In order to get to Indein it's a good idea to have a couple of days stay at Inle Lake. This is the largest lake in Myanmar and one of the top attractions. Most people come to the lake to experience the floating gardens and villages built on stilts on the lake. The village Indein with the ancient stupas and pagodas are localted on the western bank of the lake. To get there you need a boat in order to get to the village. A narrow canal about 8 kilometers in lenght is the way to get there. When you arrive, you will be met by souvinir stalls, boats and people who wants to visitt the ruins. But as soon as we walked towards the first part of the complex, it did not feel crowded at all.
We started behind the village. The ruins are overgrown and many are in a bad state. Even they are in various states of decay, we can still see some of the carvings. This first selection of stupas, right behind the village, is called Nyaung Ohak. As my friend and I walked among the stupas, we had time to explore the stuco and carvings of animals. Like the chinthe, the mystical lion. A beautiful Buddha statue is sitting inside one of the ruins, surrounded and half covered in rocks.
We were on a tour with a guide. As far as I remember, she told us that the belief is that it was the Indian emperor Ashoka who took the initiative to designate this place of spiritual importance. At that time he sent monks all over Asia in order to spread Buddhism, during the 3rd centyry BC.
After a short break we climbed the stairs to the next complex – Shwe Inn Thein. Here you will find more than a thousand stupas! All theese spires made the place look like a forrest of stupas. An amazing sight. In addition the whole place felt very peacefull. The complex is located on top of a hill. From up here we can see Inle Lake in the distance.
It is believed that the stupas were built sometime between the 14th and the 18th centuries. When you look at them, you do get a feeling of them beeing much older. I think it has to do with the them being covered by bushes and trees.
Now we are almost at the end of our tour. These golden stupas are such a contrast to the first overgrown pagados at the beginning of our tour. Then it was back to the boat and the back to our hotel by the lake.
CC @patjewell
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U.J
Kristiansand, Norway
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