It's now Tuesday 8th. Still no Internet so this will no doubt be late published . So since last Thursday I've succumbed to the first brief bout of s&d - after 8 weeks its not too bad. It brought me down on Sunday afternoon so I had to rest at the hotel for the afternoon and miss the wine tasting trip. Yes they are starting wine production here - climate is pretty good and initial wine verdict from Ang is promising.
Thursday 3rd. We had a long day driving from Mandalay to Kalaw. It's about 180 miles up into the hills. Kalaw is an old British hill town perched in the hills which is pretty enough- but not on the level of the Indian ones. That's something you realise when you travel around , every country has its offerings in each category but you can become a bit blasé with your reviews. So here the Bagan temples were good but not in the Angkor category. The stuphas and monasteries are lovely but I'd always go for Ely cathedral yet Inle Lake (more later) is fabulous and top of its category.
Friday 4th. Being in the hills gave us the chance to walk up to a local village for a few hours. It's the first decent walk we've had and was lovely. Kalaw itself is around 4,800ft up so this village was perched above it. On the way up you could see it was a fertile rich place with plenty of crops. Lots and lots of orange trees, avocados , pumpkins, tomatoes - everywhere. When we got to the village it was evidently quite rich as many of the houses were being rebuilt in brick. Whenever you visit Asian villages you get filled with the community feeling as they all seem to be working together rather than working on their own land. And they are delighted to see you offering cups of tea , which you take a calculated guess as to how clean the water is.
The hotel in Kalaw flattered in appearance. From the outside it was like an English country house but the rooms were a bit tiny and badly designed.
And just above the hotel was a military training camp with its own 9 hole golf course. The army is quite keen on golf so there are a number around - not very good from what I've seen but ... It also shows how much things have changed here in that I can wander around a military camp with no questions asked.
Saturday 5th. We took the 2 hour drive to Inle Lake, which is a 20km lake perched 3,000ft up supporting a wide range of communities. We went onto the Lake in 4 separate boats - it's tourist Mecca here so there were tens close to hundreds of similar boats all making the same trek. You drive for around 30 minutes to get onto the Lake and then pick your tourist activity
- The fishermen who paddle using their leg wrapped around the paddle. Apparently it's easier to steer and fish like this PLUS they can better se where they are going
- The many villages around the lake with their specific skills, weaving, silk making , boat building. Great opportunity to people watch and contemplate your place in the world.
- Dine at the restaurants in the villages. They had wonderful views of the lake and the canals running off it - almost Venetian
- Paddle through the floating gardens. The lake isn't very deep in many area only 4 feet or so in the dry season. The local villagers use the mud and algae from the bottom mixed with floating grasses to float gardens on the lake. Onto this 'soil' they have crops of tomatoes, marrows, beans . And not just 1 or 2 plants - it's commercial gardening on a grand scale. Hopefully will post some photos.
Sunday 6th.
Back onto the lake for more tourism and a stupha visit. S&d just hit me at this point so it went downhill for me. But once I was sitting in the boat I could take in the sights ok.
Ang went wine tasting in the afternoon. She said it was wine tasting and not drinking as it was only a sip of each. But the views over the lake were lovely and some of the wines show promise - keep an eye out in Tesco!
Monday was another travelling day - but that's the next post
Friday update - now in Yangon with wifi but my camera adapter is now 'not supported' so no photos -boohoo!
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