The monks started their musical prayers about 4.30am, but we didn't sleep in the main hall after all so the wake up call was muffled. Before we left we made a donation of 1000K each to the Head Monk, and he blessed us and attached a thread-bracelet to our wrist for protection.
This last half-day of trekking was all gently down-hill to Inle Lake. The lake has a water-logged margin rather than a hard-and-fast shore, so the village where we finished our trek was still a canal-length away from the lake proper. As soon as we got to the jetty we plunged our feet into the cool clear water, and in a flash Lello was down to his underwear and into the canal. I couldn't resist and took the plunge fully clothed. We had lunch by the jetty and then caught one of the ubiquitous narrow long-boats with an outboard motor across the lake.
Che paradiso! Inle Lake ain't Lac d'Annecy (as a French couple we met pointed out to us), but it is ringed by mountains and flanked by palm trees and houses on stilts, and definitely has more (and more uniquely interesting) fishermen plying its waters.
Nyaung Shwe, the town at the northern end of the lake with all the tourist accommodation, has a fair few restaurants advertising wood-oven pizza. The guide book warns that most don't make anything resembling pizza, but the one I plumped for miraculously did have a proper oven and made a respectable effort. Afterwards Lello, who has professional pizza-making experience, gave the owner some tips on making his pizza more authentic.
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