Inle Lake - Boat Cruise

Throughout my 5-day trip in Myanmar, I spent most of the nights on the road heading to the next destinations, with the exception of spending a night in Bagan on the second day. Somehow, I don't feel it is any more tiring than staying for a night in a hostel or hotel. Maybe the very fact that I can sleep in a moving vehicle helps rejuvenate my energy.

After about 9 hours journey from Bagan (costs 10,000 kyat, about USD 12), our bus stopped at Taunggyi, and from there, we have to transit to Inle Lake with a taxi. By the time we reached the town, we were all shivering in coldness. The close proximity to the lake itself makes the temperature here at night much colder and simply unbearable. We have to find a hotel that is willing to let us borrow their bathrooms to freshen ourselves up and hang around the living room to wait for sunrise. As both of us were only making a quick pit stop here in Inle Lake and will be heading back Yangon later in the afternoon, renting a room seems unnecessary. And luckily, we found one, Gold Star Hotel.

Not much people this early in the morning..

At about 5 in the morning, we decided to go out for a stroll, leaving behind our backpacks in aforementioned hotel. The sun was yet to rise and we were shivering nonstop. We stopped by at a local restaurant for breakfast before continuing exploring the town. While we waited for boat operators to begin the day, we saw rows of saffron-robed monks walking in single file, collecting alms. Myanmar is a Buddhist nation and this is quite a common sight.

Look at how their robes covered their whole bodies...it is that cold

Our boat cruise began at about 8 in the morning, when the sun was all bright and shine. We hired a boat for about 17,000 kyats (about USD 20), shared among the two of us, for about 5 hours of exploration in the lake. It was just amazing to be on the boat, cruising deep into the centre of the lake, watching the inhabitants going through their regular lives. Although the strong wind brushing our faces made us shivered more.