Nyaungshwe Hotels
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Inle Lake
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I flew from Yangoon to Heho, the closest airport to Inle Lake. At the airport in Heho I met another traveler, Charlotte. We decided to share a cab to Nyangshwe, about an hour away. We had roughly the same travel plans in Myanmar so I ended up traveling with her through the rest of my trip. After we got settled we walked around the town and took in the sights. There lots of pagodas, monasteries and a museum. When school got out the streets were full of school kids on their bikes.
At one point these cute little kids ran up to us and gave us some flowers they had picked. I'm still recovering a bit from India so my initial reaction to a kid running towards me with their arm extended was to run the other direction. I got over that very quickly here however. The people in this country--young and old--are so genuinely friendly I am taken aback. Kids give me flowers just because they are there to be picked. Adults want to know where I'm from and about my life just because they are curious, and are happy to tell me about their life--how refreshing!!!
The next day we did a tour of the lake on a boat. First stop was a floating market where locals come to buy dry goods--rice, spices, etc. People live on the lake and have crops in the waters. We visited a lot of local handicraft shops where locals from nearby villages would come and sell their goods. One of the villages has women with rings on their necks like you can see here.
We visited a monastery called Nga Phe Kyaung but nicknamed "jumping cat" monastery. There were loads of cats hanging out there and for treats they would jump through hoops. A very common sight here is a fisherman standing on a very narrow boat rowing with his foot like this picture. They row like this so they have their hands free to deal with the fishing nets. It is quite impressive that they can balance on these wobbly, narrow boats on one leg and row and fish at the same time!
After a day on the lake we spent a day trekking in the surrounding hills. We passed through a Buddhist cave as we first got into the hills. After a pleasant day of walking we came to a lovely viewpoint of the lake. At the end of the day our guide, Tunyu, invited us to his house to have tea and biscuits with his family. It was a fantastic day, I am really enjoying the culture and people here! Here is a picture of Tunyu's wife and little girl, Tin Tin Htwe and Ei Ei Mon, at their house.
While waiting for my overnight bus to Mandalay I saw some local transportation that reminded me of jeepnies in the Philippines--filled to capacity with the overflow on top.
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