Adventures With Mama Britton: Exploring Village Life on Inle Lake

I am officially about one year behind with my blog posts. It has been an incredible year of adventure, that's for sure! Now I am equally as thrilled to have some down time before my friend comes to visit. Time to slow down, sip some coffee, enjoy time in my own apartment, and write a little bit about the memories I've been busy making. So here we are: The final installment of Adventures With Mama Britton! (for now...)

Almost one year ago exactly, I was traveling all around Myanmar with my mommy. It was so wonderful to explore the rest of the country outside of the capital city where I live. Mama Britton and I previously explored Bangkok, Yangon, the temples of Bagan and Mount Popa, and the royal city of Mandalay before traveling to our final destination, Inle Lake (pronounced like "in" + "lay").

I had never been to Inle Lake and I had also done the least amount of research for this part of our trip. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. As it turns out, we were absolutely blown away by our experience in this amazing land of floating village!

Wanderlust is definitely in my blood.

After two epic days of exploring Mandalay, we arrived to Heho Airport late morning on Friday. Going from the shiny, new, modern international airport in Mandalay to Heho Airport was like stepping back in time again. It is now used for commercial domestic flights, but it was previously used as an airbase by both the Allies and the Japanese during World War II. It doesn't appear to have been updated much since then, and the roads and parking areas outside are all dirt roads. Granted, they are packed dirt and don't have big gaping holes like some places that I have seen, but there isn't much pavement in these parts. 

After we got off our tiny prop plane, we walked to the airport terminal (no buses this time!) and waited for the men to carry our baggage to us (nope, no fancy carts to drive loads around here, either). As we left the airport, our hotel transport met us outside and we made our way to the beautiful Novotel Inle Lake.

Stickers mark which flight we are supposed to board

Goodbye, Mandalay!

Hello, Shan State. I love the patchwork landscape here.

The parade-like walk to the airport terminal

Our driver carried our bags for us, despite our offer to do it ourselves.

We stopped only one time during the drive to pay the entrance fee for foreigners to visit Inle Lake. It is a protected area, just like Bagan, and we were happy to pay the fee of 12,000 kyats each (about $9USD) so that we could enjoy the area. It took about 45 minutes to drive from Heho Airport to Nyaung Shwe, the biggest town at the top of Inle Lake. That is where most tourists stay, but our hotel was a little further away from the hustle and bustle. It took another 20 minutes beyond Nyaung Shwe to get to our hotel. A friend had recommended the hotel for that very reason, and we were not disappointed! The peace and quiet was quite nice. As we drove through town, though, I decided that I would like to go back and visit Nyaung Shwe at some point (I have been able to do that since then... more about that in a future post!). 

Novotel was a bit of a splurge for us, but hotel prices in this part of the world allow such luxuries. We were thrilled that we made the decision to splurge here. As it turns out, the hotel is actually in Inle Lake (don't worry - they "give back" to the lake and the community to try to offset the fact that they are there). We had booked the cheapest room in the fancy four-star hotel, which was probably going to be a great experience anyway. When we arrived, we were blown away by the grandeur of the lobby. It was absolutely stunning, and we felt like a couple of princesses as they brought us Welcome Drinks and told us all about our stay at their beautiful property. And then the best part happened: "We hope that it is okay with you... we upgraded you from a junior suite to a villa." Just check out the video of this place, and you'll understand how epic that little upgrade was!

Street signs and a street dog on the road to Nyang Shwe

The stunning lobby at Novotel

"Welcome to Inle Lake!"

Map of the area: Inle Lake is pretty large. The surface area is about 116 square kilometers (almost 45 square miles). 

We chatted with the employees and decided to book a long boat tour for the next day. There are several different options available, as boats are the best way to explore the area, and the boats leave straight from the dock at our hotel. We settled on a full-day excursion, because why not??

Then they drove us in a golf cart to our (free upgrade!) fancy hotel room. This is one reason why I like traveling during rainy season - there are virtually no other tourists. We spent about 20 minutes running around the place, squealing over the size of our villa and our luck over the upgrade (okay, so mostly that was me, while Mama Britton cooly unpacked and settled in... #bosslady). 

Our chariot awaits

Our "thing" on this trip was to pose in front of our hotel room doors :)

"Dear MISTER Britton..."

