While most visitors to the Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery come here to see the jumping cats. There is more to this monastery than just these cats. Although I would have to admit, the cats are great for kids and adults too. However, it would be a shame not to see the true treasures of Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery, and I’m not referring to anything furry. As we were walking around, apparently the monk was observing us, while all of the visitors left after the cats have done their thing, we hung around for a while longer.
The monk that took the time to chat with us, with surprisingly good English, as usual he asked where we are from and all that. He then lamented how most visitors would just come and visit the monastery just for the cats. I did not need to be a monk to see this. After all, our boat man probably brought us here for the cats. Looking around the dark monastery, I can see a multitude of Buddha statues with their own shrines. Some of the shrines were lit up with Christmas lights while the others were very dark and difficult to see.
I do not know whether this was normal of just because it was already sun down that the lights were already turned off. But looking at the shrines you can immediately see the workmanship. The “roof” of the shrine is exceedingly intricate, better that most of what I have seen so far. They also looked old and it seemed like they have been there for a hundred years. The monk didn’t really show us around the temple as he was just sitting around near his television.
An amusing photo that caught my eye was this photo of a Louis Vuitton advertisment. It depicts an Intha boat being manned by men doing the leg rowing technique, a classic Inle Lake photo, however there was a lady being ferried by the boat carrying a Louis Vuitton bag. There were several other Louis Vuitton ads with that theme and I was surprised not to have been this advertisement elsewhere in the world. It seemed to be in French though, so it might have only been seen in France. The fact that Louis Vuitton use Inle as the theme of their ad was quite impressive and amusing at the same time. I just hope the rest of the world can see this. Unfortunately, it is just tucked away in a remote monastery in Inle more known for their jumping cats.
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