After 5 hours of walking down the hill we finally arrived in Inle lake and enjoyed a nice lunch and said goodbye to Pyu, who put us on a boat to Nyang Shwe, the main touristy town in Inle lake.

I sat on the boat With Zarina, Kam, Joke, Shea, and Jayden and enjoyed a very relaxing boat ride along the lake. 



As we rode we were able to see the iconic Inle Lake fisherman. 



It wasn’t until I reached my hostel that they told me that all the fishermen are now fake!!! The cone basket method of fishing has been gone for a long time so now these fisherman pose for the tourists and expect a 500-1,000 kyats tip!

We finally arrived in Nyang Shwe and some people decided to walk to their hostels, Kam and I were indecisive on whether to walk or get a tuktuk but then Ines and Oliver went with the tuk tuk and we joined. For 1,000kyats each we were dropped off at our hostel and saved our feet!

We stayed in a super cool hostel called “Song of Travel”, the building has the shape of a boombox and the service was exceptional!

The first day we decided to just relax, Kam spent the first 2 hours trying to find her backpack since Ever Smile (the company we used for the hike) messed up and dropped it off somewhere else. We weren’t really able to locate it so at the end the company sent a worker to get Kam and go from hostel to hostel to find her backpack. The funny thing is that in Inle lake (and Bagan) tourists are not allowed to go on a local’s bike so the man made kam cover herself up and put a hat to avoid getting caught by the police... quite funny... and eventually Kam did find her backpack in a different hotel! yeay!

The next day we had a lazy morning and then decided to take advantage of the free bike rentals from our hostel and went around town.

As we were riding we found Shea and decided to go together to the central market.

Betel leaves

Man spitting out the bettel nut!

Haircut... anyone?

Kam wanted to go check out the caves and I said I would go if the path was flat but towards the end it wasn’t. As I was going down the hill I realized that my free bike rental came with no brakes!!!!!! (nor helmet) I am not an expert biker and I really struggled trying to stop but thankfully I ended the trip in one piece.

After grabbing lunch with people from our hike we went to the one and only winery in town to watch the sunset.

The wine tasters

Our last group selfie... missing Shea, gained a random girl!

We ended the night eating Indian food and going to a  bar with good margaritas!

View from our first stop.

On my 3rd day in Inle lake Kam left after 10 super fun days of traveling together. That morning I left the hostel at 5:30am and couldn’t say a proper goodbye to her, good thing we have technology!

My day started with a very chilly boat ride to go check out sunrise and the fake fisherman with the cone baskets. The view was actually beautiful but still a little sad that everything is just for show. 

I took too many pictures of the fisherman!

We then continued to the 5-day market, a market that keeps changing its location depending on the day of the week.

Basket seller

Having a warm breakfast

My breakfast

The next stop was at a cigar rolling place, a very popular item in Myanmar!

We then went to Thuang Tho Pagoda and walked up 500 or so stairs to the top of the hill. The pagoda looked like every other pagoda in Mandalay… nothing exciting!

By then it was lunch time and we stopped at a local’s house for lunch.



 After lunch we were taken on a traditional canoe for a ride around the village.

My face!!!! haha

Washing clothes!

Look at those skills... she is paddling with her legs!

By then I just wanted to go back to the hostel and relax but we still stopped at a Lotus weaving place. I had no idea that people could actually get thread from the lotus stem!!! It was so amazing so see the process of how they make the thread. 



The lotus is so unique and so expensive, it costs 7times more than silk!

I usually don’t buy anything but the weavings were actually really nice and I ended up buying a big shall/ blanket/ scarf/ everything in one (NOT made of Lotus) for a decent price and as a souvenir of my good times in Myanmar.

The last stop was at a bridge who looked kust like the U-Bein bridge in Mandalay. When we got there I was totally asleep and I had no desire to walk it so I said I didn’t want to get off and neither were the other two in the tour so we went back and that was the end of the tour… Thank goodness!

For dinner I went out to an Indian restaurant with Zarina and Jayden, the food was amazing! and the owner the funniest guy I have ever come accross in a restaurant! The place was really small but full of customers (he even asks you if you have a reservation!) and when we were ready to go we asked to pay and he brought us paper and asked us to do the bill ourselves! haha

On my last day I was excited to do nothing and just relax but as I woke up and got off  bed some other people in the dorm asked me if I was going to the Burmese wedding! I had no idea about the wedding but how could I pass on the opportunity? So I quickly put on clothes, checked out of the room and went on a tuktuk with the other 20 people going to this wedding.

tuk tuk number one! All ready for the wedding!

Well, the wedding was kind of disappointing because it was only the reception at a local restaurant. I actually wanted to see what a real traditional Burmese ceremony was like but the reception was interesting. Every lady was wearing beautiful longhis and the bride and groom walked around the restaurant the whole time saying hi to people. 

The hostel's guests!

Bride and groom

A little guest

After the wedding we all went back to the hostel and I just hung out at the lobby until 4pm when I was picked up for my 14 hour bus to Hpa-An!