This bus ride was a little bit rougher than our last and we got in at around 4:00 AM. This time, neither of us had slept and we were ready to crash. (We booked the hotel for 2 nights so we could get a bit of sleep when we arrived which was 100% worth the extra few bucks.)
When we got up a few hours later, we hopped on a boat tour of Lake Inle which was pretty cool. Many of the stops were pretty touristy (weavers, silversmiths, cigar rollers, etc…) but just seeing the villages was fascinating. It was almost like a version of Venice — no roads, just water. Everyone got around by boat and there were neighborhoods in this floating village sectioned off by bamboo and marked with signs. It was beautiful and fascinating to see this way of life.
But one of the things we were most excited to see was the one-legged fishermen. These guys balance on one leg, wrap their other leg around the paddle and manage their fishing lines with their hands. This is all on boats that look like they should be flipping right out from under them. Even those not fishing often used this rowing style and it was incredible to watch. Both of us would have been doing swan dives into the lake if we tried I’m sure.
Among the more interesting things we saw at the shops we visited was how the locals hand make lotus thread. They take a reed and cut into it just deep enough to snap off a section an inch or so in length. As the pull the section off, the fibers stretch between the pieces. Then just twist, roll, and you have a very tiny section of thread. It takes about a month to make a small spool of it.
One of our last stops was vising some of the local Karen long-neck women. I always thought the coils just made the neck look longer, and that it was an illusion. Nope – these ladies have some crazy long necks! But the stretching makes their necks so frail that they cannot support the weight of their own heads. So once the coils go on, they never come off. Ever. There were even some younger girls starting the process which surprised us. But I guess someone has to carry on the tradition.
That evening, we took some bikes from the hotel and biked up to a local winery to watch the sunset. The wine was terrible (Brandon tried two different wines, returned one, and threw the other glass out), but the view was great!
The next day we went to a Bamboo Delight Cooking Class. The people that run this (Leslie and Sue) use some of the money they get from these classes to run summer classes for local school children, build a small library and much more. (They are also looking for volunteers, so contact them if you want to spend some time in Myanmar.) There are even some rooms on site so people can stay with them and get a truly local experience. They were wonderful and if we would have known about that option we would have stayed there in a minute.
But back to the class – the day started with a visit to the local market. It was full of people buying everything from spices and fish to dustpans and tissues. We learned about (and tasted) some of the local fruits and treats, and bought many of the ingredients we would use later in the class. There were 8 of us in the class and we each got to cook one main dish (beef or fish curry) and a side. Between us we made spring onion rice dumplings, tea leaf salad, avocado salad, banana flower salad and tomato salad. It was a feast and definitely some of the best food we had in Myanmar.
After lunch, we had tea with some friends from class. It was very similar to the Nepali tea that we loved so we were excited to get more of it. Then we decided to get a quick massage since the bus rides were wreaking havoc on our necks and backs. The massages were not great and mostly felt like pinching. However Brandon’s massage was even more interesting. His (male) masseuse was a bit…aggressive…while working on his thighs, and we immediately got an image of George Constanza saying, “I think it moved.” It gave us a good laugh but we were both glad when the 30 minutes were up.
After that we were off on our next overnight bus to celebrate Christmas Eve. (Happy holidays!) Devon crashed, but Brandon couldn’t sleep. So he watched for the very first time, the family favorite Christmas movie — Die Hard. Thank you Bruce Willis for keeping him company on the bus!
Brandon & Devon (BaD) Journey 