Blogs from Inle Lake, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia

My journey continued from Mandalay, we had an 8 hour coach drive to Kalaw, a former British Hill station situated at 1 400m above sea-level (piece of cake for me!) on the rim of the Shan Plateau in the Pineland. We were welcomed by cool, spring-like weather, pine forests, tea plantations and colourfully dressed hill tribe people who come to Kalaw for trading at the local market. The surrounding hills offer some of the best trekking in Myanmar. Kalaw has a significant population of Nepali Gurkhas and Indian Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, who came to build the roads and railway line during the British period. It is here in this village that I relived my memories of trekking in Nepal with a plate of dahl baht (rice served with lentils and side dishes of curries) at ... read more

February, 6 – 12 / 2012 After an enormously rewarding 8 days in Hsipaw, we decided it was time for us to move on. We were on a 14 hour overnight bus to Inle Lake. We were lucky and managed to get some sleep in between all the stopping – seriously, who is so hungry that they need to have tea and lamb curry at 3:00am? The amount of stops on the overnight buses in Myanmar is unreal. We had heard and read mixed reviews about Inle Lake. People had said it was really touristy and commercialized. We, however, found it to be quite a bit different. We had pre-booked a room at a guesthouse, which had been the case all over the country. In Myanmar there are so few guesthouses that are registered to allow ... read more

As I peddled furiously along narrow winding paths trodden only by the footsteps of those before me who live along the banks of Inle Lake I could only gaze at the extraordinary beauty of this natural bowl of water encapsulated by towering mountains. The sun soaked us with its heat, the roads coated us in their dust and the locals waved at us cheerily as we passed them. The paths narrowed further until they came to an abrupt stop; just in front of the steps of a traditional stilted teak house on the far edge of a tiny village made up of ten or so other similar houses. I pondered the distance debating if it was worth going further considering the pathway had now completely vanished under my wheels. Children we passed playing football only moments ... read more

To say Inle Lake is breathtakingly beautiful just doesn’t do this place justice... We had arrived in Inthein just after midday, seeking refuge from the scalding sun and its seething heat after what had been a gruelling three day, 60km hike across the Burmese countryside from Kalaw. Coincidentally, the local market was scheduled to be in town on the morning of our arrival, so we had rose early from our monastic (literally) lodging and hiked at a decent pace to reach Inthein market on the western shores of Inle Lake. When we arrived however, Amy and I and indeed our fellow hikers were simply too exhausted to really take everything in around the hustle and bustle of food vendors and souvenir stalls. Rather, we settled ourselves with what reprieve a local restaurant could provide and quietly ... read more

Though Myanmar is becoming an increasingly popular destination, there are still experiences not touched by tourism’s tenacious tentacles. Since I gravitate towards the road even less travelled when journeying on the road less travelled, I was thrilled by a certain prospect on offer at Inle Lake. My arrival at the undistinguished town of Nyaungshwe was via a half-hour flight and bumpy 90 minute car journey; immensely preferable to the ghastly minimum 12 hour bus alternative. I transferred to an elongated boat that contained a single column of seats, where each passenger sits directly behind the one in front. The driver settled at the stern where he controlled a ridiculously noisy motor that propelled all occupants at speed. My first voyage on the lake revealed delightful surrounds, the vast waters mostly encircled by thickly wooded emerald hills. ... read more