In retrospect, one of the really wonderful things about Inle Lake was the absence of traffic. Hey, nothing like the absence of roads to cut down on the number of cars, motorbikes, and trucks. But that’s not to say that there wasn’t traffic of sorts; it’s just that all the vehicles were boats–mostly the same kind of long, narrow, graceful boat that we rode in all that day.

And what they carried in those boats!

Goods coming back from the market. Or perhaps going to it.

Household items.

Entire large families. Or maybe the village carpool returning from school.