On our second day in Inle we took a boat tour because we realised that’s the only way we can see the floating villages. In the morning it was raining and I felt disappointed because of the bad weather and we could not see much. Luckily the boatman had prepared umbrellas and blanket for us to shelter from the rain.

In the late morning the rain had stopped and our first stop of the boat tour was the silversmith. The person showed us the process of making silver from collecting it from its ore to the purifying process before making it into products such as rings and fish keychains. Next we visited a floating market which is beside a pagoda with many golden pagodas. I didn’t like the market because there were many peddlers trying to sell you the same stuff – mainly souvenirs. The shops were repetitive, but I preferred the local market where I saw locals buying fruit and vegetables. After that we visited many other craftsmen shops such as the lotus silk weaving, goldsmith and cigar shop. The lotus shop was quite cool cos they made fabric from the stems of lotus. The process was tedious because they extracted the fibre from the stalk, then spun it to make thread and dye it for the different colours. It was laborious so the prices for the lotus cloth products were expensive as well. The cigar shop had women rolling the tobacco made from cheeroot (a type of plant) and mixed it with pineapple, star anise or mango to give the cigarettes a pleasant smell.

In the afternoon, we went to the famous jumping cat monastery. There were many cats in the temple but they do not jump anymore after the monk who trained them died. The weather in the afternoon was much better as the sun came out. We also visited a floating garden. where rows of vegetables were neatly planted with a channel in the middle for boats to pass through. A girl picking flowers even threw a flower into our boat to give to wj. We spoke to our boatman and found out that he is only 16 years old. The man that sold us the tickets was the boat owner and he employed people to drive the boat.

Overall it was an enjoyable day in Inle lake because we saw the main important sights which would have otherwise been impossible without a boat. There were also some quiet spots that the boat took us to look at how the local people lived. This is the main tourist package which covers the northern half of Inle lake. For those who want to see the southern Inle lake which is less touristy, the cost would be more as well.