Buying powder Inle Lake

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Buying powder Inle Lake

Our amazing Burmese adventure was nearing its end. Inle Lake is an incredible place; an expansive water body high above sea level, where pagoda spires gleam in the sunlight, Burmese fishermen row boats with one leg, local people grow fruits and vegetables in floating gardens and migratory birds amass in their thousands in the winter months. The train journey from Kalaw to Shwenyaung nearest railhead to Inle Lake was spectacularly scenic and picturesque. A pleasant cooling breeze billowed through the open train windows as the colorful undulating farmland rolled by. Towering limestone rock outcrops would rear up alongside the tracks….. From here it was only a matter of hitching a ride for the remaining 12 km between here and Nyaungshwe, the base town for exploring Inle Lake. It was growing late in the evening and a moto driver in Shwenyaung offered to take us for a reasonable price, so we agreed. We were however, not foolish enough to continue all the way to Nyaungshwe on the motorcycle taxi. Most tourists get caught out on the main road into Inle Lake with the entrance fee trap. We dismounted the motorcycle some distance before the main tollbooth, paid the driver and soon flagged down a car with two young Burmese guys sitting in the front seats. While laying low in the back seat, the car sailed past the tourist tollbooth and so we managed to avoid the entrance fee scam. Our mission had been a success; we had managed to reach Inle lake without getting scammed. The popular hill station of Kalaw lies about 71km to the west by road. When travelling to Inle Lake, you will probably want to head for the town of Nyaung Shwe lying just to the north of the actual lake itself, where the overwhelming majority of guesthouses, hotels, restaurants, shops and other facilities are found. We travelled to Nyaung Shwe by train from Kalaw, which is a hill town found 70 km northwest of the lake. In fact, we first took the train to Shwe Nyaung, which is the nearest railhead for Inle Lake and from Shwe Nyaung, we were able to hire a motorcycle taxi to take us the remaining 13 km to Nyaung Shwe. It's also possible to reach Shwe Nyaung by train from Yangon or Thazi. Train journeys in Burma are a worthwhile experience in themselves and parts of this journey are very picturesque, but if you can't tolerate the slowness of the train the journey by train from Yangon could take 30 hours vs only 12 hours by bus , Nyaung Shwe can be reached directly by bus from Yangon, Mandalay, Kalaw and even from Hsipaw. The nearest airport is in Heho, about 32 km northwest of the lake, but from there you'll have to take an expensive 1-hour taxi ride to Nyaung Shwe. It's possible to split the costs if you can find other travellers to share with. The cheapest option: The train, especially if you're willing to buy an ordinary class ticket wooden seats. You can then hitchhike, catch a songthaew or hire a motorcycle taxi from Shwe Nyaung to Nyaung Shwe. If you need more detailed transport information on getting to Inle Lake, check out this guide by Wikitravel. Enter your origin, destination and date of travel into the form below to find out what your options are:. The peak time to visit Inle lake is from October to February for a couple of reasons. The famous Phaung Daw Oo pagoda festival also occurs around the beginning of September or the start of October, which makes a boat trip on the lake a lot more eventful, exciting and worthwhile. This is also the best time for birdwatching , especially from November onwards, because of the influx of thousands of migrants. The total surface area of the lake is The lake is surprisingly shallow, with depths averaging about 2. The lake reaches maximum depths of about 3. The climate at Inle lake is monsoonal with the wettest period being from May to September, although rainfall is still quite frequent during the dry season on the Shan plateau and more so here than in any other place in Burma. The average annual rainfall is 1,mm. The lake is notable for its high number of endemic species, which is unusual for a lake of its size. For example, the habitat is home to twenty-odd species of snails and nine species of fish that are found nowhere else in the world. Other endemic fish found in the lake like the Lake Inle Danio Devario auropurpureus , the Crossbanded Danio Danio erythromicron and the Inle barb Sawbwa resplendens are of minor commercial importance as aquarium pets. The lake is also a paradise for birdwatchers, especially in wintertime November-March , when it receives a large influx of migrants, mostly coming from China and Mongolia. In total the sanctuary has recorded woodland birds and 90 wetland bird species. The majority people of Inle Lake are known as the Intha and they number about 70,, with their population distributed among the towns and villages around the lake and also on the lake itself in their traditional wood and bamboo stilt houses. Since waterways replace roads on the lake, the people get around in small hand-rowed wooden boats or larger boats powered by inboard diesel engines. It's an unusual but highly practical boat rowing method on the lake where visibility is greatly limited by high reeds and water vegetation. The fishermen also carry large conical nets supported by a bamboo or cane framework for trapping fish and these are understandably much easier to manage when both hands are free. Hence the leg rowing technique serves a dual purpose. To catch fish, the fishermen will first submerge the nets and then hold them down against the lake bed with their feet, thus trapping any fish that are hiding among the weeds below. This is only possible of course because the lake is so shallow. Once the net is in place and the fish are trapped, the fishermen then spear blindly at the fish through an opening at the top of the cone, using a long sharpened stick. This panics the fish and in attempting to escape from the jabs of the spear they get snagged by the gills in the net. The technique is passed down from generation to generation and boys begin learning it from the age of 13 and continue fishing with this method up until a ripe old age. The method takes years of practice to fully master and is very difficult to learn. With necessity being the mother of invention, the people have developed floating gardens on the lake, where they can grow an impressive range of fruits and vegetables, although tomatoes are the predominant crop. The tomatoes here are big and juicy thanks to chemical fertilizers and are used to make a delicious local tomato salad. Squash, cucumbers and pulses are also grown depending on the season but the floating gardens aren't suitable for growing root vegetables. To begin the creation of the floating gardens, clumps of water hyacinth and other lake debris are heaped into long floating rafts and allowed time to knit together. Bamboo poles are driven through the rafts and down into the mud at the bottom of the lake to anchor the whole thing in place. Grass is encouraged to grow on the developing rafts and this is eventually cut, dried and burned to create an ash fertilizer for the garden. More weeds and a thin layer of mud from the lakebed are scooped up and spread onto the rafts to further consolidate them. The rafts eventually reach one metre in thickness with about two thirds of that below the water. With constant access to nutrient-laden water, the end result is a highly