Inle Lake at Sunset and the 1000 buddhas

Today I've enjoyed my first Shan or Anaite Massage, to get rid of all the sore muscles that we've got from all the hiking and biking. First I got served some tea, tasting a bit like a spicy chai, then offered the "massage menu" with the different massage styles and treatments they offer.
I chose the traditional one and was guided to the upper floor, where I got a ginger food bath and then traditional clothes, like a pajama, to wear during the massage. The Anaite Massage, feels a bit similar to Shiatsu and you keep the clothes on during the whole session. The young girl then stepped on my back, pulled up my upper body while standing on my butt, used all her joins - elbows, knees, knuckles - to release any tension in my body. The experience is quite intense but a warm fluffy feeling overcomes the whole body once the treatment is over.

After that I got a motorbike that brought me to the North part of the city, where the Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung monastery is located.
The wooden meditation house is already really interesting - constructed of wood and placed on stilts and with big round windows, letting the sunlight brighten the room and the big golden buddha.
If I would't have read about it before I would have almost mist the small temple filled with hundreds of small buddhas that were donated by local and international pilgrims.
The patina on the walls and the fact that the whole place isn't perfectly renovated, makes it an amazing photo spot. Usually the place is packed with tourists, but as Myanmar is seeing a drop in tourist numbers this year, there were just about 10 other there.

The motorbike took me back to the hostel where we almost immediately headed for the next adventure - a sunset boat trip. A motorbike driver asked us to follow him on our bike through the busy late afternoon traffic to a small side channel. We got on one of the long motorboats and headed towards the lake.
There the fake but still iconic fishermen seemed already waiting for us. As they found better ways to catch their fish than the traditional baskets, the ones
that can still be found on their boats on the lake are just for the tourists. After a while it felt a bit awkward having them waiting for us to take more pictures and posing in yoga like poses with their baskets for the camera.
The boatdriver went a bit further, parked the boat on a small patch of water plants and we could enjoy an amazing sunset over the lake and the surrounding mountains.Read more