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.