fertile floating garden that rises and falls with the changing water level of the lake, making it immune to flooding. The overall layout of the gardens is very practical, with waterways left between the floating rafts to allow the gardens to be easily accessed and tended to from boats. Other than subsisting on lake-grown fruits and vegetables, the local people also cultivate a lot of rice in the paddy fields surrounding the lake. Predictably, fish also features heavily on the menu, with the most commonly eaten fish being the Inle carp Cyprinus intha , known locally as nga hpein. The fish is a dietary staple but has declined in numbers over the past few years, possibly due to pollution. Handicraft is an important mainstay of the local economy and many beautiful woodcarvings, smoking pipes, ornaments, textiles, cheroots leaf-rolled cigars and other handmade items are created in cottage industries to be sold at both local and tourist-oriented markets. Weaving is a major local industry and Shan bags are produced in large quantites for daily use. The lake is also famous for the Inle longyi , a fine garment hand-woven from silk fibres. A very exquisite garment called the kya thingahn is woven from the fibres of the lotus plant and used as a robe for sacred Buddha images. Tourism is playing an ever-increasing role in the local economy with Inle Lake now receiving over , visitors per year. That said, the majority of people in the region still depend on farming and fishing as their mainstay. While tourism has benefited some people with increased wages, it has had some negative consequences for many of the poorer people in the region who still depend on the land to earn a living. Some farmers have lost their plots of land to new roads and hotel developments, receiving only a small amount of financial compensation in return. Many of the Intha fishermen also find tourists a disturbing element on the lake, although some of them now also take advantage of tourists to earn tips. Although all might seem to be well with the lake, at least superficially, there are in fact several serious problems facing the lake and the ecosystem associated with it. The Government have so far failed to address any of these problems and are seemingly only interested in continuing to exploit the lake's revenue potential. One problem the lake is facing is dramatic shrinkage of its net open water area, which decreased by That's almost one-third of the entire lake. The problem is that the gardens eventually solid ground over time and hence they contribute to the shrinkage of the lake. Climate change is another factor that has been blamed for the shrinkage of the lake and falling water levels, with the area receiving poor amounts of rainfall over the last few decades. The lake is also silting up , which is another reason for the shrinkage of the lake. The problem is connected to forest clearance up on the hill slopes in the main watershed area of the lake. Poor village communities have to clear the upland forests for firewood and to grow more crops for their expanding populations. The loosened soil is then eventually washed into the lake by streams and rivers, which makes the lake shallower and causes water loss. Additionally, excessive silt makes the water murkier and warmer, which can wreak havoc with the entire ecosystem. Inle lake has become quite polluted from a variety of different contaminants that are finding their way into the lake. Sewage run-off into the lake from local homes is one such pollutant. Most toilets are open-pits and human waste just gets piped directly in the lake. Toxic waste from a huge open cast lignite coal mine and the nearby Tigyit coal power plant, located within the lake's watershed just 13 miles away, is also finding its way into the lake via the Balu creek tributary, the lake's biggest water source. Farmers are also using tremendous amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on their floating gardens to produce bigger and better tomatoes and other crops. The vegetables have to be big and juicy looking to sell in the markets. However, these chemicals find their way into the lake and increase levels of phosphates and nitrates, leading in turn to the proliferation of algae algal blooms and of invasive plants like water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes. These outbreaks of algae and invasive plants can lead to low dissolved oxygen levels and reduced light availability for native aquatic plants, causing a collapse of the entire food chain, meaning that ultimately the fish that the people depend on may all die. In fact, fish numbers in the lake have declined considerably over the past few decades. These days, fishermen can often spend hours out on the lake without catching a single fish. Regarding the water quality, some studies that have been carried out on the lake have suggested that the lake water is unfit for human consumption due to unacceptably high levels of pollutants. As we touched upon briefly above, alien plant and animal species are another problem facing the lake, with the most problematic alien plant being the water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes , which is actually native to the Amazon Basin. As we mentioned above, the chemical fertilizers ending up in the lake help this plant to proliferate and spread faster. Two alien fish species have also been found in the lake, namely the Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella and the Rohu Labeo rohita , which are now being blamed as a factor in the decline in the numbers of the Inle Carp Cyprinus Intha , one of the main food staples for the local people. The grid-planned town of Nyaung Shwe is located a few kilometres north of the lake and is where most of the accommodation, restaurants and other facilities for travellers are found. A long canal links to the town to the lake. Several of the important monasteries, floating gardens, handicraft workshops and other interesting attractions lie on the lake itself and are only reachable by boat, hence the reason that Inle lake cannot really be fully experienced without taking a boat trip out onto the lake. These are all reachable by road. While there are various places to stay scattered around the lake, we recommend you stay in Nyaung Shwe because of the great range of choices here in accommodation. You'll also have better access here to restaurants, local markets, bicycle rental shops and other facilities. The entire town feels like it was built just to cater to tourists, with fancy hotels, resorts and other accommodation of unusually high standards for the country. Even though there are dozens of options here, tourists are also plentiful so prices can still be quite high, especially given that accommodation is already more expensive in Myanmar than in most other Southeast Asian countries. We rejected several possibilities before finally striking a good bargain in The Green Valley Inn. If you're planning to visit Nyaungshwe during the high season, you should definitely book in advance online as rooms can sell out fast and prices can get sky high. The restaurants are often a blend of Chinese, Japanese, Western and Burmese Cuisine with some Indian restaurants floating around too. Finding cheap, authentic local Burmese food is slightly more challenging. In these places you can order a decent meal for 2, kyat or less. Just wander around a bit and observe where the locals are eating. Mingalar Market , towards the north side of the