Inle Lake is a shallow lake, 22km long and 11km wide, in the hills southeast of Mandalay. The 17 villages of the area are built on stilts right in the lake and food is grown in floating gardens staked to the lake bottom with bamboo poles. From our hotel we looked out over floating rice paddies and vegetable gardens. Men were out in their canoes tending the paddy. On an island in the distance was a temple. We could hear the chanting from across the water.