Seriously, this place is bigger than any apartment I've ever lived in

By the time we unpacked and settled a bit, it was about lunchtime. We decided to grab some food at the hotel restaurant. We enjoyed lovely views of the lake and drank in the pleasantly cooler temperatures. (This area of Myanmar is at a much higher elevation, so there was a noticeable change in the temperatures here.) 

Mama Britton and I had been going at full speed all week, so we decided the slower pace here would be good for us. We booked a massage and a mani-pedi spa session. Unfortunately the spa was under construction and they had to use one of the hotel rooms, which meant that they could only do one service at a time. It took a good chunk of the day for us both to get all of our services that we requested, but we didn't exactly have anywhere else to be. The service was not as fantastic as other places in Myanmar and Thailand, but I'm never sad about a day at the spa! The downtime rejuvenated us, and we were happy to recharge for our final big adventure the following day.

The walk to the restaurant was beautiful... notice the Lake below!

Restaurant with a view

Brr... It's like winter here!

Spa time!

Dinner, drinks, and a sunset 💛

Walking back to our room and the spa

Pictures don't do it justice... the lighting was so charming.

Mama Britton and I got up early the next day for our long boat adventure. After a quick breakfast on the beautiful lake, we grabbed our daypacks and headed to the dock. We had an entire long boat all to ourselves. I was absolutely terrified of tipping (I have a slight fear of open water), but Mama Britton had absolutely no fear - told you she's a boss lady!

I think the long boat could also be called a loud boat. Check out just how loud it was by clicking on this video here - but also check out the cool views that came along with it! As we left the hotel, we passed the iconic fishermen of Inle Lake. They paddle with only one foot as they cast their huge nets over the water. Sometimes you will also see them smacking the water with the other paddle to try to attract some fish to the surface. 

Next we cruised through a floating garden, where workers were tending and weeding the tomato plants and humungous cucumbers growing on top of the lake. 

Adventure time! 

The iconic fishermen

After leaving the floating gardens, we drove through a floating village. Everything is on stilts here, as people live on the water. Literally. It's kind of like the Venice of the East, except it's not a city packed with buildings and people; rather, it's a rural village of quiet, hard working people making a living on the water. 

Then, our guides took us to a silver shop. This is a big industry in the area. We learned how they craft the silver into jewelry and we even got to watch some of the artists at work. They do such intricate things with the silver. Both of us bought some really pretty things to take home. 

Next we headed to a different shop run by the Kayan tribe. The goods in the shop were rather ordinary, but I loved learning about the Kayan tribe and some of their traditions. There are more than 100 different tribes identified in Myanmar, and this particular group is known for its beautiful women. It is a custom for these women to stretch their necks using golden necklaces that they start wearing from a young age. Some people call it a "weird" tradition, but I find it fascinating to learn about other cultures and their definition of beauty. No, this is not something that I would want to do to my own body, but I found the woman that we met at this shop to be absolutely stunning. 

Views from the shop balcony

The girls/women graduate to different sizes of necklaces over time. They are actually quite heavy!

Beautiful.

We continued our tour through another floating village and then encountered some rather dangerous-looking bamboo. This is a sort of "road block" to keep traffic out. I suppose it makes sense that you can't really use orange cones around here... they would just float away!

Next we went to a place called a five-day market. Local people from the various villages around Inle Lake bring their goods to rotating markets. There is no set "day" of the week where you will find this market on a regular basis because they follow a lunar calendar. The locals seem to know the rotation very well, and our boatmen brought us to this particular place so we could see the market. We wandered around and bartered for a few things that I had not seen in other markets around Myanmar. Then we walked over to the pagoda next to the market. The stupas were unlike anything I have ever seen, but overall it was rather underwhelming compared to most of the other temples and pagodas we had seen thus far in our adventures. There were also a LOT of street dogs (temple dogs?), to the point where it bordered on being uncomfortable for us to be there. Once we finished a lap of the pagoda, we headed back to the boat.