town is a good bet for buying cheap fresh produce like fruits and vegetables. You should also try the delicious traditional Shan style tomato salad, which includes sliced tomatoes, peanuts and shallots tossed with a sesame seed dressing. This silly rule is apparently due to government regulation. Anyhow, you can still rent ordinary bicycles in the town, which will still allow you to visit most of the outlying attractions, albeit more slowly. The de rigueur thing to do at Inle Lake is to hire a boatman for a day or two to take you around to see the main points of interest in the lake. Nyaungshwe itself also has several interesting pagodas and monasteries that are well worth checking out. However, if nobody approaches you, you can ask for a boat driver in local restaurants or head down to the main boat station early in the morning and talk to one the drivers directly. Travel agencies, hotels and other middlemen can also arrange a trip for you and this is certainly convenient but they'll tack on their commission, making it more expensive. Rates are also lower if you omit Inthein and other far away sights and just tour the core area of the lake. Sharing a boat between five people will be the cheapest way to do the trip but it can sometimes be difficult to get in with a group if you're travelling alone or as a couple. The boat journey begins in the heart of Nyaung Shwe on the main canal that links the town to the lake. The canal is a roughly 5km long linear stretch of water that within the town is criss-crossed by wooden bridges and lined with stilt houses. Closer to the lake, the stilt houses disappear and are replaced by grassy marshland on either side, until finally you reach the open water of the lake proper. The wooden tourist boats are fairly long and drivers will usually take up to 5 passengers. You get a padded wooden seat and life jackets. Drivers usually also carry umbrellas in case it rains or if you want one to create some shade. The boats are fitted with single-cylinder inboard diesel engines and the driver operates them from the stern. They motor along at impressive speeds, the major drawback to this convenience being of the course the noise pollution and disturbance to the tranquility of the lake. Our boat trip consisted of 6 main events: A visit to a random monastery, seeing the Kayan Lahwi women, exploring the stupas of Inthein, visiting a silvermsith workshop, watching the barge procession and finally, a visit to the jumping cat monastery. Every year, an day long event of major importance called the Hpaung Daw U festival takes place on the lake around the beginning of October and lo and behold, we had arrived at Inle lake just in time for Day 1 of this festival entirely by fluke , meaning that our boat trip was going to be spectacularly eventful. After about 20 minutes on the water, we eventually exited the open lake into a backwater system of canals and narrow water channels, eventually arriving at a T-junction to see the procession of boats floating by in the adjoining canal. We had apparently joined the tail end of the procession. The canal was chock-a-block with wooden boats full of Burmese men, women and children, with everybody seemingly headed to a nearby monastery , which no map seems to know the name of. This canal also had great examples of the stilt homes that the local people have built on the lake to allow themselves to live here. The stilts provide enough clearance to deal with rising water levels during the wet season. Navigating our way through the maze of boats, the canal became even more congested with boats as we approached the monastery :. We navigated through the maze of boats and moored the boat at a jetty area on one side of the monastery. The driver left us to explore the monastery for 25 minutes or so and we arranged to meet back at the boat. Inside the monastery there was a lively scene unfolding, with a great number of people eating and socializing on the ground floor in a large hall. Upstairs inside the main prayer hall, monks were seated having tea and dozens of people were knelt on the floor worshipping the main shrine. We were drawn towards the windows, which were decorated with beautiful pink curtains :. Gazing out the window we could see that the gilded barge that carries the Buddha images had been temporarily moored outside the pagoda. Where would the procession go next? As we made our way back down the steps leading up to the monastery, we passed a group of Burmese boys dressed in the traditional orange attire that the Intha fishermen wear. These boys play a central role in the procession, accompanying and towing the gilded barge in long wooden boats, which each has a team of up to one hundred identically dressed men rowing the boat, all using the one-leg technique. A few of these long boats were moored at one of jetties attached to the pagoda, but it wasn't until later on that day that we were able to capture some amazing images of the procession in action, with the gilded barge being pulled along by the one-leg rowers. The longboats are elaborately decorated with parasols, bunting and other decorations but just wait until you see them swiftly gliding through the water when fully manned by men all rowing in unison with one leg! We'll show you that shortly. After the monastery, the boat driver took us to a rather humble looking wooden building suspended over the water on long stilts. Just opposite this building we witnessed a spectacular display of stupas, most of them fitted with golden spires that gleamed in the bright midday sun. This waterfront monastery complex is known as the Aung Mingalar Pagoda and it lies just east of Ywama village. After admiring the stupas for a few minutes, we stepped inside the shaded building, away from the scorching heat of the sun. We were immediately greeted by two of the long-necked Kayan Lahwi women, who were pleased to pose for several photographs for us. The implicit deal here is that the women pose for the camera and you maybe buy a few souvenirs from the adjacent shop in return. These women belong to a small group known as the Kayan Lahwi and refer to themselves in their own language as Kakaung, which means 'people who live on the hilltops'. The Shan people refer to them as the Padaung , although this term may have slightly derogatory connotations. The Kayan Lahwi are a subgroup of the Kayan , which has five or six other subgroups in Burma. But wait, it gets more complicated; the Kayan are themselves a subgroup of the Red Karen or Karenni people. The Kayan people are not actually native to the Inle lake region. Their original homelands are the mountainous areas of Kayah state of east-central Burma, where Burma meets Mae Hong Son Province of northwestern Thailand and the southern reaches of Shan state. They're said to number about 20, in Kayah state and 40, in Shan state. A small number are also now living Thailand, having fled there as refugees in the late s and early s to escape the fighting between the Red Karen and the Burmese military. Some Kayan Lahwi women have set up workshops here on Inle lake because of its economic potential for them, attracting in tourists with the bizarre looking neck coils. However, the tradition of wearing the neck coils is actually fading in Myanmar, partly due to discouragement from the Burmese Government. Reportedly only three remote villages still practice the tradition. Girls traditionally first start wearing the coils at the tender age of 5, adding one extra coil each