So I've been doing my last round of traveling in Burma lately. Here's my list of places I've gone during my 2 months here:
- Yangon (where I live)
- Dalah
- Nay Pyi Daw (the capitol)
- Pago
- Mandalay
- Pagan (land of a thousand temples)
- Inle Lake
So I've hit the major (and some minor) spots in Burma. Which is good, since this is my last week here!!
Last weekend Kerry and I took a 4 day trip (thanks to the May Day holiday) to Inle Lake. I think this might have been my favorite place in Myanmar. The whole trip was great; our company, our activities, the area, etc. Here's what we did...
Tuesday night before we left, Kerry made a friend (Mark) at the Art Exhibit and told him about our trip. I then met him Wednesday at the bar while I was having goodbye drinks with a friend. Then on Friday he was tagging along! We also had my friend Amanda from Thailand coming with us.
So on Friday, we all loaded up on the bus and hit the road to Inle! We left around 3pm, and got in around 5am to Inle. Once there, we tried various guesthouses until we found one to stay in - Joy Hotel. It was right on the water, not expensive, and we had 2 separate rooms beside each other - which meant we all got our own bed! Then it was nap time before we started our day.
Once it was actually wake up time, we had breakfast on the balcony, where we met another group of 4 travelers (Angie, Oliver, Bart, and their friend). We shared plans for the day, and they gave us their tips on what to do while we were there.
Then it was time to head off! We rented bicycles and biked to a Temple that was inside a cave (Angie had told us about it) and it was soo cool. There were little caverns inside the cave that you could explore (good thing we had our flashlights!). After about an hour or so discovering the cave, we hopped back on the bikes and grabbed some lunch in town. Then it was time for the VINEYARD! Yes, you read right - Inle Lake had a vineyard, with wines!!! We biked to Red Mountain Vineyard, and as we got there, we ran into the breakfast group as they were leaving. We all decided to meet for dinner later, but right now it was WINE TIME! We got a wine tasting - 4 wine tastings for 2000kyats ($2.43USD). Then we decided to buy a few bottles - we got 2 bottles to split between us then (a while and a rose). After we finished those off, we took a tour around the vineyard and got to see the Myanmar women hard at work harvesting the grapes. Then we bought 2 more bottles for the following day and started the bike ride home.
On the way home, we stopped so Amanda could get pizza (she was going to have it as an appetizer) and then it rained the rest of the ride home. RAIN?? We haven't seen that in ages!
Once back at Joy - we met the breakfast group for dinner, and then had drinks with them on the balcony. During dinner, I sat next to Bart and we started discussing travels, and etc. He mentioned how he was planning a Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos trip soon - as was I. We have since stayed in touch, so we can travel part of that together. We also talked about the boat trip that my group was planning the next day, as he had done it the day before. One of the stops is a Cigar Factory and he casually mentioned that his friends had brought him Cuban Cigars and he had them at the hotel. So when we had drinks on the balcony, we shared a cigar (MMMMMM) and he gave me one to smoke on my own later. If you've ever had a cigar with me, you know I was QUITE a happy camper!
Then next morning we got up, shared breakfast with the other group once again - then they headed back to Yangon to fly out to Bangkok, and we got in a boat for our Inle Lake water tour. On the tour we stopped at various shops, saw the Floating Gardens, visited the Jumping Cat Monastery, visited the Cigar Factory (where I got to roll my own Cigar), had lunch on the water, and got to see the Fisherman that row their boats with their legs.
Excerpt from Wiki: Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men.
The day was of course filled with photos, fun times, AND our bottles of wine from the day before. We also all got to try Beetle-nut for the first time. What is that you ask? It's something that the Burmese men chew and spit, and it turns their whole mouth red. Of course we wanted to try it! I was the first to go - and it didn't taste bad. It was hard (I was expecting something soft like chewing tobacco) and the taste was a weird mix of mint and grass. Then I started the spitting part, but it never turned red! My mouth only turned it orange. Then it started tasting bad - so I spit it all out. Mark and the girls also tried it, and we all had about the same reaction to it. It did give us a burst of energy though, like a shot of espresso!
After we returned back to Joy after our day on the Lake we grabbed a quick dinner and then went to a traditional Puppet Show. It was about 40 minutes long, and the puppeteer had been puppet-ing for like 40 years I think he said!
Then we headed home, as we were exhausted from the day.
On Monday we woke up, and had one last breakfast with Amanda and Mark. They had decided to do a 3 day Trek to Kalah, and Kerry and I were staying for 2 more days in Inle before going back to school in Yangon. Kerry and I spent the day lounging, take a "rest day" after our last few busy days. Then we ventured out and went to a Pagoda outside of town and watched the sunset. We stopped by an Art Gallery on the way, and then went to PANCAKE KINGDOM for dinner. The pancakes were delicious, but I can't wait to go back to the states and have a stack of my Dad's pancakes! Then we booked our bus tickets for the next day, and relaxed on the balcony. We got to watch that night's storm from our hotel, and the lightning and thunder was a nice show for us.
Tuesday it was our last day :(
After breakfast, we rented bikes and biked out to the Hot Springs. It was about an hour bike ride, and the ride was so peaceful and beautiful. Rolling landscapes, huge mountains, and Tiny villages crawled past us. Once we got to the hot springs, we soaked for about 2 hours and just relaxed. For lunch we got Tofu (as the Hot Springs here were known for their Tofu). It didn't taste like any special tofu though, just tofu! Then we biked back, enjoying our last little bit in Inle.
We arrived back to Yangon around 5am, took a quick nap and then were back in our classrooms teaching at 8am!
Everything about Inle Lake was so spectacular, I didn't want to leave. My camera is broken, so I currently don't have any photos to share. Once my travel group puts their up, I'll make sure to share them.
