
PHOTO: House Built on Stilts over Inle Lake, Myanmar
Click on title to view photo in large format: Typical stilt house on Inle Lake, Myanmar, with floating gardens surrounding the home. Entire villages are built over the lake in this fashion, complete with monasteries, general stores, schools, restaurants, and even craft workshops. The stilts must be high, as the lake level fluctuates…
VIDEO: Touring the Floating Villages of Inle Lake, Myanmar
Inle Lake, Myanmar (formerly Burma), is home to nearly 200,000 residents who have developed unique measures that allow them to live in harmony with the lake. As water depths can vary from eight feet in the dry season to 17 feet in the rainy season, they build their wood and woven bamboo homes…
PHOTO: Shwe Indein Pagoda Near Inle Lake, Myanmar
Click on title to view photo in large format: These are just a few of the 1,047 ancient stupas that crown a hilltop at Shwe Indein Pagoda near Inle Lake, Myanmar. Legend insists that the shrines were built by Ashoka the Great, who lived from 304–232 BCE, however there is no archeological evidence…
One-Legged Fishermen of Inle Lake, Myanmar – Finding Balance Within a Fragile Ecosystem
The sun was setting when our tour boat arrived at an area of Inle Lake frequented by the famous one-legged fishermen of Myanmar. We drifted up to a young man in a grey and red track suit who was balancing on the front tip of his flat-bottom boat. From his birds-eye perch, he…