year until marriage. Replacing the coils is supposedly a lengthy and difficult procedure. They also sometimes have to be removed for medical examinations. Women who renounce the coils altogether have weakened neck muscles and report some physical discomfort for a few days afterwards. The neck area can also remain discoloured for a long time. But the burning question you may be wondering is why? What is the purpose of this bizarre tradition? One explanation is that the coils were used to make the women less attractive to neighbouring tribes, protecting the women from being kidnapped and becoming slaves. Another popular theory claims that the coils protect the women from tiger bites, which usually occur in the neck region or another suggestion is that the coils make the women resemble a dragon, which is an important element in Kayan folklore. The original reasons for the tradition have perhaps been forgotten. The Kayan Lahwi are also known for their weaving of colourful fabrics, performed on a backstrap loom, which is one of the most primitive types of weaving devices. In this manner, she can keep tension on the warp threads and keep her hands free to weave with the weft threads. After thanking the women for the opportunity to photograph them, we headed out the back door of this building and discovered a cover walkway leading off to the left, lined with endless souvenir stalls. This was apparently some kind of big tourist market. Our boat driver however would not make any commission that day, as we had no intentions of purchasing any souvenirs. Our backpacks were already full to the brim with travel necessities. We decided to investigate the market anyway just out of curiosity and see what was on display. There were semi-precious stones, mirrors, ornately carved pipes, buffalo horn cutlery, weighing scales, clothing, shoulder bags, woodcarvings of all sorts, boxes, ornaments, bracelets, silver jewellery… you name it, they had it. The most intriguing find though were the tribal headdresses, which were decorated with hundreds of what looked to be human teeth. Back in the workshop there were several more tribal headdresses on display, many of them again sporting human teeth but also animal skulls, buffalo horns, porcupine quills, clam shells, pig tusks and other curiosities. After this visit had run its course, it was onwards in the boat to the village of Inthein , which turned out to be the highlight of the entire trip. The boat journey from the monastery to Inthein took about minutes, winding for the most part along a scenic narrow canal lined with trees and other vegetation. We moored the boat at the jetty in Inthein and arranged to meet our driver again in 2 hours or so. It is however one of the five villages that host the five-day rotating market and apparantly Inthein is one of its most lively stops. There are two main groups of weather-beaten stupas found just to the south and southwest of Inthein village, with a third smaller group found just metres or so west of the main boat jetty area. The largest and most impressive group, known as Shwe Inn Thein Paya , is perched on a small hilltop southwest of the village and is reached by a long covered walkway lined with endless souvenir stalls. It features 1, stupas, of which some are modern, some have been partially or fully restored and others are still as time left them. The stupas are mostly dated to the 17th and 18th centuries, with the earliest stupa carrying an inscription dating it to the 14th century. There are few historical records available regarding who built the stupas but it's most likely they were commissioned during the reign of King Narapathisithu and later renewed by King Anawrahta, who were both kings of the Bagan empire. However, legend holds that the stupas were built by the great Indian emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC, to commemorate his visit to the lake, although there's no evidence supporting this theory. We first stumbled across the smaller group of stupas near the jetty and were rather impressed. The brick stupas were originally covered in stucco plaster but much it has worn off over time exposing the brickwork underneath. The metal crowns or hti are very long and terminate in a needlelike point. Some of them lean at extreme angles and many are missing from the stupas altogether. The Nyaung Ohak site, which translates to 'group of banyan trees', is found just south of the village on a small hill. You have to cross a bridge over a small river to reach it. As with the previous group, the process of reclamation by nature is well underway here but you can still find some ornate stucco carvings of animals, devas celestial beings and chinthes , which are the lion-like creatures that are found in pairs, guarding the entrances to pagodas all throughout Myanmar. Unfortunately, it was difficult to photograph and explore this group of ruins in peace because a group of tribal women had latched onto us and were pestering us incessantly to buy their woven blankets, which we had little use for in the scorching hot weather. In addition to the dilapidated stupas, we found a very impressive looking temple building with three archways on its front face. Two ornately carved devas guarded the central archway and inside we discovered a unique looking Buddha statue at the end of a narrow passageway, seated within a small chamber in the subduing mara mudra earth-touching gesture. Taking a closer look at the Buddha image within, we could see that it was buried in soil and rubble almost up to shoulder level. There was an opening above the image, which light was pouring in through. Had the original roof covering the Buddha image collapsed in on itself? Crouching inside the narrow passageway, we were able to take a closer look at the fascinating Buddha image within. We could see that it was buried in soil and rubble almost up to shoulder level and there was an opening above the image, from which light and weeds were infiltrating the chamber. After we had had our fill of this site, it was time to explore Shwe Inn Thein Paya - the main site on the hilltop southwest of the village with stupas. We approached the site from a side road, allowing us to avoid the long covered walkway selling souvenirs to tourists i. The main site is definitely the most impressive of the lot and presents some incredible photo opportunities. There are stupas on both sides of the covered walkway but we mainly explored the larger area on the south side. The older brick and stucco stupas are found lower down and as you progress further up the hill you eventually find yourself among modern stupas and a beautiful temple compound. We encountered an interesting elderly woman among the stupas. She was sat down with her bundle of firewood smoking a cigar:. We spent the next thirty minutes or so just wandering around the old weather-beaten stupas in fascination and taking lots of photographs. We found several more ornate carvings throughout our wanderings. Sometimes all you'll find is cobwebs but surprises always await the curious traveller. At the top of hill beyond all the crumbling stupas, there's a collection of modern stupas, painted mainly in white and orange colours. They aren't as impressive as the older ones surely, but are visually pleasing nonetheless:. The visual delights only continue in the modern temple, which is found just adjacent to the cluster of orange and white modern stupas and right at the end of the long covered walkway:. This is