On Location - Myanmar

October 2019

Beginning in Yangon and ending in Mandalay, the tour around Myanmar took in a number of sites including Bagan, Bago, Inle Lake, and Hpa An.  Buddhism is core to the culture with large number of temples and enormous golden pagodas to be found during the travels.  Sunrise over the Bagan Plane and sunset over the U Bein Bridge are not to be missed.

With an area of around 250 SqKm, Inle Lake is considered as the second-largest natural lake in Myanmar. The lake itself is shallow with a typical depth of around 2m; reeds are abundant to the point that the shoreline is hard to define.  To allow access to the water villages are built on the shoreline, the buildings rising out the water on stilts to protect them against fluctuations in water level during seasonal floods.  Shallow draught long tail boats provide a means of transportation both within the village and around the lake itself.

Intha fishermen catch fish by standing on one leg on the extreme end of the boat, at the same time wrapping the other leg around the oar. These fishermen can’t use the usual fishing technique where they simply sit down or throw a net to catch fish. This is due to the number of reeds and water plants in the lake. If they sit, it is impossible to see where the fish are. When they stand on one edge of the boat, they can have a better view of the waters. This also allows them to have the other hand free to collect the basket / net while propelling the boat at the same time.

The Inwa School of Performing Arts is a cultural high school in Mandalay that prepares young artists to perform Myanmar classical dance and music to professional standards.  Each evening at the Mintha theatre, and to the accompaniment of musicians playing traditional instruments, the choreographed dance pieces illustrate the wide range of the court and folk-dance forms that are native to Myanmar.