"some landscapes are born beautiful- others, like inle lake in myanmar, are made that way by man. located in the hills of the shan state northeast of the capital inle lake is a continual depository of silt from the encompassing hills, keeping it uniformly shallow. the shan people have built their settlements around the lake, but also on it, constructing floating gardens of weeds and entire villages on teak stilts. buddhist stupas glint gold on the surrounding hilltops as villagers exchange goods from boat to boat, one carrying a load of inle carp and the other bushels of rice. for the tourist floating by, the experience is as transcendent as any mountaintop."
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