an incredible place. At the centre of all this is the shrine of the Inn Thein Buddha image, which some would claim was built by King Ashoka over 2, years ago. The Buddha image within the shrine sits in the meditation mudra or gesture but we didn't enter inside to see it, having already seen enough Buddha images that day. We eventually grew tired of all the glitter and glamour and decided to make our way back to the boat via the long covered walkway, curious to see what they were selling. We passed by dozens of stalls selling shoulder bags, longyis, shirts jewellery, pipes, ornaments etc. What really caught our eye were the wood carvings of the long-necked Kayan Lahwi women , which were perhaps a little exaggerated, but beautifully made nonetheless. Upon returning to the jetty area, we eventually found our driver inside a nearby restaurant and we hopped in the boat and sped back to the main part of the lake along the same winding canal that brought us here. Our next port of call would be a silversmith workshop , located quite near to the Kayan Lahwi workshop that we visited earlier that day. There are several silversmith workshops dotted around Inle Lake but the one we visited is called the Mya Hin Tha workshop. The wooden structure housing the workshop is raised high above the water on stilts. Inside the workshop, they had an interesting hand-operated bellows for blowing air into the forge and a man was at work creating little silver ingots. The girl also showed us the special silver fish ornaments that the workshop is famous for producing. These ornaments are handmade from overlapping pieces of silver, such that the male ornament can only bend from side-to-side and the female ornament can only bend in the vertical plane, as if jumping. You can see the silver fish ornaments in our video at the end of the article. The family here has supposedly been working with silver for over three generations and the work is of excellent quality. After eating a nice meal, we hopped back in the boat and the driver took us north along a different canal. After travelling along the canal for a few minutes, we pulled up against the reeds lining the canal and patiently waited. The plan was to intercept the procession, which was very shortly going to come down this canal and pass right by us. Other boats filled with tourists were waiting here too. Dozens of long boats charged along the canal at impressive speeds, each powered by as many as one hundred Burmese men, all rowing in unison with one leg. The boats were painted with varying colours and decorations and there were also several different outfits worn by the rowers, with one particular outfit for each boat. After many of the leading boats had passed, we saw that the gilded barge was approaching, towed by the leg power of the hundreds of men before it. There was another smaller barge out in front of this main barge, coupled to it by ropes and also fashioned in the form of a hintha bird. The two golden barges were gleaming brilliantly in the afternoon sunlight and a beautifully dressed monk stood at the front of the main barge, accompanied by several other finely dressed men. It was an amazing sight to behold. Scores of tightly packed, small wooden rowing boats tailed behind the golden barge, each boat occupied by as many Burmese people as they could hold. The tail of wooden boats extended for several hundred metres or so until eventually the procession had passed and the canal was clear once again. We started up the engine once more and continued heading North along the canal, making for our last and final destination - Nga Hpe Kyaung , also known as the jumping cat monastery. However, the monk who trained the cats eventually passed away and with his death, the practice also ceased. Nowadays, the new generation of cats lazily sleep or lounge about on a rug all day long in the dimly lit meditation hall of the monastery. The main reason to visit nowadays is to see the amazing and diverse collection of beautiful Buddha statues in the Shan, Tibetan, Bagan and Inwa styles. The main meditation halls features over 20 different Buddha images encased within shrines or seated atop ornate wooden and mosaic pedestals. Many of the original Shan Buddha images that were kept inside the cases here inside the meditation hall have actually been sold or stolen. A lot of the images you see nowadays are therefore modern replacements for these originals. When we left the jumping cat monastery in the boat, we were pretty satisfied with the way our day had gone and we instructed our boat driver to bring us back to Nyaungshwe. During the journey back, the clouds had become dark in colour and suddenly we found ourselves getting pelted with the most torrential rain imaginable as we sped across the open lake towards Nyaungshwe. Luckily the driver had brought several umbrellas and we were able to protect ourselves from the worst of the rain by holding the umbrella in front of us like a shield. The rain was literally coming in horizontally from directly in front, so it made way more sense to hold the umbrella sideways. We eventually got back to Nyaungshwe pretty drenched and freezing cold so we walked back to our guesthouse from the boat landing area and had a hot shower to warm up. The driver later visited our guesthouse and we paid him and thanked him for the wonderful day. The cream-coloured powder comes in a small tub and is made from the ground bark of several native trees. All you have to do is wet a sprinkle of it to make a paste and apply it to your skin. These are a bit like the Vietnamese leaf hats and excellent for keeping the sun off your face and neck. Consider buying one for the boat trip. Bring some snacks also because the restaurants on the lake can be pretty expensive. Mists often hang over the lake in the early morning, indicating how cool the air gets. This is an interesting cave with many deep passageways and numerous Buddha images. A monk also lives here inside the cave and other monks come here to pray and meditate. Getting there: To get to the cave from Nyaung Shwe, first get onto Yone Gyi street and head east out of the town along this road. This smaller road brings you up over a hill and everything soon becomes quite picturesque. From the crest of the hill just continue straight down to the bottom of the hill and follow the road over a small bridge. Continue following the road as it curves left, ignoring the smaller road heading off to the entrance to a monastery with two chinthe lion-like statues. Near the back of this main entrance chamber there are some steps leading down to the right into pitch darkness. If you bring a headlamp like we did, you can explore this pathway, which leads you into a long network of narrow tunnels, which surprisingly enough are lined with small Buddha images perched on little shelves. Hiding in the darkness, we discovered lots of unique looking images like this one:. To our amazement, some awareness-lacking tourists came in, took a few selfies and then left, completely missing the most interesting part of the cave. It was really dark inside this second chamber so we had to use our camera flash:. On the left hand side, you emerge from the darkness of the cave into the outside world again. While out here we were fortunate enough to meet the monk who lives here inside the cave temple. He had been ignoring all of the other tourists but had taken a shine to us for some reason. The monk wanted to show us his private room where he sleeps