Floating farms and Fishermen

OK one last Inle Lake blog.  There are two really famous things about the lake:

THE FLOATING GARDEN Some 25% or so of the lake is comprised of these gardens. I assumed at first that they were hydroponic. But they are not. Here’s what they do.

First they cut out large swatches of water hibiscus to form the basis of the raft and stake them in place on the water with long bamboo poles. Then they collect mud from the bottom of the lake and pile that one. They throw in a bunch of seaweed for fertilizer and they tend these massive rafts for something like 6 years to maturity. Then they plant them with tomatoes. Every year when the water is low the rafts try to root to the bottom of the lake, so they have to cut them free again so they can float. Pretty nifty.

THE FISHERMEN What with those little, low boats that already require a phenomenal feat of balance then you add in the tendency of these guys to row their boats with their legs and it gets pretty impressive. There are two kinds of fishing in the island. One is individually where they use these cages, which they drop into the water wherever they see bubbles. They use a trident like spear in the center to scare the fish out to the outside perimeter into the netting, they drop the net and haul up their catch. This particular guy was hamming it up for the camera but you can still get the drift.

 

Then there’s the group, larger net fishing. They guys lay down a huge net by rowing with their legs and using both hands to lay down or gather up the net.

And now good-bye Inle Lake.

Next: the Road to Mandalay.