Since I’ve gotten on the subject of traditional handicrafts on Inle Lake, I might as well cover a few more. Today: blacksmithing.

I will admit that the entrance to the shop did not bode well.

Then again, maybe it was just an indication that everyone is so busy here that no one has time just to sit around.

In any event, the shop offered for sale knives of all sizes as well as, even, swords. Now, I am a great lover of knives and swords. I am tempted by these wares. The blades are as sharp as the chiles here are hot. Which is to say, very. And the prices are reasonable. I do like a good sharp blade. But the hilts are simple, even crude. And I will have to check a suitcase for the rest of my trip if I buy one of these. I resist.

Then the men set to work. The main blacksmith draws the red-hot blade out of the fire. Yes, it’s ready to be worked. First one, and then two, and finally all three apprentices pound rhythmically on the steel blade as it cools, working against time.

The blade cools from almost white-hot to bright red, and finally to a dull mahogany. The work slows. A last blow is struck, and the blacksmith examines the blade. It’s not thin enough yet. He will put it back into the flame, and the process will begin again.