Inle Lake: Day 5-8

Day 5

Ok, I land in Inle Lake and realized, I have no cell phone or data, I'm running low on local currency and don't have any US dollars... Once again I found out that no one would exchange Thai baht, and to top it off I couldn't find a bus into town from the airport. When I asked 6 different taxi drivers and was told it would be 40,000 Kyat!!!

 

I didn't have enough money for that so a slight panic set in, luckily I saw another panic stricken foreigner, and we ended up sharing a cab into the city.  He was in the exact same cash situation as me so we seriously needed each other.  One of the great things about traveling solo, is meeting strangers in the similar situations!

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Be aware!  There is an Inle Lake Fee (which they tried to overcharge us but the cost was written in English on the ticket)! When I was there it was 12,500 Kyat, or $10 USD, be sure to double check before going to cover all your costs.

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I finally made it to my hotel, Manaw Thu Kha Hotel. The hotel offers private rooms and dorm rooms.  They have wifi, and free breakfast, so a decent set up.  My room had four beds in a row, a little like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but it worked.   

I found what looked like an empty one and passed out!

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When I woke up I found myself surrounded by two guys, don't worry they were in their own beds, passed out. One was from South Korea and the other Finland.  I got up and wandered into the city in hopes of finding a bank where my debit card (even though it was deactivated) would work at. Unsuprisingly, that didn't happen.

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After my slight defeat, I stumbled upon a tiny, empty restaurant that had probably the BEST fried rice I've ever had.  It was a massive amount of fried rice, chicken and veggies.  If that wasn't enough they also brought me another plate of vegetables, and a bowl of soup.  Definitely check it out, Aurora Restaurant.

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After eating I headed back to the hotel and chatted with the guys in my room.  I told them my money situation and after doing some online research we set up a boat trip around Inle Lake that let me use a credit card to pay for everyone, and they paid me in cash. We used InleLakeTourism.com and the tour only cost $19 USD, which ended up being about 25,936.44 Kyat.

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Day 6

Woke up early and had breakfast with the guys in my room and we prepared for the Inle Lake boat trip.  While at breakfast a girl heard us talking about the trip and ended up joining us on the tour!  Which was great because it was cheaper for everyone and I was still getting paid back in cash.

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The tour consisted of zipping down a canal to the lake in a long tail boat, then going across the lake to a silver smith, seeing a market and temple at the Indein Village, lunch at a restaurant on stilts, Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, silk and lotus weavers, cigar and boat makers, a "long neck women" village, floating gardens, and another market.

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I ended up buying a ring at the silver smith because it was pretty, and they took credit cards.  We wandered through the market at Indein Village and then to Shwe Inn Thein Temple.  The temple is known for having over 2,000 stupas in such a small area.  All of the stupas have chimes that ring in the wind that was lovely and almost magical to hear and be surrounded by.

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Lunch at the restaurant on stilts over the shallow lake was refreshing with a beer and a breeze.  From there we zipped over to Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, a highly revered temple that houses five golden images of the Buddha.

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Near the pagoda sits the Karaweik boat that carries four of the five images in procession across the lake during the Phaung DAw Oo Pagoda festival.  When we were there 3 boys were playing on it and one fell in the water.  The boat was impressive, and the kids adorable.

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The silk and lotus weaving was done at Ko Than Hlaing.  It was actually very interesting to watch them spin the lotus, the flower, into scarfs.  We were all pretty tired at this point and ready to go, but we were stuck waiting on our tour guide/captain to finish a game that slightly resembled air-hockey.  I later looked it up and found out it to be Burmese checkers.

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After we were able to drag him away from his game we headed to the cigar shop.  It was run by a woman who spoke English and was very funny. She gave me a good deal on cigars for my brother in law to celebrate his graduation and new baby. After we had all tried a cigar we were ready to go, but the captain insisted we go talk to and meet a boat builder.  We politely checked it all out for about 2 minutes and then insisted we move on.

