I just about spit coffee all over the computer screen at work this morning. I work for a company in the travel industry, and I was researching a tour to Myanmar (Burma). The itinerary for Day 6 of the journey looked something like this: “Fly to Heho, then travel to Inle Lake. Check-in to the hotel. Relax and marvel at the beautiful scenery from a private boat cruise. Also visit Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda and the Monastery of Jumping Cats.” What the?!?!
Yes, you read that right … Monastery of Jumping Cats. Flabbergasted, I entered the incongruous phrase in my favorite search engine and found this article from the LA Times.
My eyes skimmed the first dozen lines, looking for an explanation, before another absurd claim caught my attention. As if the name of the destination wasn’t enough … the third paragraph of the article mentioned “some unlikely local residents — Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Tina Turner, among others.” Again … what the?!?!
Finally, on the middle of the second page, I learned that Nga Phe Kyaung, an 18th century Buddhist monastery built on stilts in Inle Lake, located in northeastern Myanmar. For over 20 years, the monks have trained their cats to jump through hoops over a meter high, earning the monastery its curious nickname. These agile felines and their trainers now attract about 200 visitors a day.
According to the monk interviewed in the LA Times article, the celebrity names are just for fun. Many of the names, though, do have a connection to their famous counterparts. James Bond “likes to watch, but if we try to catch him he always escapes.” Another is called Michael Jordan because he’s a natural jumper, and Arnold Schwarzenegger earned his title as the biggest in the bunch, and somewhat of a show-off. And Leo … he’s just pretty, like the Titanic star.
Photograph taken by Serena Bowles.


