Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → Myanmar → Inle Lake

Location: Western Shan State, Myanmar

Time Required: One day

Red Tape/Notes: Go out on the lake early in the morning if you want to avoid crowds and have a more authentic experience

What’s Nearby?: Kalaw, Shan Plateau, Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp, Cycling to Inle Lake, Sagar, Taunggyi Balloon Festival

Inle Lake is one of the most popular destinations in Myanmar, and for good reason. The lake area itself is extremely lovely, and although there are a number of the famous leg-rowing fishermen who are just out and about for tourist shows, there are still a number of people who are actually trying to make a living off of the lake, fishing and collecting seaweed and the like, and it is very picturesque. In addition, you can visit a number of interesting sites in the area. The Nga Hpe Chaung monastery, the oldest and largest monastery in the area. It’s constructed of wood and built on stilts, like many buildings in and around Inle Lake. This monastery was once famous for its jumping cats, but the cats are no longer trained to do tricks – although there are still a lot of cats, they just lie around looking fuzzy and napping. Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda is the lake’s main sanctuary, and it contains five sacred Buddha images covered in gold leaf. There’s so much gold leaf on them at this point that they just look like misshapen blobs. Our favorite stop was probably Shwe Indein Pagoda – you ride up Indein Creek by boat (it takes around 45 minutes) before arriving at the site, where hundreds of ancient stupas are clustered on the hillside, many overgrown with trees and bushes. The rows of shops here were also the best we came across in the whole country, so take the opportunity to buy the more unique items you come across – you probably won’t see them again. I’m filled with regret for not buying the excellent helmet Tom is wearing in the last photo.

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → Myanmar → Inle Lake