#TRAVEL My Weekly Powerup | #club100 | Boat race, temple and a golden boat on Inle Lake, Myanmar | #steemexclusive / 14 photos

When I was in Myanmar some years ago, I spend a couple of days at Inle Lake. This is the largest lake in the country. It’s not quite like any other lake. People are literally living on the water. The villages are placed on the lake. The people build their houses on stilts. They grow their vegetables in gardens that are floating on the lake. Everyone must use a boat to be able to move around. So did we. We stayed in a hotel built on stilts, so to get around we hired a boat with a driver for the days we were here.

On our second day the plan was to start in the morning and go to a place called Inthein. A place with ancient stupas. Shortly after we left the hotel, we ran into larger boats filled with rowers. A boat race was going on. All the boats ended at the Phaung Daw Oo Paya Temple. A temple of religious significance to the people in Myanmar. We asked our boatsman to make a short stop at the temple before going to Inthein.

Paung Daw Oo Temple

The golden boat – The Karaweik boat

He told us the in September – October Inle Lake is celebrating Paung Daw Oo festival. The dates may vary, acording the position of the moon. Part of the festival is a rowing competition with large boats that can carry a crew of close to 100 men in each. They are here to celebrate the golden boat – the Karaweik boat, that carries the images of Buddha. The boat race we experienced was not part of the festival. I was here in November. Our boatsman told us about the festival that lasts for up to 18 days. It’s not only the locals who celebrates. People from all over the country will come to the lake. On the last day of the festival the Karaweik with the Budda images will arrive at the temple. We saw the golden boat up close. It is placed in a kind of garage where it will be kepst until next years festival. Part of it is made of solid gold, others of gold leaf. We were told it also has decoration with precious stones. I couldn't see that from the distance.

We followed the boats to the temple in time to see the first boats arrive. With a good position among the spectators, we joined in clapping for the rowers as the boats arrive. A chance to the temple was a highlight of this day. There were lots of people here, so it wasn’t easy to get good photos.

Inside the temple there are 5 Buddha images. Anyone can place gold leaf on these images. Because of that they do not look like Buddhas anymore. More like gold-coated clumps. You can see some of these Buddhas on the first photo above. The temple is beautifully decorated inside.

The race and the chance we got to see the temple and the golden boat, was a good way to start the day. I don't know if this race was just an event or part of another festival. Anyway, we got an idea of how the Paung Daw Oo Festival would be like.

CC @patjewell

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All the photoes are mine, Ulla Jensen (flickr, Instagram and facebook)

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