Inle Market

First on the docket today was another market. This one was huge. The biggest on the lake and clearly set up for tourists. After jockeying with other boats to unload at the dock, we had to walk the lengthy gauntlet of tacky souvenir shops leading into the market. In fact, the majority of the first part of the market was also tourist crap. It wasn’t until we got well into the maze that the local people’s food stands and booths became apparent. There were tons of locals eating in the stalls, and our guide explained that this was a meeting place…like the Starbucks of Myanmar….where you would arrange to catch up with friends and family and business associates. I am full of questions when I travel so I inquired as to why the one big booth just had a few people sitting in it and a couple bottles of oil. Had they already sold out of their goods? Nope, they were the money lenders there to collect payments from their debtors. So there you go….whether in Anguilla or Inle Lake, Myanmar, the biggest real estate houses the banks.

Otherwise, mostly normal fare except for the massive numbers of stalls selling rice crackers of all sizes. It turns out that on our way to the lake I had seen panels lined up outside some of the houses covered with big white disks. I specifically took the picture so I could ask what they were.

 And here they were  – the larger rice crackers that fry up like papadums. They sell them in skewered sets of 10 at the market. 

 But they came in smaller sizes too that are almost paper thin. I noticed the women sorting through piles of seemingly identical disks to pick their purchases. I asked the guide what was the criteria for their close inspection, what were they looking for specifically. The answer? The lightest ones because these ones are sold by weight so by selecting the driest ones they get more for their money understanding that making such a distinction would be like telling by touch which of two dove’s feathers was lighter!