Above: Sightseeing boats on the river at Nyaung Shwe.
I woke at 0530. As I left the hotel the monks were on their rounds collecting their food. The ride to Bagan Airport took about 15 minutes and the place was very quiet when I first arrived. It didn’t take long before busloads of older western tourists arrived.
There were heaps of flights coming and going about the same time. Our flight was delayed by about 30 minutes due to weather at Heho Airport (the gateway to Inle Lake). It was great knowing that the 30 minute flight was instead of about 10 hours on a bus.
Upon arrival, I shared a taxi to Nyaung Shwe with the retired Dutch couple whom I met on the boat from Mandalay to Bagan a few days back. That saved me a fair bit of money as it was a long ride (nearly an hour) and cost about USD30.
I had booked by phone a room at the Gold Star Hotel for the first night; they couldn’t take me on the second but could take me on the third. With a stroke of luck, they told me that they’ve had a cancellation and I can now stay for all three nights. Packing and moving is a real hassle when one wants to be out and about sightseeing.
Nyaung Shwe turned out to be a rather nice laid back town by the river (which feeds into Inle Lake). I spent the day chilling and enquiring about boat trips to the lake. I was advised not to go tomorrow but the day after when the markets are better; different villages have their market days rotating on a 5-day cycle.
The Inle River at Nyaung Shwe.