By this time, we were pretty famished. We traveled a little ways to have lunch at a hut floating on the water. I was super proud of Mama Britton for being so adventurous with our meals (again!), as this wasn't exactly an Olive Garden. The local food was really tasty, and we enjoyed having most of the place to ourselves. Every so often, we could feel the place sway if a long boat passed by too closely or was driving too fast. It wasn't a huge shift, but a feeling similar to being on a cruise ship - except that when we looked down at the floorboards, we could see and hear the lake splashing below! 

How cool is this place??

So. Yummy.

After lunch, we went to a weaving shop. On the way, we saw some boys playing in the water. It was very charming to watch. We also passed through a couple more floating villages and even a floating monastery.

"Road" signs

This weaving shop was very interesting. The women use lotus flowers to make thread and then weave it into beautiful textiles. They demonstrated the process of stripping down the lotus fibers strand by strand. It takes hours just to create enough thread to weave something. The lotus is quite strong and is easy to come by in this part of the country because they grow in the lake. We also got to watch some of the ladies in action as they weaved the textiles. The clicking of the pedals and the machines was very rhythmic.

There was a shop in the back of the work area. That's where they sell fabrics made of cotton, lotus, silk, and combinations of the different materials. The lotus and silk textiles were very expensive, but I understand why. Each piece takes hours and hours of patient work, and the material is quite special. I ended up buying a new (cotton) longyi, which is a traditional skirt that women wear here in Myanmar. My new longyi is hot pink and orange. I haven't been able to wear it yet because I need to have a blouse made to wear with it. (That's at the top of my list of things to do at the beginning of next school year so that I can finally wear my beautiful new textile.)

Breaking down the fibers

Spinning wheels

Views from the shop

After the lotus weaving shop, we went to a shop where ladies make cigars. Neither Mama Britton nor I smoke, but it was fascinating to watch these ladies work. 

Next we went to visit another pagoda and a monastery. We floated up to the dock, and it was actually quite busy. A lot of people stared because we were the only foreigners there, but that is a pretty common occurrence for us. We watched a video that explained why women aren't allowed in certain areas, and we wandered around the parts where we were allowed to go. Again, it wasn't as impressive as other pagodas in the area, though it was nice. We spent a short amount of time at each place before heading back to the boat.

We got really lucky with the weather during our excursion on Inle Lake. Considering it was rainy season, the weather was pretty good all day. It was very overcast, and it did rain for a brief time in the late afternoon, but nothing too crazy. I was so grateful for our luck!

It was quite windy, and probably the funniest thing that happened was when Mama Britton's hat flew off her head... and smacked square into my face. I guess it's a good thing that my face stopped it because the hat would have been gone otherwise, but it was definitely a startling surprise (for me!).

Go Gators! 💙🐊

After our very long and exciting outing, we decided to stay at the hotel for dinner. We enjoyed another stunning sunset on the water and happily chatted about the adventures of the day.

I still can't believe that a place this beautiful actually exists in real life. We were so lucky to travel here. It ended up being our favorite stop on the trip. (Side note: If you ever make your way to this side of the planet, you definitely need to make a stop at Inle Lake... you won't regret it!)

The next morning, we enjoyed one more breakfast on Inle Lake before making the long trek to the airport and then back to Yangon. Although this hotel is quite far from Heho Airport, I am so glad that we stayed there! Our experience was magical, to say the least. 

Our final prop plane adventure!

We spent a few hours in my new apartment in Yangon before heading back to the States. We repacked our suitcases, and I prepared for a quick trip home (I was home only nine days before heading out on my next adventure!).

As we sat at the gate waiting for our 2 a.m. flight to the States, I pulled out my passport. Looking at the tickets that I had stuffed into the pocket of my passport holder, it occurred to me just how much adventure we packed into such a short visit. I had so much fun exploring this country with my favorite travel buddy, and I can't wait for future Adventures with Mama Britton!

Like I said... wanderlust is in my blood!

A decade of teaching in the books!

Helllllllloooooooooo, summer! Yesterday my principal officially signed my final piece of paperwork for the school year, and I closed up shop until August. My tenth year of teaching is officially finished, and I cannot believe that I have been doing this for a decade! I like to refer to this year as the Year of the Rollercoaster, as the highs were oh-so-high, but there were also some tough times as well. I've had a lot of questions lately from friends and loved ones, so this is just a brief overview of my school year, where my summer is taking me, and what is in store for next year.

