Inle Lake: The Inthas, Floating Gardens, Stilt Villages and Cheroot Making

The motorized long boat roared through the lake waters coming from the boat landing site. It seemed funny that I have the whole boat all to myself as I sit in the middle chair. Each chair has umbrellas for passengers to use. I only have 2 hours to spare on my tour around the Inle Lake but Monterey, my boatman and guide said it would be enough to explore the top portion of the lake. We will visit a couple of villages, tomato farms and a small factory where they make cheroot, a local cylindrical cigar.

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Inle Lake: On Foot Around Nyaungshwe

I realized I haven’t eaten breakfast since I was too caught up trying to work around some obstacles after arriving in Inle Lake. So with the Balloon Festival happening in the next town of Taunggyi, all the accommodations in Inle Lake were all fully booked. Prices have also somewhat shot up like the accommodations and tours the town offers. Good thing the food prices haven’t changed. I got a very tasty Fried Rice Chicken for 2000 kyat for brunch before exploring this little town north of Inle Lake.

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In Transit: Bus to Mandalay from Bagan, Train to Pyin U Lwin

I thought the train was finally moving after at least an hour of waiting, but it was just my consciousness, slipping and sliding in two worlds. My reality blurred from fatigue and lack of sleep as I lean on the side of an open train window in the cart, oblivious of the passing crowd and vendors at the station. I am going to Pyin U Lwin (pyuu-lin), a cool scenic hill town, east of Mandalay, straight from an almost 8 hour overnight bus journey from Bagan. But I was awake the full day before and the bus ride didn’t offer a chance to sleep. It was already 15 minutes past 6am when the train finally rolled on the tracks. That’s already 2 hours late from its original time of departure. But I was just relieved the 4-hour train journey had started.

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