In March of 2017, I had the good fortune to travel to Myanmar as part of a capstone project for my Master's degree. It is only after said Master's degree is now complete that I find the time to finally write about the trip and sift through photos.
In between our two weeks of field work, we found ourselves without interpreters for the weekend, and thus took a break from interviews and focus groups and fastidious note-taking and headed to Inle Lake. Just like every other morning, I woke much earlier than I would have liked, and so stumbled across the hall seeking coffee and marginally better wi-fi and was pleasantly surprised to find the best breakfast spread I'd seen yet, with Mohinga and fresh local fruit, but also yogurt and milk for my coffee which feels like a real luxury. Having taken a boat ride the previous day, we set off in search of nothing more specific than a nice walk. Proper hiking trails were not to be found, but we found a narrow path that ambled through tiny villages along the canal. We wandered among the stilted houses, most people paying little attention to two white women walking where clearly few tourists ever venture. We passed a few boats in various stages of construction, and a few houses in progress too, where barefooted men clung to bamboo scaffolding. Packs of small children called after us "Mingalaba!" and a few curious ones chased after us. I extended a hand to two small boys which sent them scurrying, giggling, back the way they came.
We eventually made our way back to town where we walked out to the grounds of the old palace-cum-cultural museum, dodging motorbikes and lorries on the one-lane wooden bridge. The grounds of the pink and white palace were overgrown, but pleasantly shady. We opted not to venture into what appeared to be a dusty and sparse museum, instead heading towards the market where we sifted through the rainbow piles of woven and patterned longyis. We ambled through the aisles of fruit and flowers, and passed a little quicker through the fish sections where women used fans to keep the flies at bay. I could spend a lifetime wandering markets in foreign places. I love them for the glimpse of ordinary life, for the unfamiliar produce, and the strange smells.
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