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Only two stops to go, holy moly it really was an all day trip! We went to the "village" with long neck women.  AKA a souvenir shop with two girls who were weaving. They did have the neck rings like the Kayan Lahwi tribe.  But it was not what we expected and I felt bad, almost like they were there simply for tourists to take pictures of them, like at a zoo.  Needless to say I did not partake in that.

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Next stop was the floating gardens, which were pretty darn impressive! It took us a minute to realize that there was lettuce, cucumbers, etc, hanging from the vines off of bamboo trellises. It was beautiful and ingenious. 

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There was one more stop to another market, but we were all tired and we had to hurry back for Patrick, the guy from Finland, to catch his bus.  Now on the way back it was suddenly cold and water was spraying us everywhere!  I had brought my umbrella in case, because the weather had been wonky.  I used it off and on and to stay warm, but it broke on the way home which made it even more hilarious to try to use.

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As soon as we docked Patrick literally jumped out of the boat and ran back to the hotel.  We think he caught the bus because we never saw him again. Walking back to the hotel I saw a small store that said "EXCHANGE" on it.  I went in with little hope, but they exchanged baht!!!! I was saved!  And I had my baht with me in case something like this should happen.

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After solving the currency crisis we went out to eat, and then saw a "must do" in Inle Lake.  We saw the infamous Aung Puppet Show.  How to describe it... think of The Sound of Music puppet show scene... but with Burmese music and a 1970's English scratchy record recording explaining the different characters/dances. Definitely one of a kind.

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Day 7

It was my last full day in Inle Lake and Myanmar and I had to make the most of it!  Holly, the lovely English girl who joined us on the boat tour, and I decided to get bicycles from the hotel and explore.

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After checking out the nearby market we started what ended up being a 24 km bike ride.  From there we went to the Khaung Daing Nature Hot Springs.  I'll be honest it isn't exactly what you would think when you of hot springs, three small jacuzzis that are supposed to be good for you with different nutrients and heat levels.  It was an experience to be had and we figured what the hell, why not.  After that we cruised the country side and were headed to a market.  But we stumbled upon a small dock first and decided to jump ahead of schedule and cross the lake with our bikes.

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So let me explain one thing, our hotel provided these bikes, but they were not meant for long distance rides.  Apparently my brake had somehow been locked almost the entire time so I was slow and not steady on this trek, but I persevered. The next stop was the Red Mountain Estate Vineyards & Winery.  We were racing the sun as it was going down, and testing our strength.  We managed to get to the winery driveway... which was all uphill.  When we finally parked our bikes and got to the top we had a flight each of their different wines to celebrate.

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Now if you hadn't been riding a crappy bicycle all day, weren't tired, hot and thirsty, you probably wouldn't love this wine.  It was not the finest, at all.  But it sure was easy to drink, and relaxing after our trek.  We decided to stay and watch the sun begin to set while enjoying a cheese plate and a caramel banana desert with another glass of wine.

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We finally headed back to the hotel and crashed. Actually we did almost crash on our bicycles because a million foreigners came out of no where on bicycles and were totally disrupting traffic on all wheels.  Everyone survived and that was it for the night.

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Day 8

The time had come to leave Myanmar!  And in good form, I woke up late and packed in a frenzy.  After the money fiasco I made sure I was sharing a taxi to the airport.  Once I had my connection in Yangon I was forced to check my bag, which cost me about $40 US dollars.  But I was finally on my way back to Thailand, it felt like I was going home!

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Overall Myanmar was definitely a unique experience.  While the borders have only been open since 2011, not as long as many other Southeast Asian countries, there is still a decent tourism influence.  But besides some higher prices for the foreigners and certain obvious rip offs, the country is still very untouched.  Men wear traditional outfits which include the wrap around skirts; the roads are not all paved; there is a curfew. The one thing I never got used to was the constant smog/fog.

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Currently there are many other political and dangerous situations so be sure to do your research before heading that way. But if it is still considered safe for foreigners, I highly recommend checking it out. Do be aware that because they use the USD everything costs $1 or more, which can add up and is much more expensive than in some countries like Thailand.

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