Fascination Inle Lake

Before we reached the town of Nyaung Shwe and the region in and around Inle Lake, we had another long bus ride ahead of us. Unfortunately, there was only one possible bus connection from Naypyidaw to the mountain region, with the bus departing at 8:00 PM and arriving at 2:00 AM. Unexpectedly, the bus left one hour earlier than scheduled, and we were glad that we had left early. However, the bus ride was not relaxing at all, as the bus was cooled down to near freezing temperatures by the air conditioning, as is customary in Southeast Asia, and the constant horn honking during the drive through the mountains prevented us from having a peaceful sleep =D.

Nevertheless, we arrived in a suburb of Nyaung Shwe on time at 2:00 AM and only had to organize transportation to our hotel. As soon as we got off the bus, a few Burmese people approached us and seriously wanted to take us on a motorbike taxi, including all our luggage on the back seat of a motorbike. Fortunately, a converted VW Beetle or something similar came around the corner and the four of us managed to squeeze into it with our big and small backpacks. =D By the way, you don't have to worry about crime in Myanmar at all, because this word seems to be non-existent among the friendly people. So it was no problem when we stopped at an office by the roadside at half past 2 in the morning to pay the equivalent of 8€ per person as a tourism tax. Everything was in order and exactly as we had read in our guidebooks in advance.

Finally, we arrived at the hotel, tired but safe, where we could check in, get our rooms, and catch up on some sleep. The next morning, we organized our next three days together with the very competent receptionist at the Emperior Inle. The next day, we went on a boat tour of the famous Inle Lake, followed by a trekking tour to a mountain village the day after, and a tour to the over 1,000 Buddhas in the Pindaya Cave on our last day in the region.

By the way, the Hotel Emperior Inn was an absolute hit. In addition to incredibly friendly and competent staff, a great breakfast, free bicycle rental (even usable bicycles ;-) ), and a perfect price-performance ratio, the hotel also boasts a beautiful rooftop terrace. If you are looking for suitable accommodation in the region, we can highly recommend the hotel =). We were also charged for the first night as an "early check-in," which we surprisingly didn't have to pay for.

In addition, the capital of the region has an interesting market and many great restaurants where you can make good use of the rain breaks ;-) and really enjoy your stay.

For our first day in Nyaung Shwe, we had planned a bike tour together with Annika and Paul, during which we wanted to visit a monastery nearby and the Red Mountain Winery. Besides great pictures of the city life, monastery, water buffalo, and the panoramic view from the winery terrace, we treated ourselves to 2 bottles of wine, as a reward for the total distance covered of 14km :-))

The next day, we had the boat tour on Inle Lake to look forward to, and the tour really lived up to all our expectations. It didn't take long for us to admire the famous leg-rowers on the mountain lake.

At the same time, it was fascinating to see how the Intha people, the "people of the lake," have completely adapted their lives to the watery conditions. The villages balance on shaky stilts in the lake, the gardens float on huge layers of plants, and the entire life takes place on the water. In the first hour on the water, we were able to gather countless impressions and were constantly amazed. It's really amazing how people live here, washing clothes in the lake, fishing, harvesting seaweed, or working in the floating gardens.

By the way, you can easily organize boat tours in Nyaung Shwe, and the four of us paid a total of 18€ for the full-day rental of the boat and our "chauffeur."

The first stop took us to a very interesting market, where we enjoyed strolling around, and we were able to admire a small "forest of pagodas" on a hill.

The next stop took us to a weaving workshop, where great products are made using the most original methods and tools.

After that, we visited a boat and woodcraft workshop, a pagoda, a jewelry workshop, and the long-neck women, which turned out to be more of a sales event, culminating in the visit to the long-neck women specially transported to Inle Lake by the government for tourists. We didn't appreciate this spectacle at all, as it has nothing to do with the tradition of the region and is only for the amusement of tourists.

Unfortunately, the lake is quite polluted in some areas due to the many boats with self-made engines, gasoline and oil, as well as plastic. It is no longer possible to consider using the lake water as drinking water, as it was in the past. Although the lake is already a nature reserve, it is hoped that improvements will be made in the coming years to ensure the preservation of this unique region for many decades to come.