Trip Report: Inle->Yangon->Mrauk U

Day 8: Nightbus to Yangon

• Spent the day wandering around Nyaungshwe on bikes and lounging around the guesthouse.  
• Took the JJ bus to Yangon, which we had booked while in Bagan.  Costs 18500kyats per person.  Noticed that the price was higher if we had booked from Inle, ?20000kyats.  However, we learned that if you booked from Inle, you got free pick up from your guesthouse.  Since we booked from Bagan, we paid 500kyats each for transfer to the bus, which ended up being cheaper anyhow!  The JJ bus has wider seats which recline quite nicely.  Price includes a dinner of fried rice or fried noodle.  Made 2 stops and can’t remember how long the journey took.  

Day 9: Yangon to Mrauk U

• Arrived in Yangon in the morning.  Bought a bag of sweet buns for 600 kyats and 1L water 300 kyats from a vendor at the bus station.  Took a taxi to the airport for 3000kyats.  Had to bargain hard for this one.  Had previously read that this was the going rate though. 
•  Spent a couple of hours waiting in the airport using their free wifi.  Since we had our packs we didn’t want to do a quick excursion into Yangon.  The free wifi at the airport is pretty good.  Got to plan out the rest of the trip!
• Had lunch past security in the domestic airport.  Fried flat noodles 2500 kyats and 3 egg omelette 2500 kyats.  
• Flew Air KBZ to Sittwe, which we booked while in Bagan.  As we booked the 4 flights that we would be taking all at the same time, I only have the total cost.  But breaking it down it should be around $100USD.  Flying Air KBZ was a good experience.  Flight was on time.  We were well fed too!  Flight was pretty short but we still got served snacks and drinks twice.  The Yangon to Sittwe flight flies in a loop, from Yangon to Thandwe to Sittwe to Yangon.  
• We were originally planning on staying the night in Sittwe as our flight arrived in the afternoon, past the time when the public boats leave the jetty.  A tout at the airport was quoting $160USD for a round trip private boat to MraukU staying 3 nights.  We thought that was too expensive.  While waiting for our luggage we met some expats who had a pre-arranged private boat up to Mrauk U that afternoon.  They let us join them and we ended up paying 35000kyats for the journey up to Mrauk U.
• After a crazy thunderstorm with lightning for hours, we arrived in Mrauk U after dark.  Can’t remember exactly how long the boat ride was, but it was long, maybe 5-6 hours?  We didn’t prebook accommodation in Mrauk U as we couldn’t get through on the phone.  Apparently the telephone lines from Nyaungshwe to Mrauk U don’t connect very well.  Anyhow, took a trishaw from the jetty to Kyasoe guesthouse for 2000kyats.  The room they showed us was gross!  Trishaw driver took us to Royal City Guesthouse, where we got an aircon bungalow for $40USD/40000 kyats per night. 

Nyaungshwe/Inle Lake Trip Report

Day 5-6

• Took the day bus from Bagan to Nyaungshwe.  Bus 11000kyats each, AC, 8hrs including 30 min meal break.  Included pick up from guesthouse in Bagan and drop off to guess house in Nyaungshwe.  The bus stopped EVERYWHERE to pick up locals.  At one point, the entire aisle was full of locals sitting on little plastic chairs.  At the rest stop had lunch of fried noodles and fried vegetables, which cost 3800 kyats.
• Stayed at May Guesthouse in Nyaungshwe.  $30 USD/30000 kyats per night, private bathroom, no AC (not needed), free breakfast.  Place is very organized with photocopies of maps and preprinted biking itineraries.  The manager Min speaks good English and is very knowledgeable.  If he doesn’t have the answer for you, he’ll go and find it.  The Lonely Planet review is mostly accurate.  The place has thin walls and small towels.  BUT they replace your towels daily; the only place that we encountered in Myanmar that did.  No water pressure issues.  Biggest issue was with cigarette smoke.  One night we had a chainsmoking neighbour, who’s cigarette smoke would blow right into our room.  We tried to seal the windows, but it was no use.  Being non-smokers, this was incredibly annoying and I actually woke up with a case of sinusitis after that.  
• Pedal bike rental 1500 kyats/day.  No ebikes.  Biked the loop.  It was hot, but I think it was worthwhile.  Boat ride 7000 kyats across the lake.  One of my favourite Myanmar moments was seeing Inle Lake for the first time.  After cruising through the villages and gardens, hitting the open water was quite spectacular.  It really helped that it was a sunny blue skied day.
• Ate at Linh Htat (near the market) alot!  We actually tried out the neighbouring restaurants, but decided we liked Lin Tat the best.  It’s a family run place, that also seems to double as their living room.  It was fun watching the babies and kids play around.  Curry set menus = 2500 kyats.  They are used to tourists here and are willing to do things like dip your raw veggies in boiling water for you.  
• Other: got a haircut at a beauty ‘saloon’.  (Rarely saw signs for a beauty ‘salon’, only ‘saloon’!)  Girl didn’t speak any English, so I pointed at a picture and she cut away!  2000 kyats, slightly uneven, but well worth it as my hair was getting to be too hot. 

