Following the covered walk from the bridge, I encountered more and more hawkers selling souvenir items. And somehow, I notice that these folk were more persistent that most vendors I have seen in Inle. I guess, that this area doesn’t really get too many tourists which may explain why they seem more desparate here in Indein. Having no interest in these things I head straight to the end of the covered walk.
The main feature of the village of Indein is the Shwe Indein Pagoda where there is a huge concentration of stupa which was at the end of the covered walk. You need to go outside to appreciate the place. There are over 1600 stupa built on this small area. This spot is actually on top of a small hill which sort of overlooks the surrounding area. This might explain why it was a desirable place to build all these stupa.
What is particularly interesting about Shwe Indein Pagoda are the varying degrees of disrepair of the stupa. Some look like they are over a thousand years old, while others look like they were built yesterday. Some of the stupa were a blinding white, while others where a brilliant shade of gold. This probably illustrates a sort of conflict which I noticed in Bagan. Tourists love to see the stupa in their “ruined” state. While the faithful see it as their obligation to restore these stupa to brand new status.
The stupa were not only being restored by the locals but faithful from Asia donate money to rebuild the stupa. Walking through the maze of stupa, the wind blows through them ringing the bells attached to the hti or umbella like structure on top of the newer stupa. Since I was the only one exploring the hill at that time, the ringing bells give a sort of eerie feeling as I walk by.
This spot is not by any means the only place where stupa where built, as was seen in my previous post. There are also other clusters of stupa in the area, there was also one near the “market” though it seemed like it was overrun with vegetation. The Shwe Indein Pagoda is definitely a worthwhile stop here in the Inle Lake tour, make sure not to miss it!
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