Inle Regal Resort Shan State Inle Lake

... labyrinthine trails linking both places and to be able to communicate with the local hill tribes. The landscape is not the best I have seen, but the fact that I am able to flee from the pagoda and Buddha statues monotony is already fine enough for me. On top of that, the temperature is quite fresh and at nights I even have to use a blanket or two (it feels so nice). The trek runs through mountains inhabited by hill tribes people, mainly farmers. I am lucky with my guide, he is a ...

... on board! Our boat sputtered to a stop before we left town, but we were repaired and on our way in no time. On our way to the hotel we saw people washing their clothing, bathing, a few villages, fields, oxen (water buffalo), floating garden, monasteries, stupas, Temples,... so peaceful! It was a one hour long tail boat ride to our hotel for the evening, Shew Inn Tha. We are going to splurge and stay at a floating hotel. It is pure luxury! There is a pool and in our ...

... nearby forest monastery on the hill and a floating village connected to the shore by a long wooden bridge. The next day along with guys from the trek we took a boat trip on the lake, which is considered a must. We saw many attractions like floating gardens, local market, silver workshop, parasol factory, long necked ...

Once we arrived in Heho, we weren't quite sure where to go. There was not the usual bombardment of people asking us where we were going of if we wanted a taxi. We did find an older couple, Danielle and Warren, from San Francisco. They were in a similar boat as well. We asked where they were headed and they said Kalaw and probably do a trek to Inle Lake. We thought that sounded like a pretty good idea so we asked if we could join them. Eventually we walked around a little and ...

... the lake. I think the pictures speak for themselves. The inhabitants of Inle all live on the lake and boats are the only mode of transport. They all have long boats made out of teak. Most boats don't have engines, they are simply rowed by their owners. They have an amazing rowing technique, they use their legs in order to get more power and free up their arms to do more important things like layin out a fishing net or ...

... by a number of different ethnic minority tribes. Originally we'd wanted to do a two-night trip, but we ended up being short on time and had to opt for the one-nighter. To cover the same amount of distance in less time, the first leg of the trek required a taxi ride over a one lane dirt road through farms and fields of yellow flowers to a resting-point where we were to meet up with two other trekkers passing through on the 2 night trek. We hadn't been expecting to be grouped ...

... to Inle lake. This trek took us 50 km through the hills with an overnight in a village house and a monastery. During this trek we met many villagers and got to see what life is like in the hills. The scenery is amazing and you get to see many locals working the land using tools and techniques that perhaps were common in Ireland during my grandparents time but have now long been forgotten. You will see men ploughing the paddy fields with oxes. Women planting rice, picking ...

(to see all the Kalaw to Inle Lake photos, click here) Surely the last thing you'd expect in the mountains of Myanmar as you step off a rickety cramped local bus where you've spent the last 12 hours perched sideways into the walkway because your legs can't get behind the seat, is a "g'day mate" from the welcoming party. But here stands Percy, an Australian born retiree who for the last decade who has made his home in the small trekking ...

... on the Western shore of the lake which is famous for its floating market. I had already gathered from the guidebook and the manager at the hotel that most of the vendors are souveneir sellers and the customers hordes of tourists, as at just about every other floating market in SE Asia in this day and age. It wasn't floating market day today anyway as the daily market is at village further inland and I was too late due to my late start to make it, so Ywama it was ...

... hill country. Debbie was determined not to miss her last chance at seeing hill tribes after losing out on Namhsam. We found him an entertaining character, surprisingly irreverent for this culture. We booked a two-day trek to start next morning (just $20 each incl. meals and accommodation), and an immediate afternoon boat tour of the lake for $8 each. We paid a little above the usual rate to get a shorter tour. Sound strange? We'd ...