Inle Lake

Inle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the mountains of Shan State in Myanmar.

The people of Inle Lake, some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores and on the lake itself. Most live in simple stilt houses of woven bamboo and are largely self-sufficient.

In addition to fish, they raise vegetables and fruits in gardens floating on the surface of the lake and carry on small industries with hand labor to produce goods for local use and trading. Their five-day markets, which rotate between different places around the lake, serve as the basic shopping with sales conducted from boats on the lake.