The overnight VIP bus dropped us from Yangon to Inle Lake, or more accurately, Nyaungshwe. This is the city to which you need to buy your bus ticket and where you are most likely going to stay as it has most accommodation food options.
I did hear that some of the buses leave people on the junction 7 miles away from Nyaungshwe on the road to Taunggyi. I kind of assumed that this is what was going to happen to us as well so was very pleasantly surprised when we were dropped off at the gate to the city and from there picked up by a truck that brought us to town.
They did of course drive us straight to their recommended hostel but to be fair it was a lovely place and at a price tag of $20 per night for two people, with bathroom, air con and TV, we decided to stay there (Princess Garden Hotel). There are cheaper options too, you can get a bed for $7 but its pretty grim and I would only recommend that if you are on really tight budget.
Being quite tired after the travel we decided to postpone all the attractions to next day when we booked the private boat (meaning only us two in the boat and also freedom to choose where you want to go) at $18 per day. You can also join a tour for $10 but it does only take you to few places and we wanted to include the ancient city of ruined pagodas at Indein.
We were really lucky with the timing of our visit to Inle as we arrived just as the Hpaung Daw U Festival was in full swing. Basically, every year, for about 3 weeks, every early morning a big boat housing the statue of Buddha makes its way from one village to next on the lake.
Its pulled by long decorated boats with dressed up worshipers performing their one leg rowing routines as well as singing and dancing and general merriment. It’s a beautiful experience especially as not many tourists can be bothered to get up at 5am to experience it. It all happens as the sun rise over the lake and the mist lifts over the water.
During the rest of the day we visited many local villages built on stilts on the lake, craft shops, pagodas and the floating plantation of tomatoes and other produce. Inle is where most of Burmese tomatoes comes form and I have to say its pretty impressive to see how precariously these are grown. If you thought growing your own greens is tough, try doing in o the water…
Big highlight of the day was a visit to the village of Indein which is a place where you can wonder among hundreds of ruined pagodas and get lost in the time that was.. It’s very charming and on a smaller scale reminded me of Angkor Wat (ok…much smaller scale).
We have also made a visit to the Jumping Cat Monastery where even though cats were not performing that day we sought shelter as huge storm was on its way.
The most famous pictures from the lake are of course of the fisher man perfecting their on leg rowing technique whilst finishing. We have passed a few and luckily, unluckily they did not feel comfortable being photographed. And that is fine – not everything needs to be spoiled by a tourist with cameras, this is their livelihood after and just think how would you feel if bunch of people would show up to take pictures of your at your work every day. Nevertheless it is a beautiful skill and joy to watch. I think it adds to the spirit of Burma…
We came back at sunset and starving indulged in the Burmese curry dinner. Which brings me to the issue of tackling the Burmese food. I have heard so many times that the food there is awful and well… IT IS NOT.
OK, it is not Indian or even Thai standards but it is delicious and I absolutely love the way your curry always comes with lots of other small dishes to try out. Also, I have absolutely fell in love with the tea leaf salad! I wish I n=knew how to make it!
Just a warning – when you order a fish – that is what you are going to get – a whole fish, plus lots of little additions…Its fair to say – you will not go hungry in Burma!
Inle is THE backpacker hub of Myanmar. Nowhere else will you find so many foreign tourists, hotels and places to eat and drink. But even there, most hostels have 10pm curfew, which really will not bother you much, as the town pretty much shuts down by then anyway. In general, if you have come to Burma looking for a party, you came to the wrong place! (even if government is trying to change that with rumors of big Casinos potentially being built around the lake, I hope that never comes to pass).
Next day we followed the advice of our hostel owner and we rented bikes to explore the area. Your hostels will recommend a visit to the local springs. We were initially told that there are two: private and public and the public one is free. It’s not. They charge $8 for the public and $10 for the other. The difference between the two: only foreigners are allowed in the private one.
We skipped the springs.
We were also tols we can get a boat across the lake from about 1 mile from the springs to the other side of the lake to visits another lake village with a very long pier. That was meant to cost $2, in fact the boat man was trying to charge us $8.
On principle we refused and cycled back to town and circled to the other side of the lake on bikes. Yes, it does mean that we cycled 1.5h for nothing but we consider ourselves backpackers: read: we will sweat a lot to save any kind of money…
Having said that the ride is lovely, through rice fields, watching water buffalos and all that you can expect from the Asian countryside.
The other side of the lake was more exciting in terms of attraction. We went all the way to the village with a long pier (Maing Thauk) were we had a tasty lunch at the local restaurant, a walk around this pretty village and the pier.
On the way back we stopped at the Red Mountain winery. It was somewhat surprising to encounter a winery in Myanmar and I have to say that I was a little suspicious of the quality but it is run by a French couple and offers not only good wine (few types of reds, whites and a rose) but also amazing views of the lake and the surrounding valleys. Perfect stop for some sunset drinks.
