Myanmar 2013 : Boat tour at Lake Inle

Itinerary summary :

Day 1

Arrival at Yangon - Botataung - Shwe Dagon Temple

Day 2

Departure for Bagan - Explore nearby temples - Lacquerware Workshop tour - Sunset at Loka Nanda - Dinner at Si Thu Restaurant

Day 3

Horsecart tour around Bagan temples - Soe Min Gyi - Myin Kaba Village - Ananda Temple - Star Beam Bistro - That Bin Nyu Temple - Htilominlo Temple - Shwe Zigon Paya - Kyan Sit Thar Umin (Temple Cave) - Sulamani Temple - Dhamma Yangyi Temple - LakaouShaung

Day 4

Departure for Heho - Visit local villages

Day 5

Boat tour at Lake Inle

Day 6

Departure back to Yangon

Now, the best way to go around Lake Inle is to go on a boat ride. It costs about USD20 and typically, a boat can fit about 4 -5 people.

Our hotel provides breakfast so before we head off to the lake with our boatman, who came down personally to walk us to the pier, we had a simple breakfast. I saw the ladies in the hotel preparing the food so I went to the kitchen to take some pictures.

The lady on the left was cooking some fish dish while the lady on the right was preparing toast for us. The portion was very generous. I think we have 2 - 4 slices of toasts per person, on top of an omelette, a cup of fresh juice, a plate of fruits and a cup of coffee or tea.

While waiting for our breakfast to be served, a little dragonfly stopped by to say hello. I noticed a lot more insects in Myanmar, probably because it is still very under developed.

This is the pier, where tens of boats like these were lined close to one another. Most of the boatman live in the villages on the lake itself so they know the routes very well.

There is a lot of flexibility in arranging your trip because the boatman will try to accommodate your needs. It is important to know about the area that you're going to visit to avoid going to too many places where you'll be coaxed to buy goods from them.

Common sight on the lake where you see loads of boats speeding pass you, either coming from the opposite direction or on the same direction.

This is our boatman, who looks mighty here maneuvering the boat.

Here's the village we walked pass yesterday, and the villagers are coming out to the lake on a boat.

Our first stop, is the petrol station. That is how the boats get their fuel on the lake.

And this is the petrol station that we stopped by earlier.

Here, in the middle of the lake, we saw some fishermen out with kelong The guy on the left is not really a fisherman. He was merely performing and trying to get us to buy fishes from him (which are his props) while he perform stunts for us to see.

Here's a picture of us drawing closer to his boat as he tries to sell us his fishes. Once we said we're not interested, he diverted his attention to other tourists.

There are real fishermen on the lake as well but they're trying to earn a living, so we didn't disturb them.

Wonderful view on the lake, with sky so blue reflected on the water and surrounded by floating farms.

Here's a little village boy coming from the opposite direction posing for my camera. By now, it's getting really hot on the lake. It is good to bring along an umbrella (but you need to hold on tight) and wear long sleeves to avoid getting sunburn.

I'm still very captivated by this electricity pole which is made of wood. It feels very vintage.

The local villagers living on stilt houses on the lake. The houses are not built next to each other so to meet your closest neighbour, you'll have to take a boat ride.

Here's a villager rowing his boat out of his parking space at home.

Bits and pieces of the serene environment on how villagers life is like on the lake. They live in tandem with nature.

More village houses. You could see that most of these attap houses are either woven or covered with planks. We spotted some brick houses along the way but they're quite rare.

Here's our first stop on land to a local market. This is how the jetty looks like. Boats are then parked along the jetty next to one another to let tourists visit the market.

We hopped off and walked about a good 25 minutes before we reach the market.

Along the way, we spotted a cute village boy selling lacquerware with his momma in a shop.

At the market, you'll find all sorts of goods from souvenirs to fresh produce.

These are the local snacks which looks very much like peranakan kuih.

The bottom right picture is a photo of a vendor selling petrol in the market. It's amazing how there is no proper location for them to sell and how dangerous it is to be selling petrol in a wet market.

After the market, we continue our boat tour and spotted more woven houses. It's a magnificent handiwork.

The house on the left is the post office. I cannot fathom how villagers live on the lake.

Villagers basically do everything on the lake - washing, bathing, fishing.

Some of the places will have pedestrian crossing donated by the UN to build some sort of connection from one side of the lake to another.

On our way to a silk factory, I saw how they hang out their clothes. It's very similar to how we hang clothes out in Singapore.

At the silk factory, a young girl took us around the factory and explained to us about the various weaving process and material. This is a family business so everyone at home knows the trade. The lady in the picture above is making a yarn of thread from the fibre that they extract out of lotus stem. This is the most expensive material produced by the family.

Some weaving processes taking place during our tour.

The uncle is making a traditional style for gents and there were at least 2 tour groups standing around watching him weave the cloth.

We had lunch on the lake at some posh looking restaurant. We thought we will get ripped off since we don't have much of a choice as the boatman is the one who knows best on where to go. Thankfully, prices were very decent and we had a good lunch before we continue our journey to a cigar factory.

These are the ladies who greeted us at the factory. It's like a demonstration on how the cigars are made. These cigars are quite different from the ones I know - thick and powdery - because they're wrapped in leaves imported from China.

Those are the ready-to-be-packed cigars on a basket full of tobacco. According to the lady, they can produce up to 5000 cigars a day.

Cigar making process before us. Their actions are really quick. The L shape tool at the bottom is to measure the length of the cigar and to cut off the excess.

The family also make boats to sell. It takes about 3 weeks to make a boat and every boat costs USD2000 (without the engine).

After a full day going around from one village to another, we head back out to the town centre. Apart from those described, we also visited the Jumping Cat monastery which was famous for the jumping cats. However, the monk who trained the cats had passed away and since then, the performance has been cancelled.

On our way back, we spotted many seagulls on the lake. Our boatman was kind enough to slow down so that we can embrace and capture the beautiful moment in our camera.

The splendour of the sunset on the lake is breath taking.

We also visited another pagoda along the way but the weather was scorching hot by then so we took some time to rest at a local stall to enjoy coconut drink.

Some fishermen were collecting seaweed to sell in the market even as the day is ending.

Getting from one place to another on the lake is not exactly a short distance. Therefore, we spent a lot of time on the lake. But to be able to witness such a beautiful spectacle of God's creation is really amazing and I'm happy that the chapter of my Myanmar visit ends on such an enchanting note.