and while inside he gave us the opportunity to take a photograph of him. It was very dark in here so we again were forced to use the camera flash:. And that's basically Htat Eian cave temple folks. It's definitely worth a visit to mix things up and a good place to escape from the midday heat. The red mountain estate is located on a small hill just off the main road, about 4. Getting there: To get to the estate from Nyaungshwe, head to the southeastern corner of the town and get onto the main road that runs south for several kilometres alongside the lake. About 2km out the main road, you have to take a left turn and go up the hill until you reach the winery. The estate is owned by French vintner and wine-maker Francois Reynal and the , plants growing in the vineyards are mostly imported from France and Spain. Some local Pa-O women are employed in the harvesting of the grapes from the vineyards. The winery was set up in , making it a bit younger than Aythaya, which was established in and claims to be the first vineyard estate in Myanmar. The first year of wine production was when 1, bottles of red and white wine were produced. Today the annual output is about , bottles. There are many varieties of wine on offer at the estate. There are also rose wines, fortified wines like white muscat and red tawny and several experimental wines. The winery where the wine is produced uses the latest modern technology in the wine production process. It may be possible for you to take a tour of the winery when you visit. A restaurant opened here in and most tourists will sit here to chug down a few bottles of wine or have a meal. The food and the wines were a little pricey though. It was quite busy with tourists when we visited. Here they serve smaller quantities of wine but you still have to pay. Many people arrive for sunset when the atmosphere is at its most magical. We arrived and departed just before sunset but the views from the restaurant were still superb:. The most famous forest monastery at Inle Lake is the one on a hilltop near the village of Maing Thauk. This village is found further south along the same road that leads to the red mountain estate. Since sunset was approaching fast, we instead visited a different forest monastery only a short distance south of the red mountain estate. We made a turn off the main road and eventually managed to navigate our way to the monastery through a maze of confusing lanes and backroads. The monastery was a very old and ramshackle wooden building built on stilts, located in a secluded forest clearing. Two older monks appeared at one window and a young boy was looking down at us from another. This place was pretty interesting for a quick stop but definitely not a must-see by any means. We recommend that you check out the forest monastery near Maing Thauk and then if you're still hungry for more you can check out one or two of the more secluded ones. Returning back to Nyaungshwe on our bicycles that evening, an amazing rainbow appeared over the mountains off to the east. We rarely see perfect rainbows like this in Southeast Asia so we got pretty excited about it:. And then there was a magnificent sunset unfolding off to the west beyond the cornfields. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day cycling around Inle lake. There are several interesting pagodas around Nyaungshwe town itself. Perhaps the most notable pagoda is Shwe Yan Pyay one found about 2km north of the town near the first junction. It's a red-painted teak monastery that was built in the 19th century and is a favourite subject of photographers due to its attractive oval-shaped windows and of course, the resident monks. Yadana Man Aung Paya, found just a few hundred metres south of Mingalar Market, is the oldest and most important pagoda in Nyaungshwe. It has an interesting stepped octagonal stupa, a design that's unique in Myanmar and the surrounding pavilion houses a collection of treasures including lacquerware, dance costumes and carvings. Cycling east out of the town on our way to Htat Eian cave temple we passed by the spectacular golden stupas of the Nigyon Taungyon monastery , a fabulous sight to behold. Even though this article provides a lot of information, it still only scratches the surface of Inle lake. Everyone has such different experiences when they visit the lake, especially when it comes to the boat trips, because there are so many different monasteries, workshops, markets and villages on the lake that one could potentially visit. There is a hot springs at a resort found on the Inle Lake west corridor road near Khaung Daing village to the northwest of Inle Lake. Probably best to steer clear of this one. Trekking in the surrounding hills is another possibility although for this you might want to hire a local guide as it's supposedly illegal to go without one and there's a good possibility of getting lost. It's also possible to trek from Inle lake to Kalaw, although most people do it from Kalaw to Inle. Your best bet for organizing a trek is to get in touch with one of the numerous little travel agencies in Nyaung Shwe and get them to hook you up with a guide for a day-long or multi-day trek. The lake also has an interesting local market that rotates daily between several different sites, so that a full cycle is completed every five days. Many varieties of vegetables are sold at the market in addition to all kinds of handicraft and objects of souvenir potential. There are about 14 different villages the market could potentially appear at on any given day, such as Nyaung Shwe, Heho, Taunggyi, Maing Thauk, Shwe Nyaung and Nam Pan villages just to name a few. The local people know the schedule better than anybody so ask around to find out where the market is going to be on any given day. Inspired to visit Inle Lake yet? Or perhaps you've already been? If you've been to Inle Lake we'd love to hear about your experience there. Leave us a comment below. Stay in touch! Just enter your details below and hit the green button to join. Our names are Eoghan and Jili and we hail from Ireland and India respectively. We are two ardent shoestring budget adventure travellers and have been travelling throughout Asia continuously for the past few years. Having accrued such a wealth of stories and knowledge from our extraordinary and transformative journey, our mission is now to share everything we've experienced and all of the lessons we've learned with our readers. If you would like to learn more about our story, philosophy and mission, please visit our about page. Read This Guide First. Getting there. By train: We travelled to Nyaung Shwe by train from Kalaw, which is a hill town found 70 km northwest of the lake. By bus: Train journeys in Burma are a worthwhile experience in themselves and parts of this journey are very picturesque, but if you can't tolerate the slowness of the train the journey by train from Yangon could take 30 hours vs only 12 hours by bus , Nyaung Shwe can be reached directly by bus from Yangon, Mandalay, Kalaw and even from Hsipaw. By air: The nearest airport is in Heho, about 32 km northwest of the lake, but from there you'll have to take an expensive 1-hour taxi ride to Nyaung Shwe. Powered by 12Go Asia system. When to visit. Some background info about Inle lake. Wildlife and environment. Inle Barb Sawbwa resplendens. Seagulls at Inle Lake. The globally endangered Sarus Crane Grus antigone. The floating gardens of Inle Lake. The long bamboo poles anchor the floating rafts. Floating gardens and stilt huts. Environmental problems facing the lake. Lake shrinkage One problem the lake is facing is dramatic shrinkage of its net open water area, which decreased by Pollution Inle lake has become quite polluted from a variety of different contaminants that are finding their way into the lake. Invasive species As we touched upon briefly above, alien plant and animal species are another problem facing the lake, with the most problematic alien plant being the water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes , which is actually native to the Amazon Basin. Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes. Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella. The layout. Where to stay. Where to eat. Getting around. What to do at Inle Lake. Enjoy a boat trip on Inle Lake. Out on the open lake at last. Our boat driver motoring us along the canal linking Nyaung Shwe to Inle lake. What a guy. Part 1 - Visiting a random monastery. The beautiful jetty where we moored the boat. Monks having tea. Main prayer hall upstairs in the monastery. Burmese boys from one of the boat teams. Part 2 - Seeing the Kayan Lahwi women. Two of the long-necked Kayan Lahwi women. Part 3 - Visiting Inthein. One area within the Nyaung Ohak site. The path leading to the right goes back to the village. Two beheaded chinthe statues guard the entrance to this crumbling temple. It's very sad that these women have to constantly pester tourists just to feed their families. The juxtaposition of old and new. At this point you find yourself leaving the old stupas behind and transitioning to the modern stupas ahead. View from the top of hill looking down upon the old stupas. Beautiful wood carvings of the long-necked Kayan Lahwi women. Part 4: The silversmith workshop. Part 5: Watching the procession. Part 6 - Paying a visit to Nga Hpe Kyaung jumping cat monastery. Out the back of the jumping cat monastery. Some tips for the Inle Lake boat trip:. Explore Htat Eian cave temple. The entrance chamber of Htat Eian cave temple. The pots on the left contain drinking water. The road to the cave. The entrance to the Htat Eian cave temple. The entrance to the second chamber of Htat Eian cave temple. Golden buddha images on the left and white Buddha images on the right. A guide to the wines in the wine-tasting veranda. Wonderful views looking southwest towards Inle lake from the Red Mountain Estate restaurant. Visit one of the forest monasteries. Forest monastery at Inle Lake. Name unknown. Explore the local monasteries in Nyaungshwe. Shwe Yan Pyay monastery. Yadana Man Aung pagoda. The magnifcent Nigyon Taungyon monastery in Nyaungshwe. Other things to do at Inle Lake. Watch video:. Recommended Guidebook: Lonely Planet Myanmar. Liked this article? Get FREE exclusive travel tips delivered straight to your inbox! Never stop travelling! Travel Guides. Travel Tips.

Your Complete Inle Lake Travel Guide: Boat Rides & Wineries on a Budget

Buying powder Inle Lake

Inle Lake was my last stop in Myanmar before returning to Yangon and then heading back to Bangkok. Hence my expectations were a little ambivalent — for no reason as I would find out later. I arrived via yet another night bus from Mandalay. And for some reason the night buses in Myanmar always arrive at the most ridiculous times. Since I had only two full days, My plan was to get a few hours of sleep and then go explore the lake and its surroundings. Due to its abundance of fish and the fertile lands around, it has been feeding the people of Inle Lake, the so called Intha, for hundreds of years already. Most of these people still live a simple and traditional way of life with trade and craftsmanship playing an important role in their lives. And that is exactly what most tourists, apart from the beautiful scenery itself, come to Inle Lake for. Same went for me and on my first day I rented a bicycle to visit one of the frequent markets around the lake. Actually it is considered to be one market which rotates through five different sites around the lake area, thus each of them hosting an itinerant market every fifth day. Since I had slept a little too long, most of the vendors were already starting to pack up. It was still interesting to get an impression of the people and the goods they were offering. The market serves the most common needs of the people, ranging from all sorts of local produce to tools, textiles and tobacco. What I instantly noticed was, that most women were still dressed in their traditional garments which were very bright and colorful. I wandered around, soaking in the sun and atmosphere and snapped a picture here and there. After a while people started to load their goods on small boats, some with small motors, others just being paddled. The locals of Inle Lake are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. Most of the vendors were gone, the bustle of the daily market was over and I wanted to take a rest before heading back to town. I found a small tea shop by the road and ordered some tea accompanied by a bag of nuts and cookies. As usual the locals were very friendly and with the help of my basic Burmese skills, I was able to strike up a small but entertaining conversation. The rest of the day I spent arranging a boat trip to a bigger market and some of the many work shops around the lake. The trip would take a whole day and since I knew I wanted to take my time to take a lot of pictures, I decided to go alone and not with a group. Well worth the price of around 15 dollars. An explosion of colors at Nampan Market Early the next morning I met my private boat captain in town. Good thing I had arranged all the places I wanted to see the day before at one of the small travel agencies. We took off just after dawn. It was cold and it would take about an hour to make it to Nampan Market, the biggest market around Inle Lake. On the way, we spotted some traditional fishermen in the middle of the lake and my boat driver seemed to read my mind. He circled the fishermen slowly so I could get some good shots of them going about their business. Standing up, holding the oar with one foot and standing on the other, the men were silently pulling in their nets with hopes for a nice catch. We finally arrived at the market located at the banks of the lake. And it was big, hectic and full of boats with locals either arriving or already returning to their homes. Nampan Market was way bigger than the market the day before. I got off the boat and started to roam around. The sheer size of the market and the variety of goods on offer was amazing. It seemed like almost everyone from the villages around had come here to shop. Fresh fish was being sold and traditional snacks and food was offered at every other stall. The air was full of strange scents and smells, it was loud and busy. And again, most women, old and young, were wearing their colorful dresses. All combined it, was an overload for my senses and I sometimes caught myself just standing in the middle of it all, looking around in amazement. I started taking pictures of people and bought some small things here and there. I found out, if you buy something small, for example a bag of peanuts or some fruit, the vendors are way more open for getting their photograph taken. Just makes it a bit more personal. I probably spent two hours just walking back and forth observing and looking for interesting scenes — a photographers paradise. It was great to have the flexibility this individual