Myanmar (Burma) - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 562

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Public transport timetables mean that you'll need to spend
a night here unless you come by taxi.
Kyan Lite Close to the market. Service is disorderly and
the concrete-floored room is a bit shabby, but the Chinese
standards cooked here - such as chicken cashew nut
(K3500) - are tasty and popular with locals. Daily
breakfast to dinner.
Myit Phyar Zaw Gyi 106 Zaytan Quarter. This hotel is
centrally located close to the market, lake and several
restau rant s, but the rooms facing the lake can get quite
noisy. $20

their necks (which actually push their
collarbones down rather than elongating
their necks). hese women are often
exploited by those within the tourist
industry and it's something which some
visitors choose to avoid.

Phaung Daw Oo Paya
Boats converge on the tiered lakeside
Phaung Daw Oo Paya , south of Ywama on
the western side of the lake, to the extent
that you'll probably need to climb over a
log-jam of them in order to reach the
shore. he pagoda building is nothing
special, but men (only) crowd around to
add gold leaf to five Buddha figures that
are already so coated that they are no
longer recognizably human in shape.

INLE LAKE
Vast and serene Inle Lake is one of the
undoubted highlights of most trips to
Myanmar. Its attractions are not just in
its considerable natural beauty, however,
but also in the stilt villages of the Intha
(“Sons of the Lake”, descendants of
Mon people from the far southeast), for
whom it is home.
While the lake is very firmly on the
beaten path, it's big enough that you only
truly notice just how many other foreigners
are around when your boat pulls up at one
of the stops. Even now most of the markets
are aimed more at villagers of the various
ethnic groups that live in the area - among
them Shan, Pa-O, Kayah and Danu - than
they are at tourists.
Most resorts on the lake cost at least
$100 per night, so travellers on a budget
usually stay in nearby Nyaungshwe.

7

Indein
he ride west from Ywama to Indein ,
starting among reed beds before continuing

Shwenyaung, Highway NH4, Kalaw & Yangon

INLE LAKE

Nyaungshwe

Nanthe

0 2

kilometres

N

Red
Mountain
Winery

Kaung Daing

Myaing Thauk

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
A typical day-trip , taken in a long, narrow
boat with a noisy outboard motor, will
stick to the northern reaches of the lake. It
will include visits to small workshops in
stilt villages, such as cheroot making in
ha Lay and lotus fibre weaving in In Paw
Khone, plus one or more pagodas and
probably a market (see box opposite). You
are also likely to see fishermen using
traditional conical nets, propelling their
boats using a distinctive leg-rowing
technique, and other Intha residents of
the lake tending to fruit and vegetables on
floating gardens.
You may be offered the chance to see
“long-necked” Padaung women , so called
because they wear metal rings around

Inle lake

Than
Taung

Thale U

Ywama

Tha Lay

Phaung Daw Oo Paya

Indein

Nyaung Oak

Nampan

Shwe Inn
Thein Paya

In Paw Khone

Takhaung Mwetaw Paya, Taung To, Kyauk Taung & Sankar