Day 7: Boat tour on Inle Lake

• Despite being a super ‘touristy’ thing to do, I highly recommend the boat tour.  Maybe it was the time of year, but there were barely any other boats at any of the stops.  We paid the extra 2000kyats to go to Indein.  So a full day 0730-1730 tour was 20000kyats for the boat, 5 person max, arranged through the guesthouse.  The guesthouse had a preprinted itinerary that we just followed.  I had no problems with the stops at the shops, as I found them mildly interesting.  That and it was really hot out in the sun, so the stops provided some shade breaks :p  The rotating market was at Than Taung that day, which is a 20min walk inland.  The market was really neat – completely for locals.  We were actually the only foreigners there.  Bought some tasty deep fried ‘perogies’ for 500kyats.  
• My favourite part of the boat tour was going to Indein.  Definitely worth the extra 2000kyats to visit and the 500kyat camera fee.  There are many ruined stupas at the bottom of the hills, with trees/bushes growing out of them.  Very Indiana Jones-like.  We visited at the end of the day, so most of the sellers had already packed up and left.  
• Lunch was at a restaurant that the boat driver brought us to.  Was overlooking the Phaung Daw Oo paya.  Shan noodle soup = 1500 kyats, fish curry 2500 kyats, rice 500 kyats, bottle of pop 500 kyats
• Dinner at Linh Tat again, set menu curry 2500 kyats, shan noodle soup 1000 kyats

Inle Lake Part 2

The touristy thing to do in Inle is go on a boat tour.  Don’t be put off by this.  The boat tour was well worth it.  We actually saw very few tourists, maybe only 4-5 other boats while we were out and about.  The standard boat tour costs 18000kyats and can fit up to 5 people.  For an extra 2000kyats you can go to Indein.  K and I decided to pay the extra $2 and go to Indein, and I’m very glad that we did. 

Every boat tour follows a standard itinerary.  Unless you are very specific on where you want to go and what you want to see, you’ll follow the standard itinerary.  K and I weren’t too picky on where we wanted to go, so decided to just go with the flow.  

Boat parking lot at the market

There is a local market that rotates among the villages on the lake.  On the particular day that we went, the market was at Than Taung, which is not actually on the lake rather a 20 minute walk inland.  Perhaps it was for this reason that we were the only foreigners there.  It was neat observing the market business and the local Pa’O women with their brightly coloured headscarves (or beach towels!).  I wasn’t 100% comfortable taking photos directly of people.  My moral compromise was to be a bit of a creeper and take photos discretely.  Not sure if it’s a better way or not...

I can't resist cooing over babies!

Other stops we made were to ‘workshops’, which are basically tourist traps where locals show you how handicrafts are made and you browse a showroom.  Some of them were interesting, like the silversmith and the lotus silk weaving.  Some of them were pointless, like the blacksmith and the boat making, as there was no one explaining the process or making the sales pitch.  One handicraft workshop that is particularly controversial is the Padaung weaving workshop.  Padaung or Kayan women are an ethnic minority who traditionally wore brass rings around their necks to elongate them.  They are not from the Inle Lake area.  Rather, some have come to the area to be tourist attractions themselves.  I was very uncomfortable watching the women sit on the patio while other tourists would sit next to them and take photos.  It was like getting photos with Santa, except that these women were just being who they are.  The Lonely Planet says that many of the women prefer this kind of life over the village life they had in their poor villages.  I suppose there are worse ways to be making a living.  At any rate, I wasn’t comfortable taking photos of them or posing with them.  

Kids coming home from school.  They have waterways instead of roadways!

Another stop we made was the Phaung Daw Oo Paya, which is the most important religious site in the area.  This stop really showed how tourism has affected how things are.  The entire bottom level of the pagoda was a market selling souvenirs etc...  We ate lunch overlooking the pagoda.  It was a nice break from the constant sun (one of the downsides to taking an open boat!).  

Phaung Daw Oo Paya

The most impressive stop was Indein.  Starting at the bottom of the hill, there are many ruined stupas.  In our travels thus far, all stupas and pagodas that we had seen had varying degrees of restoration.  Here at Indein, the stupas had been left to the elements and were becoming ruins as the jungle moved in.  It felt like we were Indiana Jones exploring these stupas.  One interesting observation was that many of the Buddhas here were headless.  I wonder if there was once conflict and that was the result.  I don’t know for sure though.  Once you make you way up the hill to the main pagoda, there are many signs of restoration.  In fact, once you are at the top of the hill, all the stupas are completely rebuilt and painted.  There is a long covered walkway that leads up to the top of the hill, which is lined with hawkers selling various souvenirs and knick knacks.  Since we showed up at the end of the day most of the sellers were gone.  Nonetheless we never really experienced a hard sell in Myanmar.  All the hawkers and sellers we met were quite polite and understood that no meant no.  

