Our visit to Inle Lake was designed to coincided with the first few days of the Buddhist Phaung Daw Oo Paya festival. Here four Buddha inages, normally housed in the temple of the same name, are ferried by boat around the 100 odd lakeside villages in golden barges shaped like the swan from Burmese mythology. This allows all the locals an opportunity to pay their respects and apply gold leaf to the images.
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| Young monk gets a snack |
On day one we were at Inn Dien village, up a fairly narrow channel from the lake, where the images make their initial stop. There was a huge crowd awaiting the arrival, and a serious party atmosphere. Snacks were on offer catering for all tastes, including deep-fried chicken heads - probably an acquired taste which we didn't try! Actually they are very cheap and give an opportunity for even the poorest to afford to buy.
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| An escort boat |
Soon after 1000 hrs the first of the escorting boats arrived. Each boat was powered by some 30-40 men, some using the traditional scullling technique, some using a more conventional paddling motion. There was some chaos as the boats jockeyed for position, some running aground at a fork in the river. After about 15-20 boats had arrived the barge carrying the images came into sight. For this village a small barge was used because of the narrowness of the river. The barge docked and the images were carried into the local temple. The jolly crowd prevented a good view at this stage.
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| View from the hill top |
Above Inn Dien village is a vast area of ruined stupas and a modern temple and above these a hill with a viewpoint giving an excellent view both of the temples and of the lake. It was a convenient place to wait until it was less crowded to view the Buddhas.
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| Gold leaf encrusted Buddhas |
Later we were able to get a good view of the Buddhas in the temple - at least Richard was able to get close, women not being allowed on to the platform where they are housed. So much gold leaf has been applied over many years that the images look more like golden snowmen than any representation of the Buddha.
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| Awaiting the Buddhas |
On day two the images were brought back down from Inn Dien en route to their next destination and transferred to a larger barge. The crowds to greet them at the transshipment point were, if anything larger than at Inn Dien, most of them in a fleet of boats. All quietly waiting in anticipation of the barge.
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| The ladies' escort boat |
We had an excellent vantage point from a bridge over a branch of the river. Once again there were the escorting boats; this time there was even one crewed by women. Some doing traditional dancing.
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| The large barge |
The images, coming down from Inn Dien are moved onto a much larger barge and continue on their way to the lake and their next destination.
What a barge!
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