trip allowed as I doubt a group would have had the patience to wait for me. Weaving the most expensive fabric of the world After a traditional meal on the market, I returned to the boat and my driver. Next stop would be a traditional weaving mill where the most expensive fabric of the world is being produced. It is made of lotus plant fibers and is mostly being used for robes for Buddha statues. But some is also used for normal clothes being exported to the Western World. Inle Lake is the only place in the world where this trade is being practiced. Inside the shop, only women were operating the huge weaving looms. Besides the lotus fabric, they were working on all sorts of silk items, shiny and most colorful. They were working concentrated but were happy to get some distraction joking around with me. I was actually given a tour through the mill which was rather short. So afterwards I just went back by myself and took my time to check everything out. Especially in Burma it was such a door opener to speak those few bits of the local language. The same happened here and the women opened up and had no problem getting their pictures taken. We stopped at several workshops ranging from black smiths, cheeroth cigar rolling, silver smiths and umbrella making. Without going into the details of all of these, it was just amazing to see what these people can do with the simplest tools and methods. They are so gifted and talented and their products so unique. The umbrella maker probably impressed me most. He made every single part of those beautiful pieces himself and he was quick too. He let me try using his traditional machinery to carve the handle of an umbrella. Needless to say that I was not only slow but that my product had to be saved by the laughing professional. I also ended up buying some of the handrolled cheeroth cigars which were really good. Sweet and with a light licorish flavor. Ending the day with chanting monks After visiting another temple and a monastery situated in the middle of the lake, it was time to return to Nyaungshwe. I was a bit tired from walking around so much and wanted to rest a bit. But the day had one more highlight up its sleeve. It was dark already when I went outside in search of some street food. I was roaming the streets when I heard melodic chanting coming out of what seemed like a big monastery. Curious as ever, I walked closer to see where it was exactly coming from. All of a sudden I was approached by an old monk and I already expected to be thrown off the premises. But no, not in Myanmar. The monk gave me a warm welcome and asked where I was from and what I was doing here. His English was alright and we had a brief chat. He explained, that the novice monks were in the midst of their daily chanting session and invited me to come inside. It was a big hall, brightly illuminated with more than 50 novices sitting on the floor. The older ones in the front and the younger one in the back. The chanting was monotonous and melodic at the same time and made up for a meditative atmosphere. I sat down in the back and observed the monks chanting away. When it was over, the old monk approached me again and said, that in half an hour the monks would gather again for their daily reading. Apparently every night, after chanting, the novices read traditional stories and poems. With their little books in front of them, the young novices were reading out loud filling the hall with what seemed like a hundred voices. It was a great end to and eventful day. Last thoughts … I was skeptical at first since I heard Inle Lake would be probably the most touristy place of all of Myanmar. In peak season it is probably crowded but even then, the area offers so many interesting things to do and see. Especially for a photographer the are is a little heaven. In the end I could have at least spent one more day to explore the far South of the lake which is supposed to be very interesting and less visited. My favorite photos are the two of the shy girl at the market — the one with her hand over her face and the other smiling. Hey Jeff, once again for stopping by. I also liked the two pics of the Burmese woman. She was with a group and they were kind of reserved. I then sat down, bought some nuts and started to introduce myself in broken Burmese. That instantly changed their mood and they opened up. Thank you for sharing that video of the chanting! It really did have an interesting melody to it, even though it was generally monotone. Yeah, it is monotonous, for sure. I guess it is sort of medidation as well. Even for me, being a sole listener, it was very relaxing after a while. What an interesting and nice blog, you take your readers with you with your writing and the accompanying fotos. Just how big is the lake btw just curious. I had to smile when you said twas a good thing you were alone otherwise the group would not wait for you while you were taking pictures. I can funnily relate to that one! One more question , PipZ : is that the cigar you had on your profile pic? Thanks Dines, that is a great compliment. I always try to weave the pictures into the story I wanna tell. Not always easy. The lake is pretty big, you can look it up on google maps. It is rather long in shape than wide. The cigar that I am smoking on in my profile pic was not bought there but in a small village around Bagan, also Myanmar …. Cheers Dines. Interesting, hmm… kept looking and observing the inle lake boat.. I think they are very hard working.. Hi Berns, the boat is indeed very small and the boat drivers are very skillful maneuvering it. The women on the market are rather shy. And the traditional makeup is actually made from a special type of wood bark. But I guess you already found that out by now …. And you know, the fact that their society is not spoilt by these flashy things and the materialism makes it so nice and unique. So much better and more interesting. I like a lot of them, good memories. Authenticity is what makes them beautiful. Hi, I'm Phil from Germany, a traveler and adventurer suffering from a severe case of wanderlust. With a passion for Asia, I am exploring this beautiful world bit by bit, thoroughly and slowly. I love photo- graphy, surfing, diving and trekking. Come and join me. More here. Roundup Philippines: A country that has it all. Getting lost. Why it isn't all that bad. Thoughts about traveling solo. Motorbike Travel. Why you should try it. Three months traveling the Philippines — Budget, Costs and Tips. Selling peanuts. Packing up. And going home …. Pulling the net in. Two fishermen. The Inle Lake style of rowing. A young Burmese vendor. Selling fruits. Brumese business woman. First shy and finally a friendly look after we talked a little bit. Skills and experience. A look over the shoulder. Delicate works. Traditional tools. An impish smile for the photographer. Black Smiths at work. Taking a close look. Handmade umbrellas. An umbrella in the making. Chanting in the monastery. Almost done…. Jeff Planet Bell Great photo essay. I love all the color — you really too the reader along with you. January 14 Phil D. January 23 Nerija S. October 31 November 2 April 30 Just one question, hmm which pic is your fav? May 1 Philipp Dukatz Hi Berns, the boat is indeed very small and the boat drivers are very skillful maneuvering it. May 4 Thanks for this, Berns. About me Hi, I'm Phil from Germany, a traveler and adventurer suffering from a severe case of wanderlust. Search for:.

Buying powder Inle Lake