Visit http://blog.swbd.de/category/asia/myanmar/ to view the story and photos of my trip through Myanmar – from Yangon via Bagan and Mandalay to the Shan highlands around Kalaw, down to Inle Lake and back to Yangon.
To start at the beginning and continue through chronologically, start here.
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Today was my last full day in Myanmar, the group by now had separated – most had already left Yangon for their trips home or to the next destination. There were only two of us left – and given that … Continue reading
Another Yangon Airlines flight did bring us back safely to Yangon (we were indeed safe with them). Here we had a free afternoon before the usual fare-well dinner.
I spent the afternoon walking around some central areas, I had not been to earlier on. I made my way all the way to Kheng Hock Keong Temple and then got (purposely) lost in the maze of little streets in that area.
This gallery contains 28 photos.
Today was our big day on Inle Lake. We left Nyaung Shwe in the morning and made it by boat down to Ywama Village, one of the many swimming communities (i.e. made of stilt houses) in the lake. Similar to the Kalaw … Continue reading
From the lake community we continued up the hill into a completely different world – the world of the Red Mountain Estate Vineyards & Winery.
Here we went straight for the tasting room, to get an idea of the wines on offer – and were deeply disappointed. The wines, that were provided with the tasting were all fairly boring and not to our taste. The tasting therefore did not last too long and we continued to the viewpoint area to see the sun set over the lake and hills on the other side of the lake. Of course – being in a winery – wine was a requirement … and the choice was one, that had not been included in the tasting – – and – behold – the pinot was actually a quiet nice one.
We made it back to Nyaung Shwe well after sunset (of course). For dinner some of the group had decided to go for a bit of indulgence tonight, so we ended up in the same restaurant, that we had already used for lunch – probably the best restaurant in town – for an excellent Shan discovery menu. The menu ended up a bit like a selection of tapas of Shan local delicacies and dishes – – money well spent. 😉
This gallery contains 19 photos.
For this afternoon Sai had organized a trip to a small Inle Lake community, that – so far – is fairly untouched by tourism. We made it by truck to the head of the bridge, that later on led us … Continue reading
This morning I found myself on a bike again. We were a group of five, making the 10km from Nyaung Shwe (our Inle Lake base) to the pools of the Khaung Daing Nature Hot Spring.
At the hot spring they had four pools with water of different temperature – covering anything from warm to boiling hot. We spent about two hours here, before making it back to town for an upgraded lunch experience at probably the best restaurant in town.
We continued the drive from Pindaya after lunch – now heading straight for Nyaungshwe, our base for the next few days around Inle Lake.
On the way – what else could there be – we had a further stop at the Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery to visit the stupa and the temple. For this one, it is not the building or the artistic value that makes this outstanding – it is rather the whole atmosphere, peacefulness and tranquility of the place, that sinks in – – a worthwhile stop … even for someone close to or already being templed-out.
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Today we left Kalaw and were on our way towards Inle Lake. We however did a bit of a detour and had a stop at Pindaya and the Shwe Oo Min Natural Cave Pagoda. This pagoda is different (and certainly … Continue reading
This gallery contains 20 photos.
Today was another active day with an included hike to some of the hill communities around Kalaw. The hike was led by local guide Obama, who provided us with ample information about the local communities, the local flora and fauna. … Continue reading