We arrive at Inle Lake at dusk, ready to depart by boat for a half hour ride across the water to our hotel.

The Inle Princess Hotel, a real charmer in Burmese style with large individual bungalows

When we left the hotel for touring, these long narrow boats took us around the lake. New Horizons was our outstanding Burmese travel host.

Men, perched on sterns of boats, paddle canoes with one leg twisted around the bamboo oar.

Fishermen use conical traps with gill nets at the mouth to catch catfish, Inle carp, or eel. The clear water enables strategic placement of traps.

Houses on stilts compose villages on the lake; streets are waterways among the floating gardens.

61 sq mile Inle Lake is about 3 meters deep and has a 3 mile wide fringe of silt and water hyacinths which conceal its full size.