Inle Lake

After Yangon and Bagan, I was ready for some R&R.  Inle Lake hit the spot.

• People have entire villages on stilts in the lake!  Talk about hoping that your children love swimming... 
• Inle Lake is almost 45 square miles in surface area - the second biggest lake in Myanmar.  Even though daily life on the lake is so secluded and "simple" in our eyes, it is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been
• We had the most amazing banana bread / cake during our first lunch.  I thought Carlyn might actually shed a tear when it was all gone...
• Out of the blue, one of Jen's middle school teachers appeared at the restaurant where we ate our first lunch.  He didn't notice her... but she noticed him by his voice when he was yelling at some students on a field trip from Yangon!
• Our hotel was in the lake
• I learned a new fishing technique - shoving a conical-shaped wood frame and netting over bubbles rising in the lake; use the net to capture the fish and quickly spear them.  Never actually took a try at it, but I'm still adding the step-by-step directions to my survival skills kit
• After far too many years, I went for a morning run with Kener!!!  She's likely the only person thus far in my life that I truly enjoy running with
• It's no secret to the world that the sun sets every day.  But, the sun doesn't set every day like it did over Inle Lake....
• It may not be the first thing you think of when you think of northern Myanmar, but we found a winery! Red Mountain Estate is up on a beautiful piece of land.  It was not too far into the wine tasting that we realized exactly why wine is not the first thing people think of when they think of northern Myanmar... (though the wine was not exactly fantastic, the banana crepe I also had there definitely qualified as fantastic)

Our hotel rooms

The amazing banana bread is gone...

Silk thread for weaving

Farmers have gardens that float in the lake

Home in the lake

Fishing

Morning fishing

Outside the winery