Inle floating gardens

Inle is famous not only for its leg rowers of boat, but also for its unique style of aquaculture. Inthas live not only on the lake; they also live off the lake. Inle Lake provides them with food – fish from the lake as well as vegetables from its famous floating gardens.

Inle Floating Garden

Photo: Zero-X

There are a large number of these floating gardens to the north of Nampan village. Here Intha farmers grow tomatoes, flowers, squash and vegetables on long trip of floating land. This is a naturally formed collection of tangled, old, decayed water hyacinth, weeds, reeds and grasses that formed around the rim of the lake. It takes years to form a thick layer of floating land around the rim. Inthas usually go and look for a good piece of light, deep trough around the rim of the lake. Once found, they cut them into long piece and towed them by boat back to their village. Here, they were tied down to the bottom of the lake by long bamboo poles. Called Kyun myaw, Intha women cultivate vegetable on this floating garden from boat, usually working on both sides. These vegetables are a good source of income for Inthas who export them all over Shan State and Myanmar.

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Related posts:

1. Around Inle – Ywama Village and floating market
2. Around Inle Lake
3. Inle Khaung Daing
4. Inle Lake – Shan State
5. Inle Hotel – Shwe Intha Floating Resort