I’m staying in Nyaung Shwe, the old Shan state capitol & site of the King’s palace. A few k. from the lake proper but connected with a wide canal, allowing boat traffic from the town to the rest of the lake. After a recovery day I joined up with Sebastian for a boat/one Cylinder desiel canoe tour of the lake. A very large shallow lake, with stilt and piling villages and manufacturies, small boat (very small canoes) fishing and floating gardens. Really quite amazing the amout of people living the aquatic lifestyle, not just subsitance from fishing and farming but towns with cottage industries, resturaunts, stores, schools all on piles above the lakes waters.
Boats lined up in Nyuang She cannal
The floating gardens are created by piling up the lake aquatic plants then adding some soil, you can see them undulate from the boats wake. I’m guessing given enough time and added material they might get to the lake bottom.
I do love boats. Most as you see are a pretty standard size. I ask our guy about construction, some are fibre glass but most are teak. He explained the teak was lighter and it floats, so better. From what I could see from the size of the boards used there are still some old growth size teak trees in Myanmar.
I mentioned the one lung diesel power for these vessels, also seem to be very standard at least for this size boat. One big piston, a big flywheel, compression relief valve and a hand crank to get it started. Reminded me of the 1cylinder diesel out on Nikolski circa 1920 that powered the sheep shearing clippers. The muffler is mostly for show, when ideled down it goes Ka–Thunk, K–Thunk, K–Thunk. Loudly about the speed you read it. A straight shaft back to the transom where a U-Joint connects the prop shaft braced with the tiller struts. There is no gearbox, = no reverse. Our guy was very good at docking with the slow coast approach. Given limited tiller swing and length of boat, turnning is decidedly not on a dime.
OK no doubt more boat discription than most of you care about but I thought a nice diversion from temples and Budda’s
The fisherman stand and paddle with thier leg musscel, more power than an arm, better to see into the water for fish to cast thier throw nets over.. Balance balance!
We stopped in to a number of workshops, the hand spinning, loom weaving was most impressive. Using all silk or silk worf or woof not sure which is on the shuttle, which on the loom and a plant fibre spun on site. Video of wood frame loom in action. They had carpenters on site and building more looms from teak.
Also a hand rolled cheroot shop, tobacco rolled in some local (not tobacco) greenleaf. A small, husband & wife parasol contruction shop. A resturant for lunch, lake side pagoda with many “Bagan like temples surrounding. Another temple which had small (1 1/2′) Buddas, so covered in worshiper applied gold leaf that it looked like big gold lumpy peanuts, Budda’s in there somewhere.
This lady is making the thread to spin into the plant worf/woof (It goes on the loom) . She is holding the stems that get scored with the knife then broken, spread apart, pulling/stretching out a thin thread that she sticks down to the bench. Then winds on the spool to be spun on the , bicycle wheel rim spinning wheel.
I’m going to post and upload this, do another post for the Shan Kings palace, history museum & the teak monestaery I rode my rented bicyle to yesterday.
Enjoy
Shawn's travel updates 