Inle Lake doesn’t seem to run out of surprises. One thing I saw on the way to the market was what looked like a garden. Hold on, this is a lake, how can there be a garden? As it turns out, the Intha people have ingeniously found a way to construct gardens on top of the lake. One critical component are the weeds which are being harvested by the fishermen earlier. These weeds are then turned into beds which are anchored by bamboo poles. Various crops can then be planted on these beds.
The simplicity of this is really astounding. The crops are constantly supplied the rich waters of Inle Lake ensuring that the plants a supplied with nutrients, that said, they don’t need much maintenance at all. The fact that the beds are floating on top of the lake means that it rises and falls with the lake, so floods are not an issue here. The only trouble with this set up is that it is still on top of the lake. So to harvest the crops, they will still need boats.
From the shop where the Padaung women were we passed through a vast floating garden. My companion pointed out that they were actually growing tomatoes! I never thought that they could grow something like that here and still float. Apparently, that is not the only thing they plant here. Come to think of it, rodents are probably not a problem here since the entire plantation is on top of the lake. Passing through the floating gardens gives off that eerie feeling, since everything was so quiet. I can only sit back and marvel at the ingenuity of the Intha people.
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