The last city in Myanmar ( metric for Burma, or is Burma metric for Myanmar ) we visited is called Heho. Heho is home to Inle Lake. We flew from Bagan to Heho.
Flying in Burma is safe, but there is a substantial language gap. If you can’t speak/read/understand Burmese, there can be issues. That is why our guides always help with check-in, etc. However for security reasons, non-passengers cannot accompany you to the gate and assure you get on the correct flight. Thankfully, they have a system for that – STICKERS.
At check-in, each passenger gets a color coded sticker with the logo of the airline.
When you arrive in the waiting area, there really aren’t gates, the first thing you do is find a local person with the same sticker as you. Then when that local person who can understand/speak/comprehend Burmese gets on the plane, you follow them.
After following the correct sticker and arriving in Heho, we went for a hike through the forest ( metric for jungle ).
We saw some cool trees.
At the end of the hike was an elephant park.
Where we got to feed the elephants.
And although we didn’t get to give a monkey a shower, we did give an elephant a bath.
The following day we toured Inle Lake in canoes with car engines.
Inle Lake is home to over 70,000 people whose lives depend on this body of water. Fishing is just one of the many ways the local people make their way.
There are markets.
And textile factories.
And cigar shops.
Their entire lives can be spent on the water.
Although our balloon trip over Bagan was cancelled, we did get another opportunity.
To make things even more interesting, the pilots practice a water landing.
And landing on land is pretty fun as well.
The last bit of our Myanmar trip was taking the little Stockdales for a cooking class.
Without a doubt, our trip to Myanmar was one of our favorites since coming to Asia over six years ago.
Adventures of Dale Stockdale 