Update. We flew to Inle Lake and came in by boat but did not see much as it was dark when we arrived. Dinner was okay not great. We all crashed.

Woke up the next morning to find ourselves in an absolutely idyllic setting. The grounds here are really something. Sitting on the restaurant patio this morning was so tranquil. Looking at the lake, the boats being rowed in so quietly, hot air balloons and a small herd of goats. Add to this a very good omelette and a chocolate croissant - pretty nice way to start the day.

Highlights for today

First stop the main Monastery for Inle lake it was fantastic.As we got close boatloads of monks passed by us, many on cell phones.

On arrival there was a lot of activity from the monks and lots of locals. We heard loud music and saw two boats decorated with flowers and a young boys in each boat with glittering crowns and clothing. It was their initiation ceremony. Every male child must be initiated into monastery and stay for at least one week. This is a big event, celebrated for two or three days by family and friends.

Then there hundreds of monks coming out of the temple accepting gifts in white sacks. Turns out a group from Hong Kong was offering the gifts to the monks they do this once a year. Monks from all the villages in the area came to participate.

Odds of hitting this once a year offering event and an iniation cermony are pretty small. We were very lucky.

Then our boat was glided through a fishing village, a floating garden, we saw fisherman netting fish. All of this was very interesting and fun.

We also stopped at a village specializing in weaving lotus and silk by hand. Been to many of these places before but this was "the real thing". We went to a small monastery that was quick stop and well worth visiting.

We ended the morning at another hotel I wanted to see and had a great lunch there.

Back at the Inle Princess about 2.00 pm. Ken is looking at pictures, I am writing this reports

LIFE IS PRETTY GOOD.