Inle Lake was my last destination in Myanmar. And after waking up almost every morning before sunrise, I was slightly exhausted. So I decided to take it easy for the last couple of days. My plan was to ride a bicycle around the lake and drink some average Burmese wine.

Besides that, my only photography aim was to capture those classic fishermen with their traditional net and hat. If you check any blog post, any Instagram picture about Inle lake# you would see one of them. They are the Eiffel tower of Inle Lake, a must see. The only condition for that: wake up early and take a boat. Which I ended up doing by joining a one-day tour around the lake.

Day on the boat

Here it was, the last sunrise in Myanmar. As I expected, the first hour on the boat was freezing but I was prepared. The first and only time I wore my hoodie in Myanmar. I was also ready to photograph those classic fishermen and get my classic Inle Lake picture. Well, no suspense here. We didn’t see any of them. Actually, we saw real fishermen. As the “traditional” ones with their candid pose, wooden net and hat are locals posing for tips. Does it make the pictures less interesting? In my opinion, not at all. It is still a scenic image and good souvenir. Anyway, after this small deception, we had 9 more hours on the boat. We stopped nearby some floating gardens and had our breakfast while watching the sunrise.

Even though, the breakfast consisted of a cup of tea, a banana and small brioche, the sunrise/ breakfast combination on a boat was one of my favourite of all the morning in Myanmar. I didn’t have to rush anywhere, I didn’t have to plan my afternoon, I simply didn’t have to think. Knowing that I missed the classic Inle Lake picture, I started shooting differently. It wasn’t about having the classic shot anymore. It was about capturing the moment and having my own souvenir shot.