Floating towards the Inle Lake Resort
After boarding a long, flat boat at the Nyaungshwe jetties we chugged down a 3km channel towards the lake. As the channel opened up to join Inle Lake, the skies followed suit and opened up with a brief rain storm.
Around the end of the channel Inle Lake is bright orange, but returns to blue the further south you travel.
The edge of the lake has a few fancy hotels dotted along its shores, but thankfully ours was the closest to Nyanungshwe. We were met at the jetty by staff with umbrellas and a welcome cocktail – this was one of those moments when I don’t miss travelling on a severe budget.
Welcome party
One of the minor constraints of living in Beijing is the lack of variety of English-language books. Thus it was that we were travelling in 2012 with a 2005 Myanmar guide book, in a country that has recently gone huge upheaval and a massive increase in the tourist industry.
Our aged guide book only listed the one hotel on the Inle Lake shore, and said it was by far the best in the area. When our travel agent listed it as a free upgrade I jumped at the chance. I accept that it may well have been the best in 2005, but the hotel doesn’t look to have been updated since. It undoubtedly would have been cheaper and easier to stay in town.
The advertised bungalows overlooking Inle Lake were nearly all derelict through simple lack of maintenance, so we were sent off to a small hut overlooking a pond.
Food was excellent, but terribly overpriced as they catered to a captive audience. At $15 each way for a water taxi it wasn’t really cost-effective to travel back into Nyaungshwe for a delicious $2 Burmese dinner, so the hotel restaurant was the only choice at $15-$25 a dish.
Having learnt our lesson, on the following days we got dropped off in town after the lake tours, and had an early dinner before just having to pay the taxi one way back to the hotel.
Sunset over Inle Lake
As night fell, the lights came on and made everything look more attractive
Authentic Inle Lake Breakfast…
Despite our reservations about the hotel, the friendly and thoughtful staff were without fault (unlike the air-conditioning), and the main saving grace was the incredible breakfast. Looking at the menu it was difficult to choose between the five options
- Fruit plate
- Cereals
- Continental breakfast of European cakes, breads and preserves
- Myanmar breakfast noodles (spicy and fish)
- American breakfast of bacon and eggs, all cooked to order
- Fresh fruit juices
- Selection of teas and coffees
It turned out that the menu was actually the list of courses, and this feast arrived:
So happy…
Set up for the morning (and still full for lunch and dinner in reality), we were ready for the various tours through the villages of Inle Lake.
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