The trek started the following morning leaving right from the guesthouse and heading directly into the hills. The first morning of trekking wasn't very exciting as all we did was walk along a dirt road and didn't pass through and villages; but the lunch spot was great providing superb views of the country side and some nearby villages (it was appropriately named Viewpoint). The afternoon was much better as we got to pass through 2 villages before reaching the one that we were spending the night in and we got to meet several local people and learn about their way of life. The villages were very interesting see although it seemed like they were starting to develop more quickly: in every village most of the bamboo houses had been replaced by brick houses, there was a central point of running water (instead of having to walk a long distance to streams in the dry season) and most even had electricity (if only for a short while a night).
The second day was similar to the first although a lot longer, and passing through more villages. Having to cover 22 km in one day and not getting an early start meant that we arrived at our next destination a little after nightfall. A shame as it meant that we couldn't really see the monastery that we spent the night in before we stayed there and we missed seeing the monks evening prayers. The day was a very nice trek though even if it was fairly long as we again saw more ethnic villages (mostly the same tribes from yesterday) and the scenery continued to be fairly spectacular, even if it was slightly like a desert from being so dry.
The final day of the trek was supposed to be fairly short and quick as the last hour and a half was a boat trip along Inle Lake to the town of Nyaungshwe which is where most of the guesthouses are located. However, the last section of trekking took a little longer than anticipated due to one of our group members having developed huge blisters on her feet the day before and being in too much pain to talk very quickly (no matter what we did to try and fix her feet). To add to the long day we didn't pass through any villages or see anything new except for new desert like scenery. As a result the final day of trekking wasn't as enjoyable as the first two.
At Inle Lake I spent a couple of days touring around the area. The first day there we took a boat ride along the entire lake and through a twisty canal to another lake further south (called Sunkar I think). Once here we visited a couple of old monasteries that were built on the edge of the lake and a village where they produced rice wine, the only such place in the area. But the best feature of the day was the boat ride across the lake and through the canal which took nearly 3 hours each way. While cruising along here we saw several floating gardens, hundreds of fishermen and several small villages built over the water with houses on stilts.
The next day we just rented bicycles and toured around the beautiful countryside seeing people working in the fields, a few more villages built on the edge of the lake and lots of people just going about their daily life. It was a nice relaxing day with the highlight definitely being the scenic countryside.
The next day I didn't really have much time to do any sightseeing as I was taking the bus at noon to head back south to Bago (near Yangon). Before I booked this bus though I made sure that it was a full proper bus and that I would be comfortable for this journey and when I got on the bus I wasn't disappointed. It resulted in a much more enjoyable journey to Bago, the next entry.
An old man sitting in his house in a village smoking a Cheroot (local cigar).
Some kids making music in one of the villages. The instruments of choice were a section of plastic pipe with some leather over it for a drum, and sections of bamboo that they could hit together.
An ox pulled cart coming up the path, pretty much the only method of transportation in the hills other than walking.
Some local people returning to their village from Inle Lake after they had stocked up on supplies and carried them all the way back (at least 12 km at this point).
Some kids playing in the lake while also taking a bath and washing some water buffalo. Note the one kid that is riding the water buffalo as he cleans it.
A fisherman on the lake. Notice that he's paddling his boat using his leg, something that all of the fishermen there do.
A little girl at the rice winery playing with a puppy.
Some stupas rising up out of the lake from one of the many temples around Inle Lake.
A family in their canoe outside of their house complete with the little boy peeking out from behind mom.
An old lady taking a break and smoking cheroot.
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