When I was in college, we had to do a project during senior year where we talked about where we wanted to be in 5 years, 10 years, and 25 years. I was one of the first to present, as I've always liked to get things like that out of the way quickly. I was really glad that I went toward the beginning. It turns out that I was the only person in the class who spoke almost exclusively about career goals and did not mention anything about marriage or kids. I started to think that maybe I did the assignment wrong, but it turns out that I am just wired differently than some people. (Shocking, I know...)

As I look back at 21-year-old-Stefanie's life goals, I checked many of them off the list. At the five year mark, I wanted to be teaching music "in a big city somewhere," working on my masters degree, and run at least one 5k in my life. Check, check, and check! As for the ten year mark, my goal was to complete a masters degree and be in the process of applying for doctoral programs. I did complete my masters program (and yes, it is totally okay with me if you feel the urge to call me Master Stefanie). As for the doctorate, well, I am nowhere near ready to leave the classroom. Heck, there are some days where I feel like I am just getting started! 

One of my happiest moments of this year... my students are lovebugs 💗

In this Year of the Rollercoaster, I was fortunate enough to have a few new experiences. Considering I've been in the game for a decade now, I think it's pretty impressive that I am still encountering new things - and loving them! In November, I was fortunate enough to travel to Dubai, UAE, to attend an international music educator's conference. It was my first trip to the Middle East (other than the airport). Not only did I get to explore a new place (more of that to come in a later blog post!) and network with some amazing music teachers, but I also got to meet up with some of my fellow Orff people from Chicago. International teaching is SUCH a small world. 

#orfflove

This year also marked my first experience coaching middle school volleyball. Last year was my first time coaching high school volleyball, and I was happy to have a second shot at it this year. Coaching middle school is a whole different ballgame... literally. It's more about breaking down the skills and fundamentals, rather than working on more advanced concepts and strategies. Our middle school team won second place in our conference and brought back a shiny new trophy. I always used to hate second place trophies because they felt like "first losers," but that was not the case here at all. I was super proud of our season and definitely happy to win that trophy! One of the things I love most about coaching is working with the two other coaches in the volleyball program. They are some of my favorite people that I have met here in Yangon, and I have learned so much from both of them. 

Yayyyyyyy! Go Eagles!

This year my workload was about the same as it was last year, but my schedule was slightly better. I still taught Grades 1-6 and put on three concerts per semester. It's a whole lot of work as always, but this year I had students take more ownership and pride in their work than I have ever seen in the past. I got oodles of notes, smiles, and comments from students, and that makes all the hard work completely worth it to me :)

All smiles after the secondary music concert in December

This year I also got help from a wonderful teaching assistant, Ms. Thwe. I am so grateful for everything she did this year!

This is our Myanmar Music & Dance teacher. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with her a couple of times this year. You should see some of her work... AMAZING!

One of the highest highs of my year was working with ten middle school students for the AMIS festival. AMIS is the Association for Music in International Schools, and the acronym is pronounced "ah-mee," like the French word for 'friends' (I know, I know... it's SO music-teacher-y, isn't it?? #noshame). I rehearsed with kids all year and took them to the AMIS Asian Middle School Boys' and Girls' Honor Choir Festivals in Bangkok, Thailand in April. It was a huge amount of work, and I was super nervous to organize my first international field trip. In the end, it was a major success. One of the things I was most nervous about was whether or not I would do an adequate job of preparing my students. It turns out that they were very ready for the festival, and they all absolutely loved the experience. (Also, all of them came back in one piece! Yay!) It was so special to watch my ten students from our tiny school in a country that some people have never heard of, as they joined more than 200 other international students from other countries all over Asia to make some incredible music. The program was so beautiful that I actually got tears in my eyes during a couple of moments during the concert. "Proud" doesn't even come close to describing my feelings about this experience.

Both choirs and all of the directors... what an AMAZING experience for all of us!

 

A note and a gift from my student after the trip. (Yes, I cried. Like a small child.)

At the AMIS conference in November and the AMIS Honor Choirs Festival in April, I met many new people and made some new friends. One of the coolest things is that I met two guys who work at another school in Yangon (life is funny that way, isn't it?). That connection led me to another new experience. My new friend wrote some music and needed performers to record it for him. I was really hesitant because my chops are not what they used to be, but I decided to challenge myself anyway because as a music teacher, I think it is important to continue performing so that we don't lose touch with what that feels like. The project was a huge challenge for me, but I did it! And the best part was that I got to work with these two awesome people.

