Today we traveled a bit away from the lake and up a stream into the mountains. The stream was actually dammed to allow boats to travel up and down the elevation change and to allow water to be collected for irrigation. It was kind of crazy how you popped up or down the level changes.
All along the ride, we passed local children playing in the water, locarrying things on their backs or heads, and people doing various work in their fields. Again, it was cool to see the everyday life of the locals. The locals were also always willing to look up, wave, and smile.
We visited a grouping of pagodas that were in pretty poor condition. Apparently, visitors have not been allowed to visit it for that long, so nothing has been repaired yet. It was sad to see the temples and pagodas falling apart and ransacked for the treasures that they used to hold. Seeing that made me reflect on just how many of the treasures of the world are falling apart. It also made me really consider just how powerful and advanced the people of old really were.
The morning was pleasant, but we did have a bit of an issue with some of the local children as we were boarding our boat to leave. The children were helping us as we were boarding the boat, so we felt somewhat obligated to tip them. When we gave them some money, it started a fight amongst them because they didn’t want to share. They started frantically trying to get more from us and wouldn’t leave us alone. Luckily, our guide was able to handle it, but it was still a situation that I was not comfortable with. It is sad to see how poverty and poor living conditions can affect people’s behavior.
After having lunch (which was really pretty good), we had to head out to catch out flight to Yangon so we could later leave the country. Getting to the airport was fine, but we were kind of in for a surprise when we checked in. We thought it was a direct flight, but it wasn’t. The flights in Myanmar are done like a shuttle. So we had to fly from Inle, to Mandalay, to Bagan, and then finally to Yangon. Three take offs and three landings! Lots of fun!
Something that was disappointing was that we didn’t get to do any shopping when we got back to Yangon. Unlike most Asian locations, the markets don’t stay open after 5 pm. I guess this has to do with how strict Myanmar has been until recently. We didn’t get to shop, but we did learn a really good lesson about how much the government can affect business and the way people live their lives.