Four-country trip to the Philippines, Brunei, Bangladesh and Myanmar (19) Inle Lake and Mount Popa

Inle Lake is located in the Nyaungshwe Basin on the Shan State Plateau in northern Myanmar, near Taunggyi. It is the second largest lake in Myanmar and a famous summer resort in Myanmar. The lake is more than 970 meters above sea level, 14.5 kilometers long from north to south and 6.44 kilometers wide from east to west. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Streams from the east, north and west flow into the lake and merge into the Salween River in the south. The lake water here is clear and the sun shines directly on the bottom of the lake. This mountain lake surrounded by paddy fields and reed swamps is famous for the unique lifestyle of the people on the water. The Inthar people living here still maintain the traditional life of living by the water. They build their houses on stilts. On the piles, floating villages - "floating islands" - were formed, where they were engaged in fishing, vegetable planting, sericulture, weaving, blacksmithing, and making gold and silver jewelry. Every few days, they will take their products to the "floating market" to sell. In addition, there are several temples and numerous pagodas by the lake.

The destination for tourists to Inle Lake is Nyaungshwe, Nyaungshwe town on the bank of Inle Lake. There are only a few shuttle buses from other cities in Myanmar that go directly to Nyaungshwe. Most of the bus terminals are Taunggyi Taunggyi, and you need to go to Shwe, a small town at the crossroads of Inle Lake. Get off at Niang Shwenyuang and transfer to Nyaungshwe. This is what I did when I arrived from Naypyitaw yesterday.

Inle Lake brings relaxation and leisure to tourists away from the hustle and bustle of the world. The climate here is cool and the scenery is pleasant, making it an excellent summer resort. The easiest way to travel here is to join a local one-day boat tour. Visitors can take a boat around the lake, view floating islands, climb pagodas, admire the unique skills of fishermen rowing with their feet, visit villagers' handicraft displays, and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains. At the same time, enjoy the water birds and schools of fish in the blue waves.

The hotel where I stayed

Early in the morning, I successfully joined a boat with a few foreigners. The four of us (plus five boatmen) got on a motorized wooden boat and started a one-day trip to Inle Lake.

Inle Lake attractions map

Nyaung Shwe Pier

When leaving Nyaungshwe, first walk along a river

The water surface gradually widens

Meet a fishing boat

Oil tanker

Water House

tower

The boat turns into a small river

You can see there are many vegetable fields on both sides

We came to a small village

Go ashore here and watch the production of handicrafts

silver products

Leave here and continue floating on the water

Half an hour later, the boatman took us to the village of Indein.

After landing, there is a floating market where various daily necessities are sold.

After crossing the bridge, we arrived at Shwe Inn Tain Pagoda

From now on there will be a very long corridor

There is an exit in the middle of the corridor, and you can see Tallinn

Continue along the corridor to the end

There is a more spectacular Tallinn here

Some towers are in ruins

Return the same way

Continue on board

Come to Dahu

Then we turned into a waterway, surrounded by villages, and the rooms were all stilted buildings above the water.

The boatman parked the boat next to a house

paddy field

We visit the spinning and weaving process

Finished product

Also makes hats

We came to another store, this one makes cigars

Continue on the boat to Phaung Daw Oo Paya

Penduo Ao Temple, also known as the Wuzu Temple, is the largest temple in the Inle Lake area. The most famous temple is the five small Buddha statues covered with gold foil. It is said that these Buddha statues were brought to Inle Lake by King Alaungsithu of the Bagan Dynasty. They have been It has a history of more than 800 years and is completely invisible after being covered with layers of gold foil.

temple pier

Our last docking point was Nga Phe Kyaung. It is the oldest monastery in the Inle Lake area. The monastery contains Shan, Tibetan and Ava-style bronze Buddha statues. It is because a monk once trained here. Cats are famous for jumping through hoops. I didn't see the cat though.

Finally, we took a boat back to Nyaungshwe Town. Waterbirds followed our boat all the way and enjoyed their dancing in the air.

Also look at how fishermen paddle with their feet.

In the evening, I was lucky enough to get a direct train to Bagan in Shwe Niang Town.

route map

After arriving in Bagan early in the morning, I first took a bus to Mount Popa on the outskirts of the city.

Mt Popa is an extinct volcano, known as Myanmar's Mount Olympus. It is a sacred mountain in Myanmar with an altitude of 1,518 meters, about 50 kilometers away from Bagan. There are temples and pagodas at the foot and top of the mountain. There are more than 700 steps to climb to the top.