Foodie Friday from Laos

Near Inle Lake, they eat and sell every single part of the chicken.

Waking up at Inle Lake a month ago, I admired the view as I made my way to Shane and Arielle for breakfast.  With a nod I said, “Good morning,” and we start chatting about the previous evening as a hostess sets a cup of coffee in front of me. In Myanmar sugar doesn’t help mask the luke warm cup of dirt water, nor does the room temperature milk help. I take a sip of coffee and my brain does a double take. What? It’s been so long, I let out an, “Awww my goodness,” and Arielle, anticipating this moment, clearly not having taken her eyes off my face exclaims, “Yes! It’s real coffee right!  I was waiting for you to take your first sip!” We’re both seriously happy.

Myanmar’s Inle Lake

Fishing. They drop the fishing nets and then beat the water with bamboo sticks to make the fish rise to the top.

Beautiful didn’t cut it for me.  I needed a new word to describe what I was seeing and nothing that I could come up with was working.  We were staying in a hut on stilts in the middle of Inle Lake.  Every time a boat went by the whole hut swayed, ever so slightly.  While we were in the middle of the lake on a map, it didn’t feel that way as there were islands and floating gardens all around us.