Discovering Northwest Myanmar 12 - Indawgyi Lake

On the evening of my arrival at lovely Indawgyi Lake, I was relaxing on the patio of the guesthouse, looking out onto the calm waters of Myanmar's largest natural lake. Off to the north, I heard explosions, something between the sound of thunder and fireworks. It wasn't a furious bombardment; there were two salvos a couple minutes apart. Based on the concerned looks on the faces of the locals around me, the nature of these booms were what I thought. These explosions were the sounds of war.

I had been told the area around Indawgyi was dangerous. The hills to the west of the lake and all the area north of it was off-limits. Landmines and rebel camps are reported to exist. The Kachin Independence Army is active in the area. I knew this on an intellectual level, but it was quite different to hear shelling in real life. I've never heard artillery being fired before.  I've seen it thousands of times on TV and in films, but actually listen to the sounds of groups of armed men trying to kill each other put a lump in my throat.

Maybe they were firing at the ogres

The other expat who happened to be staying at the guesthouse started to talking about fleeing south to nearest large town. I certainly was starting to reconsider my plan to head north the next morning and exploring the sights on the lake shore. 

After a quiet evening in the morning light, the threat of a few shells being fired didn't seem so ominous. It hadn't been a proper battle. It was probably just the Myanmar military reminding the KIA that they were there. Off I went to explore the lake. 

Some points of note that you'll see on the video: 

At 2:35, you'll see a long stretch of large structures. Behind them were a line of bathrooms. These buildings were obviously meant to be inhabited, but given that there were no walls or internal divisions, they weren't permanent dwellings. My guess is that this was a camp for displaced persons - refugees. Whether they were intended for people displaced by natural disasters or conflict, this camp could handle thousands. 

I also saw the mis-named "Bamboo Buddha". I guess the alliterative name sounds better than "Rattan Buddha". 

Ultimately, I enjoyed my full day of rest at Indawgyi Lake, but whereas I had originally intended to spend two days, I was eager to head out in the morning. 

Enjoy the video. I've moved away from the bluegrass music theme for the background music.