Inle Lake Hotel Reviews
Inle Lake and its surrounding area felt like stepping back to a bygone era. The beauty of the lake is a compelling enough reason to visit, but the sight of traditional crafts such as cigar rolling, boat making & steel hammering are fascinating for both adults and children alike. If you are a photographer bring lots and lots of film/digital cards! As with most places though in South East Asia today, however, you feel that its only a matter of time, before traditional methods succumb to drive of the tourist dollar.
Lake itself is great. We liked most Indein on market day. Worth spending two or three days. Wonderful and one of the best things to do in Myanmar is the trek from Indein to Kalaw (or the other way) which takes 2-3 days.
Inle Lake is worth a visit, the craft houses are very interesting. Be sure to take enough film, up could use a roll of film alone in just one market. And bring sun block too, the sun is strong at this elevation. The only place in Myanmar where you can access Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts is at the InleBlooms Coffee Shop in town. You can read your mail, but must send thru another website that the coffee shop owner has set up.
In Inle do not miss the absolutely fascinating and colourful Nampan Market (market day is once every five days). The Bamboo hats might come in handy on the sunny boat rides on the lake.
We rented a boat and the driver showed us the most important sights around the lake-the jumping cat monastery, a silver smith, an umbrella manufactory and a silk manufactory.
Inle is amazing. Make sure to visit the weaving factories at the southern end of the lake. Also take lots of film--it is hard to imagine any place more photogenic.
On arrival from the airport, we made a detour to Pindaya caves before checking into the hotel. This was worth the effort and cost $10 extra for the 4 hour trip. We hired a boat through the resort (this could also have been done locally for half the cost) and spent a full day seeing the best parts of the lake. The boatman took us to all the sights that we wanted and also several tourist traps (cigar makers, cotton-weavers, blacksmiths, silversmiths) although no-one pushed us very hard to buy anything. InDein is the most impressive sight on the lake and should not be missed. Jumping cat monastry is also fun.
The lake is very interesting and boat trips to see all the industries and farming activities that happen in the villages on the lake can easily be arranged. We were advised to eat only rice at the local restaurants but actually did not eat anywhere else but our hotel.
Inle Lake is magical. One of the most beautiful places on Earth. The day long boat ride around the lake to different villages was extremely enjoyable and relaxing. Just be sure to wear lots of sunscreen. The Burmese people are lovely.