Bus to Inle Lake and the first day in Nyaung Shwe

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Ok so running behind with the blog again but the wifi was so dodgy in Burma that I decided to wait until we were back in Thailand before attempting any more.

So the morning of the bus journey was an 8 am pickup so we decided to get up for sunrise and watch the hot air balloons going up - Howard had already seen this from a temple on our first morning but I've always been too tired to do it!! I have to say they were quite a sight and we counted 20 balloons up in the end, so at £300 plus person that was a lot of money in the air.

Our pick up was late but we were told the bus wouldn't leave until everyone was on board and luckily this was true. So we got on the JJ Joyous Journey Express, and were pleasantly surprised, it was spacious, pretty comfortable and water and blankets were provided (very strong air con) and off we set.

The scenery was great, passing through small towns and villages and then up into the hills. We stopped for lunch at a really dingy, grotty place and ate some equally grotty food, then kept our fingers crossed we'd survive!

So we arrived at Nyaung Shwe, the nearest town to Inle Lake 8 1/2 hours later as it was turning dusk. Some bloke followed us all the way to our hotel trying to get us to book a boat trip for the next day, we didn't. We stayed at the Inle Apex for the first 2 nights, a nice enough place, with a rooftop you can sit on, but how I longed for a shower that doesn't soak the whole bathroom!

Then it was out again for a mooch, only to be asked again and again what we were doing tomorrow and if we wanted a boat trip, I know they are only trying to make a living but I was just about ready to batter the next one who asked.

Howard had wanted to eat at the Inlay Hut which is an Indian restaurant right next to the hotel but it was already full so we found another one, he enjoyed his, mine was ok and so by 8.30 pm everywhere appeared shut so we just went to bed.

The next day we managed to sleep in and miss breakfast, despite being woken up at some ridiculous hour by the cockerels crowing. We had a walk around the town, not a good first impression, very dusty and dirty, found an ATM which had ridiculous charges, found another one which just said transaction cancelled but on our third attempt found one that actually worked and didn't rip you off.

Then we visited the market, tried unsuccessfully to find a taxi, gave up and asked in a travel agency - a small hut, and arranged to go and visit the Shwe Yan Pyay teak monastery just out of town. This was a lovely old place with big open window frames where you could sometimes see the novice monks peeping out. I attempted to take a photo of one but this French bloke kept standing in front of me with his giant camera. I gave up but Howard was having none of it, took my phone and kept standing in front of the French bloke, I don't think any of us got a decent pic in the end!

Inside the building was the usual Buddha stuff and about 8 young novice monks who were supposed to be doing their lessons but in fact were messing around every time they thought no one was looking, ha ha.

There was also a very bizarre pagoda with hundreds of little niches filled with Buddha dolls wrapped in cloth and plaques saying who had made the donations, again from all over the world. The walls around the niches had the remains of murals made out of bits of metal and glass - very different.

Back in town we sat on the hotel rooftop and watched the sun set. We actually managed to eat at the Inlay Hut that night as Howard reserved a table. It was mad how popular the place was...no.1 on trip advisor no less, it was just a small open air place, nothing flash at all. The food was ok, very large portions but nowt special. What made it though was the young guy who owned and ran the place. He was really eccentric! Super friendly, but kept making pow noises and I guess kind of acting like a gangsta rapper! he gave us lots of freebies, rice, parathas etc the best thing was his motorbike, it looked ancient but was decorated with gold leaf!! Brilliant and good luck to the guy.

We booked a trip to Kakiu for the next day.

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Photos

Nyaung Shwe
The town for Inle Lake

Nyaung Shwe
Market Place