Mingalabar,
Apes :)
- Yangon (where I live)
- Dalah
- Nay Pyi Daw (the capitol)
- Pago
- Mandalay
- Pagan (land of a thousand temples)
- Inle Lake
So I've hit the major (and some minor) spots in Burma. Which is good, since this is my last week here!!
Last weekend Kerry and I took a 4 day trip (thanks to the May Day holiday) to Inle Lake. I think this might have been my favorite place in Myanmar. The whole trip was great; our company, our activities, the area, etc. Here's what we did...
Tuesday night before we left, Kerry made a friend (Mark) at the Art Exhibit and told him about our trip. I then met him Wednesday at the bar while I was having goodbye drinks with a friend. Then on Friday he was tagging along! We also had my friend Amanda from Thailand coming with us.
So on Friday, we all loaded up on the bus and hit the road to Inle! We left around 3pm, and got in around 5am to Inle. Once there, we tried various guesthouses until we found one to stay in - Joy Hotel. It was right on the water, not expensive, and we had 2 separate rooms beside each other - which meant we all got our own bed! Then it was nap time before we started our day.
Once it was actually wake up time, we had breakfast on the balcony, where we met another group of 4 travelers (Angie, Oliver, Bart, and their friend). We shared plans for the day, and they gave us their tips on what to do while we were there.
Then it was time to head off! We rented bicycles and biked to a Temple that was inside a cave (Angie had told us about it) and it was soo cool. There were little caverns inside the cave that you could explore (good thing we had our flashlights!). After about an hour or so discovering the cave, we hopped back on the bikes and grabbed some lunch in town. Then it was time for the VINEYARD! Yes, you read right - Inle Lake had a vineyard, with wines!!! We biked to Red Mountain Vineyard, and as we got there, we ran into the breakfast group as they were leaving. We all decided to meet for dinner later, but right now it was WINE TIME! We got a wine tasting - 4 wine tastings for 2000kyats ($2.43USD). Then we decided to buy a few bottles - we got 2 bottles to split between us then (a while and a rose). After we finished those off, we took a tour around the vineyard and got to see the Myanmar women hard at work harvesting the grapes. Then we bought 2 more bottles for the following day and started the bike ride home.
On the way home, we stopped so Amanda could get pizza (she was going to have it as an appetizer) and then it rained the rest of the ride home. RAIN?? We haven't seen that in ages!
Once back at Joy - we met the breakfast group for dinner, and then had drinks with them on the balcony. During dinner, I sat next to Bart and we started discussing travels, and etc. He mentioned how he was planning a Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos trip soon - as was I. We have since stayed in touch, so we can travel part of that together. We also talked about the boat trip that my group was planning the next day, as he had done it the day before. One of the stops is a Cigar Factory and he casually mentioned that his friends had brought him Cuban Cigars and he had them at the hotel. So when we had drinks on the balcony, we shared a cigar (MMMMMM) and he gave me one to smoke on my own later. If you've ever had a cigar with me, you know I was QUITE a happy camper!
Then next morning we got up, shared breakfast with the other group once again - then they headed back to Yangon to fly out to Bangkok, and we got in a boat for our Inle Lake water tour. On the tour we stopped at various shops, saw the Floating Gardens, visited the Jumping Cat Monastery, visited the Cigar Factory (where I got to roll my own Cigar), had lunch on the water, and got to see the Fisherman that row their boats with their legs.
Excerpt from Wiki: Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men.
The day was of course filled with photos, fun times, AND our bottles of wine from the day before. We also all got to try Beetle-nut for the first time. What is that you ask? It's something that the Burmese men chew and spit, and it turns their whole mouth red. Of course we wanted to try it! I was the first to go - and it didn't taste bad. It was hard (I was expecting something soft like chewing tobacco) and the taste was a weird mix of mint and grass. Then I started the spitting part, but it never turned red! My mouth only turned it orange. Then it started tasting bad - so I spit it all out. Mark and the girls also tried it, and we all had about the same reaction to it. It did give us a burst of energy though, like a shot of espresso!
After we returned back to Joy after our day on the Lake we grabbed a quick dinner and then went to a traditional Puppet Show. It was about 40 minutes long, and the puppeteer had been puppet-ing for like 40 years I think he said!
Then we headed home, as we were exhausted from the day.
On Monday we woke up, and had one last breakfast with Amanda and Mark. They had decided to do a 3 day Trek to Kalah, and Kerry and I were staying for 2 more days in Inle before going back to school in Yangon. Kerry and I spent the day lounging, take a "rest day" after our last few busy days. Then we ventured out and went to a Pagoda outside of town and watched the sunset. We stopped by an Art Gallery on the way, and then went to PANCAKE KINGDOM for dinner. The pancakes were delicious, but I can't wait to go back to the states and have a stack of my Dad's pancakes! Then we booked our bus tickets for the next day, and relaxed on the balcony. We got to watch that night's storm from our hotel, and the lightning and thunder was a nice show for us.
Tuesday it was our last day :(
After breakfast, we rented bikes and biked out to the Hot Springs. It was about an hour bike ride, and the ride was so peaceful and beautiful. Rolling landscapes, huge mountains, and Tiny villages crawled past us. Once we got to the hot springs, we soaked for about 2 hours and just relaxed. For lunch we got Tofu (as the Hot Springs here were known for their Tofu). It didn't taste like any special tofu though, just tofu! Then we biked back, enjoying our last little bit in Inle.
We arrived back to Yangon around 5am, took a quick nap and then were back in our classrooms teaching at 8am!
Everything about Inle Lake was so spectacular, I didn't want to leave. My camera is broken, so I currently don't have any photos to share. Once my travel group puts their up, I'll make sure to share them.
Mingalabar,
Apes :)
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