The Inle Lake only confirms my love for Burma. This destination, unavoidable for any traveler, fascinates, thanks to its exceptional landscapes, and its markets, gardens, floating houses

We start from Bagan at 8 am for Nyaung Shwe, the entrance door to the inle Lake The trip will last 6 hours, breaks included. The mini-van is quite comfortable, even if the air conditioning does not seem to work.

We stop at noon at a restaurant where a very demanding cat meows to ask us for chicken (and no noodles… don’t exaggerate either). I have to refrain from caressing him <3

As for Bagan, we have to pay a conservation fee (12,500 kyats/person) before entering the “Inle Zone”

Our hotel (The Green Valley Inn) is run by a very nice lady who warmly welcomes us with a small Burmese snack (a kind of instant but uncooked noodles, very good) and green tea

We rest a little in the room before going to see the tourist office. Suddenly, I feel that the bed moves. Thinking that it is JB, I ask him “is it you who does that?”… it moves more and more strongly. As the building next door is under construction, I wondered if it was related to the work, they must have punctured something? And then I start having a headache as if we were on a boat. It’s at the moment when I understand that the whole hotel is moving that the vibration stops. All this lasted 20 seconds I think. I go downstairs to ask the lady at the front desk what just happened, she simply confirms that it’s an earthquake, like nothing happened

We will learn later, that the epicenter is located in Burma, a hundred KM from Bagan that we just left this morning. That some temples are damaged, among which temples that we visited only 2 days ago..

Very affected by this event, especially since we were in Thailand 10 days ago at the time of a series of attacks… we tell ourselves that no place is totally safe on this planet, that we must enjoy every moment, visit as soon as we can the places and monuments we want, because they aren’t eternal either. The damaged pagodas in Bagan may never be restored, we are probably among the last people to have seen them intact. Dear reader who is reading this blog, the time has come to enjoy life too

Day 2: Inle Lake

A 10 minute walk from our hotel in Nyaung Shwe is the port from which all boats depart for the Inle Lake. We did not succeed in coming across real boat pilots while walking on the banks, we were forced to pass by an intermediary (who calls herself “sister” of the boat pilot, as in India what, everybody is brother/sister of everybody). Frankly, we should have asked the owner of our hotel

We choose the route proposed by the pilot (in fact he showed us places that tell us nothing because we did not do our little homework to know where to go) and add Shwe Inn Thein Paya for 3000 kyats more -> 18000 kyats in total for 7 hours of boat. We warn the gentleman that we aren’t going to buy anything as souvenirs but that we don’t mind going to the craftsmen’s workshops. It is always OK for the same price. We take this precaution because in some places the drivers/guides/drivers are paid in fixed or commission to bring tourists to shops

It will take us 1 hour from Nyaung Shwe to reach the lake. As of our arrival on the lake, we notice the presence of several fishermen, pretending to fish

In reality, they put themselves in mode “I pose for the typical photo of Inle Lake” with their fishing basket, before coming to ask us for some “money”. It’s frankly ridiculous but if they do it, it must work. A few hours later, we will see fishermen who really work and curiously, they have neither the same pose nor the basket. Here is dear reader, why it is necessary to go to Burma right now. In a few years, with the development of tourism, the country risks losing its authenticity

If the water of the Nyaung Shwe canal frankly does not inspire confidence, the water of the Inle Lake (even if it isn’t transparent), is cleaner and reflects the sky

In the distance, we can see the mountains that frame Inle Lake, for almost an hour, no houses visible on the lake. We see only boats, water and sky. Sailing by boat on this beautiful lake will probably be one of my best experiences of the world tour

The pilot of the boat tells us rather late that there is no floating market today. Internet tells us the opposite: every day, there is a floating market; the only difference is the presence or not of the locals. It is necessary to know that there are 5 markets on Inle Lake in 5 different places, but not at the same time: one day, one market, one place. This allowed, formerly, the 5 barons to collect taxes without being competitors. The floating market of Ywama is full of locals when the real market takes place in Ywama. The rest of the time, this floating market is only for tourists. In short, I am a little disappointed by this news but it brings us directly to the market of the day: that of the Phaung Daw Go pagoda

A real local market, where you can observe the sale of boat paint in kg, medicines sold at the market as well as shampoo, snacks, seasonal fruits, petrol sales, umbrella repairer, … the opportunity to test some local specialties and see the popularity of betel

It is here that JB finds HIS banana donut, which he tasted for the first time in Cambodia and which he searched for 10 years in different countries. This time, it’s the right one!

