Apart from places in Nyaungshwe, there are a number of places and villages in and around Inle Lake that will make your visit to Inle quite interesting and worthwhile. You can see the way of life of Intha which are quite adept to the environment of Inle Lake, their culture and custom as well as daily life of ordinary people of Inle Lake. You should hire a boat for the whole day and should plan in advanced for the trip and make agreement with the boatman when hiring the boat. Make sure the boatman
Video of Inle Lake
The following video from Youtube shows a typical boat trip in Inle Lake. You can see the way Inthas build their houses on the lake, and what a typical Intha village looks like. Near the end of the video, you will see a group of Inthas working on their boat, standing. Enjoy the scenery of Inle before going there.
In this second video, you can see the Inle’s world famous unique style of fishing. When fishing, Inthas row their boats
Nyaungshwe sight seeing
Nyaungshwe, which is the entrance town to the north of Inle Lake is a laid back town filled with tourists. There are only a few places to see in Nyaungshwe. However, these places are worth a visit while you are in Nyaungshwe.
Museum of Shan Chiefs (Sao Pha)
This teak-and-brick building is the haw (palace) of the 33rd and last Sao Pha (prince) of Nyaungshwe, Sao Shwe Thaike. The museum is situated in the northern part of the town. Inside the museum is the display of the shan furnitures and royal costumes. The walls are
High end luxury hotels and resorts in Inle
Hotels and resorts in Inle Lake tend to be high-end and expensive. Most of them are in the range of US$ 30 – 60 while a few are as expensive as US$ 150 or more. All hotels are built on stilts like floating villages over Inle Lake. They are in the quiet isolated places and quite far away from Nyaungshwe, thus best suited to the travelers who like a tranquil life far away from busy town life. All the hotels have their own web pages and can be booked online. Reservation is recommended especially
Inle Nyaungshwe mid-range hotels
Inle – Nyaungshwe region has a few midrange hotels which offer more comfort than budget hotels with much better facility. All these hotels have private bathrooms with hot-shower, satellite TV, air-con and fridge. The following are the midrange hotels in Inle – Nyaungshwe region.
Nanda Wunn Hotel
This hotel situated in a large quiet compound a few blocks east of the Nyaungshwe Market is only a few bucks more expensive than other budget hotels but the larger, superior bungalows with high ceiling, individual
Where to stay in Inle – Budget hotels & guesthouses
Cheap and budget as well as mid range hotels and guesthouses can be found in Nyaungshwe, the entrance town to Inle. Hotels and resorts on Inle Lake tend to be high end and quite expensive.
Nyaungshwe
Most budget and midrange guesthouses and hotels in Nyaungshwe are family owned and operated. Most of them offer friendly home like warmth to the customers. Most guest houses and hotels will offer off-season discount, but you might be able to negotiate room rate even at peak tourist season. They also act as travel
Inle – How to go
Inle can be reached by a number of ways from either Yangon (Rangoon) or Mandalay. You can get to Inle by air flight, by train or by bus. As Nyaungshwe is the usual dwelling place for most foreign tourists going to Inle, we will describe how to go to Nyaungshwe from other parts of Myanmar (Burma).
By Air
All domestic airlines in Myanmar, namely Air Mandalay, Yangon Airway and Air Bagan, operate daily flights to Heho, a nearby town in Shan State. In peak seasons, there is usually more than one flight a
Inle Lake – Shan State
An Introduction
Inle Lake in Shan State is Myanmar’s second largest inland lake. It measures about 22 km long (North-South) and 11 km wide (East-West). An estimated 100,000 Inthas live on and around Inle Lake. The Inthas speak a dialect of Burmese language. The origin of Inthas is obscured. However, according to a popular Myanmar historical account, they were originally from Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) region from Southern tip of Myanmar. Around 800 years ago, they served in the army of Burmese Kings.
To Shan State
Travel to the east of Mandalay and you will reach Shan State. Shan State is a very large state in Myanmar, the largest actually. It is quite a hilly state with many beautiful places to visit. Great River Thanlwin (Salween) is flowing in the east part of Shan State, dividing it into east and west part.
Not all areas of Shan State are currently open for tourism. The following is a list of tourist destinations in Shan State.
- Nothern Shan State – Nothern Shan State is not a popular tourist destination in Myanmar, except for May Myo (Pyinoolwin, Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin) which actually is in Mandalay Division. However, Maymyo is an entrance to Northern Shan State region. From Myamyo, you can reach towns in Nothern Shan State such as Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Namhsan and Lashio.
- Southern Shan State – a number of popular tourist destinations are in Southern Shan State. Most notable of all is the Inle Lake where Inthas (inhabitants of Inle Lake) row boats with their feet. Near by tourist attractions and destinations include Nyaungshwe and Taunggyi. Other popular destinations such as Kalaw, Aungban and Pindaya are also not far away.
- Eastern Shan State – a relatively unknown destination in Shan State. Kengtun (Kyaingtong) is the capital of this region. Another place to visit is Tachileik on the border with Thailand, opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sai.
There are other towns in Shan State where foreign tourists can travel freely
Myanmar’s Famous and Popular Tourist Attractions
Myanmar is a country rich in history, culture, custom and tradition. It also has a number of tourist attractions, with many more unknown and yet undiscovered tourist attractions. Many of Myanmar’s popular tourist attractions are famous all over the world. The following is a brief description of some of Myanmar’s popular and famous tourist attractions.
Shwedagon Pagoda – Probably the most famous tourist attraction in Myanmar, Shwedagon is synonymous with