Faces and sights of the beautiful Inle Lake, Heho + How to get to Heho from Mandalay
Day 2 in Myanmar
Inle Lake is one of the world's acclaimed scenic sites to visit in Myanmar. Heho airport is the gateway to this lovely destination. From Mandalay, take a domestic flight of about 30mins. Facts about their domestic flights-
you can pop in even if you missed your passport. But of course that’s HIGHLY NOT
advisable at all. ( one of us in the group forgot to bring but perhaps we were a tour group,
they can be a bit lenient. Still. Don’t try). Expect delays in boarding and departure.
As the airport is small in Heho, landing and taking off can be a problem and
highly dependable on weather, thus delays are not uncommon. However the flight
was incredibly smooth and there’s no cause for worries.
Just have fun!
♣♣♣♣
We FLEW
Before anything else. We arrived in Heho via domestic flight in the propeller jet from Mandalay International Airport via Golden Myanmar Airlines.
Yes, you get to board in VIP style - outdoors with no aerobridge.
This is Mandalay International Airport, not huge but beautiful with the flavors of Myanmar.
Boarding Pass to Heho~
It's really a mini plane with 1 alise and 4 seats across in a row, pretty much subjected to turbulence in the air. Thankfully it was just a short flight of just 30 minutes.
#WINDOWPEEP
From the wings of Golden Myanmar Airlines ( small wings)
As the plane began landing to civilization...
Heho Airport
Reached and disembarked.
This is Heho airport and there after we were whisked off to Inle Lake by a chartered bus.
Inle Lake
But to the lovely sights of Inle, here's a pictorial tour!
Purely for tourism, these fishermen performed the art of 1 leg-rowing fishing skills and displayed stunning poses for us- tourists.
It was really tough for them to stand under the hot, menacing sun just to 'perform' for us. It's almost unethical and too much for me to bear, so I didn't really take many pictures.
Yes it's staged and they were amazing and ever so professional.
Give them tips please if you ever met them.
This is livelihood for them and we should should respect everyone.
Behing the faces, I detect senses of helplessness, but for the sake of earning a living, this is how they become stronger.
FACT: Fishermen engage a distinctive fishing style using one leg to paddle their boats in a rhythmic circular motion. Every moment traveling g along the lake is a visual feast.
'Real' Fishermen at work
FACTS: Inle lake is the 2nd largest in Myanmar and is so
rich with culture, it’s out of this world and a totally refreshing experience
for all of us. The inhabitants in Inle belong to the Intha tribe and perform
their daily routines on water. We watched with amazement and awe.
Floating garden beds anchored by bamboo poles for vegetables, fruits farming
Floating tomato gardens are sights not to be missed.
Women and kids getting on with their lives along the water.
This is how we traveled all the time while in Inle- via long narrow, motorized boats. Droned with colorful life vests, each boat sits up to 5 pax and on chairs no less. Chairs on boats= amazing experience!
The boats were very stable and transport you to everywhere in Inle- life on lake with no connected lands at all.
The boats were very stable and transport you to everywhere in Inle- life on lake with no connected lands at all.
Phaung Daw Oo pagoda
A magnificent Buddhist site.
FACT: The Intha tribe are predominantly Buddhist Tibeto-Burman ethnic group, speaking a Burmese dialect. And like on mainland Myanmar, there are many stunning pagodas, monasteries on water which have been amazingly built.
A magnificent Buddhist site.
FACT: The Intha tribe are predominantly Buddhist Tibeto-Burman ethnic group, speaking a Burmese dialect. And like on mainland Myanmar, there are many stunning pagodas, monasteries on water which have been amazingly built.
The main hall houses 5 images of Buddha. The center buddha statue, in particular, has been covered with so much gold leaves by the devotees. it's original shape can no longer be seen and it's now just a round ball- lookalike of gold. Unbelievable right. This picture also tells you that no ladies are allowed into the main shrine. If you are female and want to paste a gold leaf as a form of prayer offering, get a guy to do it for you instead.
All Shrines in Myanmar is the same and forbids female from entering.
Met the cutest kids in the village while others are busy shopping.
Once again, I wished I had a Polaroid with me so I could have taken photos for them and gave them as keepsake. Who has a polaroid to sell me?
"Come see me twirl my hula-hoop"
She is such a sweetie, despite not knowing what we were talking about. Wished I could have given her more like little snacks or something. Hope they will grow up well
So cute right??!! "Hello we are best friends" I don't know why but the kids were so ever ready to pose for us. Thank god the whole group were not there, I can just imagined the chaos if everyone wants to take photo of them.
The sweetie decided to put on a hairband and greeted us again.
I wish they could have these photos of themselves. Sigh.
Perhaps one day they will find my blogpost here and contact me when they are all grown up and have access to the internet world? I wish.
The rain came and up comes the beautiful umbrellas.
Of Clouds and Sunshine
Inle translates as 'small' in English and the lake is surrounded by beautiful mountains and on an altitude of 880m. The lake is of 7ft deep and living in the lake has always been safer as in the past the locals can see the enemies coming inland.
Sun Rays
shining down from heaven
shining down from heaven
Silver Smith workshop
Local craftsmen on hand. But this is basically a silver ware sales showroom, which not only shows craftsmen at work but also enticing visitors to purchase the silverwares as a form of revenue for the company.
I will be posting more photos in my upcoming posts. Hopefully with the time to edit the photos.
Hope you liked and enjoyed these pictures taken in Myanmar, Inle Lake.
Do visit this heaven on earth. It's serenely beautiful.
If you have not read:
PART 1 Mandalay, Myanmar Travel , CLICK
If you have not read:
PART 1 Mandalay, Myanmar Travel , CLICK
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