This stop was at the Nga Hpe Kyaung wooden temple and monastery. This is a huge wooden temple built on stilts out on the western side of Inle Lake. The original monk trained cats to jump through hoops during slow times between scripture recitals. Consequently, the temple eventually earned the nickname, The Jumping Cat Monastery. We spent a fair amount of time looking in and about the temple. I came to one clear conclusion. I renamed it “The Sleeping Cat Monastery”. The old monk that taught the cats to jump has long since died and while we were told that some women might have taught the cats to jump through hoops, most of the cats were sleeping while we were there.

1. You can see the temple as we approached by boat.

2. The temple has a huge meditation hall which we had almost completely to ourselves.

3. They have lots of Buddha statues and other items on display but this one was by far the most colorful one.

4. You can see two of the sleeping cats in the fourth photo. Judging by the tea pot and cups, this mat has uses other than for the cats.

5. I did find one cat that was awake and took this photo as he approached one of the monks, sitting in the chair.