How to grow tomatoes and never have to water them…Mega-hydroponics

The Inle Lakeresidents have an amazing way of growing vegetables. The locals -who live on stilt houses in the middle of the lake- go to the shores where water hyacinths gather in tangled masses, cut 100 metre long ‘mattresses’ out of the vegetation, jump on them and row them to place near their village. They stake the floating vegetable mattresses to the bottom of the lake with bamboo poles and then cover them in weeds and soil from the bottom of the lake as fertilizer. Beans, tomatoes and other veggies never ever need watering as they suck up all the water they need from the lake!

Visiting the markets -which rotate location weekly to give everybody a chance- is superbly interesting as the hills tribe women come down with special items such as tobacco and fern shoots and go back home laden with things they cannot grow. It is a photographers paradise. Truly, you cannot get a bad picture. Trust me.

for destination inspiration see: www.myanmar-tourism.com

I quote from the London Travel Fair, for those still in doubt:

“The Myanmar Marketing Committee is an initiative of private hotels & tourism sector and also act as the marketing arm of Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board.The Objective of Myanmar Marketing Committee is to bring together all Myanmar based companies and individuals who actively want to promote Myanmar as a destination.”

Happy Travels!