http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Burma , Mandalay Region , Inle Lake en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 19:30:31 +0000 Tue, 21 May 2013 19:30:31 +0000 The calming influence of water has been known throughout human history. Mankind appreciates the role of water in providing a fundamental necessity of human life ... indeed if we don39t drink we die. Perhaps this elementary law of nature is the catalyst for our deep yearning for water as our collective spirit strives to be in the presence of the ultimate life giver. So if now39s the time to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-777308.html Inle Lake 1721 JanuaryWe had got serious boat fever the day before so we were awake very early on our second day in Inle Lake. We ate breakfast on the verandah and watched the lake wake up with us. The early morning fog slowly ebbed away and this time with the knowledge of what lay beyond the mist it was even more magical. Our boat driver picked us up at 9am and we sailed across the lake again http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-769003.html Inle Lake 1721 JanuaryWe landed at Heho Airport in Inle Lake from Yangon after my very first flight in a propeller plane. I had made the mistake of reading many nightmare stories about planes crashing in Burma as their internal aircraft is not approved by international safety standards due to sanctions. However after C reassuring me you wouldn39t not drive on the M25 because of a crash i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-767205.html What happens when you put ten thousand people on top of a mountain add copious amount of alcohol and then launch hot air balloons with fireworks strapped to them The Taunggyi Fire Balloon Festival that39s whatBurma isn39t a country I would normally associate with festivals. So I was surprised to learn of such a radical festival on a large scale. And nothing quite prepared me for what I s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-764324.html Today was our last day in Nyaung Shwe and we spent the day revisiting our favourite places. First stop was the markets where the OH purchased a longi for himself and a few bits and pieces he needed for a planned Burmese night when we got back home. We had a coffee at the local Indian Muslim teahouse with its array of samosas and pakoras and other delights. We stopped in at Smiling Moon to orga http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-764317.html Today was our day to trek in the surrounding villages of Nyaung Shwe. Our trek was only for 3 hours so it wasnt too strenuous. We took a horse and cart to the bottom of the hills just outside town. Our guide was a young PaO man who spoke reasonably good English. He turned out to be quite a character and we shared many a joke with him even with the language barrier. There werent real http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-764315.html Inle Lake was our destination today. We had organised through the Smiling Moon Travel Agency to hire a boat and driver to take us around the lake. We had read of the peculiar rowing style of some of the lakes fisherman and anticipated seeing it. The boat was quite large and was a smaller version of the long tail wooden boats in Thailand. Something akin to an oversized wooden canoe. In the ear http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-764305.html Breakfast at the hotel was included with our room. It was a pretty basic breakfast of eggs or rather an egg white toast tea or coffee and fruit usually a banana or two. Today was a day to investigate the local markets and the sights within Nyuang Shwe. The markets are very much local markets selling all types of produce but no meat products so there must have been a different market for thes http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-764300.html Our flight with Bagan Airlines left at 8 in the morning and we were told checkin opened at 6.30am. Our hotel was only 15 minutes from the airport so we were able to have breakfast before we left eaten quickly but breakfast none the less. Bagan airport was interesting. It is not very big and most of the checkin counters are just little booths next to each other. When our taxi pulled up an a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-764188.html From Delhi we arrived in Bangkok at a little after midnight. Even at that time it may have been the hottest moment of our journey so far temperature wise. Wed been here before so finding our guesthouse didnt really pose many difficulties. Everyone is always eager to help and the city never really sleeps. We grabbed our keys to our room and then hit a bowl of noodles at about 130 before pass http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-763987.html The last day atInle lake is relatively peaceful though tiring which entails a mellow dayscycling around some parts of the lake. We rent a couple of bicycles close toour guesthouse for 3000 kyat before were given some vague directions on whereto start our ride. The initialstretch is easy and beautiful but that sense of security is short lived after weencounter a steep hill with a path th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-757412.html Day two at Inle lake begins at 630 in the morning too early. I feel like a wreck. In the dining lounge I demolish several cups of coffee before I remember why we are up so early today we are taking a tour of the lake.Hiring a boat and driver for the day and doing the usual tourist route of the lake will set you back around 15000 kyat depending on your negotiation skills. The typical tourist http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-757232.html Day three sees us preparing for our journey to Inle lake but not before a planned visit to one of the most famous sites in Myanmar and one of the most admired and respected religious monuments in the world the Shwedagon Pagoda.This golden temple is located in the center of Yangon surrounded by a large roundabout of traffic. We learn quickly that weve come at a bad time just before midday http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-756941.html Inle Lake http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-756870.html Each country that you visit seems to have at least one incredibly beautiful place that will stick in your mind for a long long time. Youll find yourself in some boring meeting at work or perhaps just driving along the highway and your mind will wander to an experience that is engrained in your memory. Burma has many of these but it was Inle Lake that really captured our interest. After the am http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-756336.html Arriving in Tnuggi at 330 am was a surprise after thinking we might arrive at 7am. As if we hadnt spent enough time on the bus already we asked the driver if we could nap until daybreak on the bus which is remarkably better than while it was moving the blaring music was off and the freezing air conditioning was off as well.ltgt ltgtFrom Tnuggi we had to made our way to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-751555.html http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-731300.html From Hsipaw we only really had one option of getting into Inle Lake and it was again an overnight bus 16h 18000K22 pp so we took it. Somehow the time of journey quoted is always way longer than it actually takes to get to a place and you always find yourself being dropped off somewhere in a middle of a night. We got to Nyaungshwe town around 4 am and had to wait for some transport to town. P http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-722421.html My journey continued from Mandalay we had an 8 hour coach drive to Kalaw a former British Hill station situated at 1 400m above sealevel piece of cake for me on the rim of the Shan Plateau in the Pineland. We were welcomed by cool springlike weather pine forests tea plantations and colourfully dressed hill tribe people who come to Kalaw for trading at the local market. The surrounding hi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-714580.html After a long and bumpy busride we finally arrived in Kalaw a place in higher area in Shanstate famous for treks through hilltribe areas to Inlelake. The air was fresh and luckily there was the intesting market where all the locals from the hilltribes offer their products that takes place only every five days. Finally we booked into a tour with two nice couples and a frensh women for two day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Inle-Lake/blog-707461.html