No makeup and teacher-tired... but so happy!

Another first for me was the fact that I was HAPPY about rainy season this year. Haha! I remember the first day that the heat broke and we had a major storm here in Yangon. I had all the windows open, and I loved the sounds and the smells of the fresh rainstorm. Usually I am like, "ugh!" when the rains come, or at best I can tolerate it... but this was the first time I was genuinely happy about rainy season. 

Here's hoping that my gratitude lasts through October! #positivevibes

As I mentioned earlier, this Year of the Rollercoaster brought some tough times as well. No, not everything is shiny and perfect here. I don't really talk much about the lows on social media or on this blog. It's not that I am trying to be fake or am trying to hide something; rather, I am trying to focus on the positive. However, for the purposes of a recap, I will talk a little about the lower points of the year without being too negative about it. 

Year Ten was a very stressful year for me. I always pour too much of myself into my work (it's one of my biggest flaws), and this year was no exception. As I was reflecting on the year, it occurred to me that I committed to many "other" obligations throughout the year. If you are a teacher, you understand what I mean. If you're not a teacher, then I'm referring to other duties that fall outside of normal teaching obligations. For example, I cannot choose whether or not to do report cards; that comes with the territory. However, there are other events at nights and during the weekends where teacher volunteers are needed to supervise or show support in some way. While I did take on many more coaching and musical responsibilities this year, I think it was the "other stuff" that made me reach my breaking point. I can't go back and change any of that, but moving forward, I know that I will cut back on certain things so that I can take care of myself (in the most non-selfish way possible...).

Another hardship had to do with an injury this year. I have two cuts on my feet (long story). That injury sidelined me from running for the past three months. I was very frustrated with the injury, especially in the beginning. Now that I'm (finally) healing, I've managed to find some silver linings. It's forced me to do more strength training, which I usually neglect because of my love for cardio. It also made me feel grateful when I was able to eek out a little run last week. Sometimes I get caught up in speed/times/distances that I put in, and something like this reminds me to simply be happy that I can lace up and get out the door in the first place.

One of my first grade students was also injured in May (at home, not at school). We were pretty thrilled to be Bandage Buddies! #silverlinings

Grateful for every single step :)

So now you know some of the highlights and lowlights of my tenth year of teaching. It felt like a long, slow crawl to the finish line, but we finally made it! Today was my first official day of summer. It feels like a normal Sunday to me, but maybe it'll actually start to sink in when I don't have to set an alarm for Monday morning. 

Most of my friends and coworkers are somewhere over the ocean right now as they make the long trip home. I am going to have a slightly different experience this summer, and I am really excited about it: My friend is coming to visit me from the States. We worked together in Chicago, and I absolutely cannot WAIT for her to get here! I struggled with where I should travel and what I should do with my time while I wait for her to get here. Finally I stopped fretting and decided to take some much-needed downtime. This semester was hectic to say the least, and I felt that I had very little time to myself. I am grateful for the adventures that I took over the past year because traveling truly is my Happy Place. However, what I found that I was craving most these days is time to slow down, decompress, and reset. So this week I will do just that. The classrooms are packed up, the rains have come, and I am so happy to sit and sip my coffee in my very own apartment today. 

 

 

I teach on two campuses and therefore have TWO classrooms to pack up... but we did it!

#hellosummer #happy

Finally, to answer the question about next year: Yes, I will be returning to Yangon. When I accepted this job, I initially signed a 2-year contract. My *big* plan was to teach in Myanmar for two years and then move back to New York City, my favorite place on the planet. I still miss NYC every single day, but by the time I had to make a decision about next year, I didn't feel ready to leave international teaching yet. I also was on the fence about whether or not to leave Myanmar, so I decided to give it another year. For those who are wondering about the next steps, I am unsure about where my life will take me after this contract extension is finished. I have the option to stay or to move on. Which will I choose? Well, that is something that I have learned about my life: There is a lot of unknown, and I absolutely love that part of the ride!

Happy Summer, y'all! #basicadventures #comingsoon