Train and Pyin

From Hsipaw, we rode a classic old train line over what was once the world's second highest trestle.  It goes to Mandalay, but we got off at Pyinoolwin--an old British hill station.

We discovered that the car in front of us was full of prisoners  Here, at a station stop, a barefoot guard hangs out the window.

Lots of guards and guns.

At this stop, the prisoners were unloaded onto the platform with their bedrolls.

Disconcerting that most guards weren't in uniform. I wondered if they were political prisoners from a rebellious tribe. Someone suspected they were drug smugglers.

Pyinoolwin - instead of tuktuks, here, they use Cinderella horse-drawn carriages.

The vast botanical gardens were wonderful, especially the orchid museum.

Lots of British architecture.  This former mansion has become a high school.

Nuns out seeking alms.

Hsipaw via Lashio

Trying out larger photo display - hope that works.  Back in Myanmar: On Jan. 23 we took a plane from the Heho airport near Inle Lake to Lashio. We meant to arrive in Hsipaw later that day, but the plane was late so we missed the last bus. 

At the bus station.  The tuk-tuk driver and I were not seeing eye to eye on his fee.

Very near the Chinese border, Lashio is bustling with commerce.  We didn't see any other Westerners there, and practically no one spoke English.   An interesting experience for us.

On our way to Hsipaw the next day.  People selling  fruit, etc., to the bus riders.

Ah, Hsipaw!  One of our favorite places on the whole trip. We loved this spot for a coffee or  sunset drink, as well as the riverside restaurant just behind it.

One of these times may be right.

Visiting some shrines.  This monk showed us his Buddhist texts, bound in the traditional way with folding paper.

We went on a bike ride through the nearby fields and villages and came across this gang.

And this gang, too.

Near the market in the early morning fog.  People were buying, and bagging, small amounts of produce to sell in outlying villages.  This one was going to take them on a motorcycle, but we also saw produce-laden bicycles and small trucks.

A walking trek up the valley.  We stopped at this shop for a cup of tea.  Outside, the proprietor was drying chiles as well as grasses to weave into hats.

A man and his child take the buffalo to the river for a drink.

A woman waters her garden (behind the fence) using a plastic bottle attached to a stick.

These children seemed to be on recess from school.  Their green skirts/pants, with a white shirt, are the country-wide school uniform.  The milk-pail contraptions are tiered storage for their lunch--like stacked tupperware.

Another evening at our favorite riverside cafe.

Blankets for sale.  It got cold here at night.

At the train station on January 27.  A very manual ticket-selling process.  Loved the sign above their desk.

Outside on the platform, people selling provisions for the ride.

Inle Lake, Myanmar

So, now we flash back to January, the middle of our trip to Myanmar. 

We stayed for several days in Nyaung Shwe, a town on a channel that leads out to Inle Lake.  Motorized long boats would come in and out.

Channel-front houses on stilts.

Fishermen out on the lake, with a resort in the background. 

Inle Lake fishermen use an interesting technique whereby they paddle with their leg wrapped around the oar so that they can use both hands to work the net.  How do they manage to stand at the very end of their boat without its tipping over?

Slapping the water so as to scare the fish into their nets.

We took a day-long boat excursion onto the lake.  First stop, a 5-day market (as in Kalaw, the market comes to each major  town every five days).  Boats lined up at the dock for market day.

Out on the lake, a house on stilts.

Lake dwellers coming into town.  Their boats were full of people and merchandise, whereas tourist boats (same size) never had more than about four people in large seats.

Monk and seagulls.

We spent one night at a fancy resort out on the lake, built entirely on stilts with wooden pathways between buildings.  The only way in or out was by boat.  Arrival pier and lobby in the background.

Enjoying the resort life.

Amazingly, we discovered the 49er playoff game on TV in the lobby (early the next morning, with the time change).

Our resort bungalow, called S1 (Standard 1).  It was a great room, but small compared with some of the others.  When we first saw it, we thought it stood for "staff hut 1."

Back in Nyaung  Shwe, Buddhist monks came by our hotel every morning around 7 am, and our hotel management would give them each a ladleful of steamed rice.

We took a trek (a day hike) up to some mountain villages outside of town.  Here C is enjoying a shaded rest stop along the trail with our guide, Ow Ow.

At the top of the hill.

Children en route. Very cute, they appeared to be defending their village. One playfully threw a stick at us after we walked by.

Our trek.  From Nyaung Shwe past the dam to Khone Sone (as it says, "for lunch" in someone's home), then back down through Lwe Kin, the cave at Htat Eain (with a shrine inside) and back to town.

This was actually back in Bagan but I thought it was fun so I threw it in.

Out on the lake at sunset, this guy jumped in between our camera and the sun to show off his old-style fishing technique (for tips).  Not a fisherman, just an actor.  He looked just like the cover of our Lonely Planet guide.

Tour boats parked outside a craft workshop.  Part of our lake tour involved being taken to numerous workshops (weaving, jewelry, ironworks, boat making, etc.), where it was hoped that we would purchase the products being made.  While the tourists viewed the workshop, the boat drivers were treated to tea and snacks (in the hopes that they would be enticed to return often).

A bicycle tour of the fields and villages outside of Nyaung Shwe.  The town itself lacked charm except for the monks. Lots of construction, lots of men hawking boat rides - most all start by asking "Where are you from?"  But the lake was great.