Inle Lake, Myanmar

We’ve decided to take a day off and relax. Jim went out for the sunrise photo shoot of the fishermen on the lake. Then we slept in and enjoyed lunch out on the balcony overlooking the pool. Kind of nice as we’re the only 2 people here at the resort so we have all the staff to ourselves! A little kitten just came up the stairs in the lobby beside me but she scooted before I could get a pet. We got in a little pool time after lunch. As frequently happens here, we had a pop up thunderstorm this evening which has made it so much more humid. At Cocktail hour tonight we had a lecture by Spencer Wells on The Human Journey. Then Bob took a group photo. We had a Night Market with cocktails and appetizers at poolside and local vendors selling handicrafts. There were also villagers cooking traditional Burmese fare for us to eat. Tonight was our Gala dinner with traditional Burmese music and dancing. Several nice dances. The most outstanding one was the giant brown creature. 2 young men were inside the costume dancing. At the end of their performance, they came down off of the stage to present a rose from the creature’s mouth to Esther 1. Then we had a big surprise ending to the evening. We wrote down wishes on pieces of paper and they were tied inside paper fire balloons and launched into the night sky. It was a beautiful sight. Throughout the launchings the Burmese band was playing. Then yet another surprise …….a large hot air balloon was launched carrying a basket of fireworks. It shot off a great fireworks display as it rose through the sky. Just an amazing sight to watch. Koye tells us that there is a Buddhist Temple in Heaven built from the hair removed from the monk’s heads and that our fire lanterns are sent up to light the temple. The Burmese people that we have met along our journey have been wonderful. So sweet and eager to serve and please.