The Phaung Daw Go pagoda, which attracts thousands of Burmese Buddhists, is famous for the 5 Buddha images, on which so much gold leaf is applied that they look more like the Golden Rock in southern Burma. And JB only contributes to make these images unrecognizable by also applying some gold leaves on them. Since women aren’t allowed to get close to them, I just observe from a distance

This will be followed by a series of visits to artisan workshops, apparently set up here just for tourists. I’m not going to complain, I love crafts! Thus, we were able to see how fishermen’s boats are made and the long-tail boat we are taking today. All this is done by hand: we saw two men sawing a huge piece of teak wood. JB was able to test the Burmese cigars (which smell good and have a very light taste). I could see how silver jewels are made (hin!), here they are even less equipped than in India, they heat the metal with charcoal (BBQ way)! OMG! Polishing is done by hand, without any machine. We were also impressed by the weaving of the lotus stem filaments, I had never seen that before! The weaving of silk scarves is always done with a manual machine, where one thread is passed one at a time. The only tourist stop we refused was the “long neck women” (or “giraffe women”), who aren’t supposed to be there, they were brought here just for the tourists. Not wanting to contribute to this “human zoo”, we chose to skip it

Burmese cigars : JB wants to buy one to test but here the cigars are only sold in boxes of 25

We eat in a restaurant on stilts which has only that as a positive point. Anyway, the Inle Lake is so touristic that it is impossible to find a good restaurant

Direction Shwe Inn Thein Paya, an impressive pagoda where there are thousands of stupas, financed by individuals (the name of the donor is on each stupa)

If this pagoda impresses me, I am more marked by another event: two Burmese feeding the dogs in the street. It reassures me so much that someone is taking care of them, considering the number of stray dogs that we see everywhere in Burma. I follow the movement by giving a shy-looking dog a cake. He will stay close to me for about 20 minutes hoping for another piece (unfortunately, I don’t have any more!)

We then pass to Ywama to admire from the boat another set of stupas..

… before stopping at the Nga Phe Kyaung monastery, once famous for its acrobatic cats. There are still many cats but they don’t do the show anymore, the monks have given up this practice. The monastery is still worth the detour because you feel really good there (is it thanks to the presence of cats?). JB is playing soccer with two Burmese while I test a local cake baked in banana leaves

We sail between two floating gardens and see green tomatoes (yummy!). Farmers have to travel by boat to tend to their tomatoes. Rhalala, it’s already hard on land, by boat it must be even harder

A typical house. The small staircase that leads to the water is used as a landing stage but also as a bathroom and washing area

We return to Nyaung Shwe, too happy with our day. The rain was forecast but finally we had only sun (0 clouds on the lake), it hit so hard that we had to use the umbrellas provided by the boat driver to protect us from the sun

We end the day with a Burmese massage at Amaradavi Day Spa (great!) and some skewers … Here, skewers are a clever way to eat not very noble parts of the chicken. If you want to try, you have to be very careful and look carefully: if chicken wings are offered, they also sell… the back of the chicken and the neck of the chicken

Part 2: Practical Tips

How to get there

You can easily find day or night buses from Mandalay, Yagon or Bagan to Nyaung Shwe (where everyone stops to take the boat to Inle Lake). We hesitated before choosing the day bus. Good choice since we would have been in the middle of the earthquake otherwise… Another option would be to stop in Kalaw and trek to Nyaung Shwe (where the luggage will be delivered by car)

Budget

• Storage fee: 12,500 kyats/person
• The Green Valley Inn (recommended with your eyes closed): $23 per double room (without air conditioning)
• One day boat rental for Inle Lake: 15000 kyat/negotiable boat (whatever the number of passengers). 3000 kyats extra to go to Shwe Inn Thein Paya
• Restaurant: everything is expensive here, go to the Night Market and eat for 3000 kyats (for two) or in tourist restaurants for 5000 kyats/dish. It’s up to you!

Tips

• We didn’t get the right information so we missed the floating village Ywama (even if it wasn’t the official market day), don’t make the same mistake
• Bring a lot of sunscreen with you (and preferably a top that covers your shoulders well), it hits very hard. In the worst case, use the umbrella provided on the boat to avoid sunburn
• If you don’t want to stop at the shops, make this clear from the beginning because the price may be increased
• Burmese cigars are also sold at the local market, it is probably cheaper than the ones you will find at the cigar factory
• Burma risks, in a few years, to become a country where the tourist is harassed, where every “hello” is interested, as in India. Before this is the case, visit Burma as soon as possible!