‘Lake Of The Floating Gardens’
(MYANMAR)
The Intha have lived, worked and prayed above the waters of Myanmar’s Inle Lake’s waters for generations. These inventive people expertly go about their business from a fleet of small wooden boats, rowing with one leg along the channels that separate their floating farms. We visit the Sons of the Lake. With an acrobat’s agility, Ingkongeh stands upright with one leg locked around a long oar. His other foot firmly grips the flat stern of his boat as he sculls along, all the while keeping an eye out for fish in the clear, shallow waters of Inle Lake, deep within the Shan state of Myanmar. He is Intha, one of the Sons of the Lake. No-one knows where the leg-rowing people of Inle Lake came from – or when. It’s thought that they may have fled from the Mon region in the 18th century to escape fighting between Thai and Burmese forces…
Story length: 1,500 words
Available images: 16
Photography by Leanne Walker
Text by Andrew Marshall
