Inle Lake: Keeping a low profile

Trekking in the eastern mountains of Lake Inle.  The trek took us up a mountain starting at a Buddhist cave, then to villages and mountain vistas.  A little more hike than I bargained for as it was quite the climb and I was getting a little too overheated, but that being said, it was an amazing experience.  The villages and lunch at a local villager's house was the highlight.  The husband was separating beans from their pods by beating them in a sack with a bat, then hand sorting out the beans.  The women prepared a beautiful lunch and stayed hidden in the kitchen.  Lunch was one of the healthiest to date with fresh vegetables and fruit from local gardens.  We ate on their front porch overlooking the valley of banana trees and cornfields.  We’ve been getting security alerts from the State Department due to the heightened middle east tensions and one piece of advice is to keep a low profile. Can’t imagine a more low profile than on a porch of a bamboo hut in the mountains of Myanmar.

300 plus donated Buddha statutes could be found in the many crevasses of the cave, and in one section was a series of bamboo mats where the monks pray.  We walked past one area where you could hear Buddhist instruction behind a closed door- from a DVD!  As we were leaving we walked past a monk sitting on a chair who was surrounded by cats.  Low and behold, he started showing us his trained cats who could jump through hoops with some encouragement of treats.  It was hilarious and I was able to capture some good action shots.  Hmmmm so this is what the monks do all day. 

Our 28 year old guide, Aung Naing Oo, was a hoot.  He explained not only sights along the way, but gave us insight into his life.  He is married with two children and loves rock music which we discovered after hearing him sing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.  He also likes beer and singing karaoke.

Jumping cat flash