Today’s post tells the story of Inle Lake’s tomatoes, complete with pictures for the kiddies.
Tag: myanmar
Inle Lake
Note: if you want to start planning your trip to Inle Lake, read this article for a bunch of practical tips.
Myanmar is incredible. Â I spent most of my time in two places, Inle Lake and Bagan. Â Go to Inle Lake for its people, and Bagan for its history.
The locals at Inle Lake were the friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever met. Â Never before had I seen so many genuine, straight-from-the-heart smiles in such a short amount of time. Â For reasons beyond my cynical mind, people here were always happy to see me, always joyful in the present moment.
Heartbeat from Yangon
I’m doing well in Myanmar. Â Left the monastery a couple of days ago and I’m headed to Inle Lake tomorrow morning. Â Here’s a picture of the humble room where I lived for two weeks. Â Yes, I admit, it’s very comfortable for a cave dwelling. What the picture doesn’t show is that the bed is 5 feet long so I ended up sleeping on the ground on trusty old Thermarest. Â This once again goes to prove that the Thermarest is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and one of my wisest REI purchases ever. Â Actually, maybe my only wise REI purchase.
Another taste of Myanmar
April 13 was the New Year celebration for Thailand and Myanmar, also known as the Songkran Water Festival. Â Unfortunately, I was in neither Thailand nor Myanmar on that day, but I did the best I could – I visited Thai and Myanmar Buddhist temples in Penang, Malaysia.
Here’s an environmentally friendly reminder I noticed in the Thai temple:
A Taste of Myanmar
One positive thing (not to say that there aren’t lots of other characteristics I like about this place, such as cheap delicious food and really friendly people) I’ve noticed about Singapore: The buildings look nice, even decades-old government-built housing. I’ve been told that the government requires and/or subsidizes regular repainting of buildings to maintain the city’s clean, modern aura. And it works.
Walking up St. Martin’s Drive toward the Myanmar (aka Burma) Embassy in Singapore, I noted that the buildings here looked particularly sharp.  Based on its proximity to the flashy Orchard Road shopping area, this neighborhood must be expensive even by Singaporean standards. Below are a couple of St. Martin’s residential buildings.