Nyaungshwe/Inle Lake in Photos

View of the canal leading to Inle Lake, from Nyaungshwe

Avocados grow in so many different shapes and sizes!

Women in the Nyaungshwe market selling flowers

A wide variety of dried fish for sale in the market

Our favourite restaurant in Nyaungshwe.  We ate there so many times!!!  Delicious food and friendly service.

Monasteries are everywhere in Myanmar

The curry set menu at Linh Htat.  Eggplant curry in the front, tofu curry in the back.  SO TASTY!!!

Nyaungshwe/Inle Lake Part 1

Inle Lake is one of the top 3 tourist destinations in Myanmar, along with Bagan and Mandalay.  We actually skipped Mandalay due to time constraints, and went directly from Bagan to Inle Lake.  While the general destination is known as Inle Lake, most of the accommodation is actually in the town of Nyaungshwe.  There are places to stay on the lake, but they are fancy resorts well out of our price range.  At any rate, we enjoy being in town and being able to walk to find food etc...  

The bus to Inle stopped EVERYWHERE to pick up locals from small villages along the highway.  In fact, by the time we reached our destination, the aisle of the bus was full of little plastic chairs for people to sit on.  The bus to Inle actually stops along the highway at Shwenyaung.  From there you are loaded onto a motorickshaw and deposited at your guesthouse in Nyaungshwe.  

A grandfather fishing with his kids

On our first day we decided to rent bicycles and bike the ‘loop’ of the lake.  It isn’t a true loop as you bike partway along the lake, then take a boat across and bike back.  The area is ideal for biking because of the flat terrain and lack of traffic.  I like biking as it allows movement at a faster pace than walking, but it’s slow enough to enjoy the scenery.  Our guesthouse had good pre-printed maps and instructions for the bike loop.  We set out early to avoid the hot midday sun.  As it turns out we ended up biking in the midday heat on the return trip anyways.  

 House on stilts.  Checkout the 'garage'!

The most memorable and enjoyable part of the bike trip was seeing the vast lake for the first time.  Inle Lake has a very wide marshy perimeter – very different from the lakes we have at home.  While biking the loop you only catch glimpses of the lake as the road is built a good distance from the lakeshore.  It’s only after you get on a boat and travel through the floating villages and gardens that you hit the vast open lake.  It was stunning that day – blue skies and mirror waters.  

First full day in Nyaungshwe

Woke up bright and early this morning ready to explore. Actually, the roosters start crowing around 0445. For the first time in a couple of days I'm not feeling nauseated!  Success! Must be the cooler weather. With all the hot weather K and I haven't been eating much. We still eat 3 meals a day, but share entrees, which are not large. Not snacking either. It's been really good for our food budget lol.

A Myanmar set menu comes with rice, curry, soup, a variety of side dishes, and salad. The cost is around 2000-3500 kyat.  Other popular foods are noodles in soup, and fried noodles, which cost 500-2000kyat.  Cans/bottles of pop run around 500-800kyat. 

Anyhow... About today's adventure!  We did the cycle 'loop' around Inle lake. It's not a true loop, rather you bike up one side, then take a boat across and bike back. I think we didnt even go 1/4 the length of the lake. We left the guesthouse around 0730. Weather was warm, but pleasant. The road is a little single lane rd that is shared by everyone. It's also not the smoothest, but not bad. It was quite pleasant biking by the fields and villages. By 0830 it was already quite hot. We were more prepared this time and each had 1L of water with us. Biking is a nice way to see a place. Its faster than walking, but slow enough that you don't miss anything. 

By the time we made it to the crossover point it was very hot and sunny. Not as hot as Bagan, but still hot nonetheless. Favourite part of the journey was crossing Inle lake by boat. The lake is a marshy lake with villages on stilts lining the shoreline. It was fascinating seeing the houses, gardens, and 'garages'.  The ride back was during the midday sun and was kind of brutal. But that 1L of water made all the difference!! 

Now we're resting and waiting for the sky to break and cool things off. It's going to happen soon, as the winds are picking up.  It'll be much more pleasant soon. 

Nyaungshwe and Inle lake

Made it to nyaung shwe today! The cool weather is absolutely delightful!  It's probably in the low 20s. Took an 8 hr air con bus ride from Bagan. This bus ride cost 11000 kyat, and included both pickup and drop off from our guesthouse, making it an absolute steal!!!  In comparison, when we arrived in Bagan (at 4am) the taxi charged us 10000 kyat to get from the bus station to the guesthouse!!!

 The road was pretty windy and I got a lil nauseated. Thank goodness for gravol!!!

As you drive out from Bagan, the scenery becomes very lush and green. Drove past many many mixed fields. They don't seem to do monoculture here. 

Tomorrow we will explore the area more.