Photographer Alain Schroeder

Inle Lake, Myanmar I 2016

Myanmar, Shan State, Inle Lake, each year during the month of Thadingyut, around October, there is an 18-day festival during which four of the gold statues of Buddha from the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda are led in a procession around Lake Inle. To the delight of local crowds, the statues get pulled on golden pagoda ships from monastery to monastery, steered by Inthas rowing with only one leg on . The highlight of the festival is the last day when the statues reach the main town of Nyaung Shwe, where most of the pilgrims of the region gather.