Go Back
Inle Lake/ Nyaung Shwe
Inle Lake is the second largest lake in Myanmar and is located in the Nyaung Shwe district. The lake is designated as the country's premier Man and Biosphere Reserve by the UN cultural agency, Unesco. The lake is one of Myanmar's most popular tourist destinations and offers a glimpse into a very different lifestyle and unique culture different from everything around it. Here you'll see houses on stilts, functional villages with different industries, fishermen and many many temples and pagodas. It's like entering a fairy tale world. The nearest airport is Heho Airport which is 35 kilometres (22 mi) away. There are flights from both Yangon and Mandalay. Yangon is 660 kilometres (410 mi) away by road and Mandalay is 330 kilometres (210 mi). I took a nightbus here from Yangon which took nearly 12 hours if I remember correctly. This is an alternative cheaper option to flying. Nyaung Shwe is the name of the district which Inle Lake is located in and is the main tourist town where foreign visitors stay. Aside from visiting the lake which is often done on a day tour there are different activities and places to see in Nyaung Shwe which I will also mention on this page.
Accessing the Lake is not difficult from Nyaung Shwe. There are private and public boats for rent that are very cheap. There are many readily available tours provided by hotels, hostels and tour companies. Basically find a boat by whichever means for the day and a local to navigate the boat and you're set. The trip starts from the river that lies along Nyaung Shwe and eventually the river leads to the expansive lake itself. You'll get your first glimpse of the fisherman fishing with traditional methods and will see the vegetation as well as the tranquility of the lake. The landscape changes again as the lake then merges back into different river networks.
At the beginning of the tour we went through the largest part of the lake where you'll see many fisherman fishing in the open waters. After passing through this initial part of the lake you'll arrive at the floating stilt village that is full of houses, businesses and even hotels with wifi access (though I'm not sure how well it would work). It's extremely fascinating navigating through this village and seeing how the local people live their lives. The first stop we made was at a silver shop that sold silver jewelry. Along the tour there were plenty of businesses we stopped at which was great for seeing the different industries present in the lake. After the silver shop we went down a river network to an area with a bunch of beautiful temples and pagodas. Some of these were epicly perched along mountains. After walking around the temples and pagodas for a while we stopped at one of the local restaurants. The food here is very unique as the people have to make food with whatever means are available in the area. The most well-known Inle dish would be the htamin gyin - a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives roots, fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented bean cakes and fried dried tofu on the side. You may as well try the local specialty while you are here.
After lunch we continued on the boat tour and went to check out some other thriving businesses on the lake. Most notably we went to a cigar shop where you could see the women rolling different types of cigars. If you enjoy cigars obviously this is a good place to buy some and support a local business. The other business that was big on the lake was clothes manufacturing using lotus flowers which are abundant in the area. You can see how the clothes are woven using looms. There were many beautiful types of clothing here which you could purchase after visiting the factory itself. All of this located along the lake. The final stop of the tour I went on was at a pagoda where you can walk around, see the traditional architecture and marvel at the views of the lake from the outside deck. After this we began our trip back to Nyaung Shwe. It was possibly the most memorable day of my trip to Myanmar and is a must do if you visit the country.
Nyaung Shwe is the most popular and easiest access point to the lake. Most tourists opt to stay here as their base for visiting the lake. There is lots to do and see here. In Myanmar it's actually illegal for foreigners to rent motorbikes but it was quite easy to get your hands on a bicycle and ride around the town. There are cheap massage places, plenty of restaurants and most notably the great night bazaar with lots of unique local food. I enjoyed my time riding around the town with a bike and would recommend spending at least 2 days here. 1 day for visiting Inle Lake itself and 1 day to explore the town of Nyaung Shwe. Unfortunately, when I checked if the hostel I stayed at (Ostello Bello) was still open it looks to be closed. Due to the turbulent situation in the country many foreign business owners have had to flee the country. Ostello Bello was the principal hostel chain with locations in most tourist areas of the country. It made travelling through the country easy and they were well established and helped with everything from tours to information to food and social activities.
