Good morning. Welcome to Inle Lake. The unique floating villages of Inle Lake make it one
of the most popular sights in all of Myanmar. With stunning nature, buzzing local industry
and some even more unexpected gems on the ground. So whether you choose to explore by
boat or bike, these are the top things you need to see. And trust me. There is a lot.
Inle is the 2nd largest lake in Myanmar, so obviously the most popular thing to do is
to take a longboat tour around the sights. But to see the lake in it’s best light I
recommend starting early. Really early. We ended up beating both the crowds and the sun,
but we were still greeted by a couple of local fishermen who put on quite a performance.
The iconic leg rowing fishermen, are synonymous with Inle. But don’t expect to see them
do any actual fishing. They’ve obviously figured what the tourists really want. The
best photos possible. It was a slightly awkward experience, but it made for a good montage.
After the lads moved on, we watched the sun rise over the mountaintops. And we got our
first proper look at the lake. It is incredibly peaceful out here. Everything is so still.
The sun is up. Let’s go and see some sights. Our boatman took us towards the first of the
floating villages on the lake. Inle is home to the Intha people who live in incredible
stilted houses on the water. It’s really interesting floating around all of the little
villages on the lake and seeing how people just live their entire lives on the water.
You’ve got kids going to school in boats, their school is there on the water. You’ve
got markets, gardens, temples and of course you’ve got all of the industry as well.
An entire way of life. There is quite a set route of tourist sights on the lake. We started
out at a traditional silversmith. Where we were greeted with a lovely cup of tea before
they face us a short tour of the shop. But we actually got there so early that the silversmith
himself hadn't even arrived yet. So our first stop was at a local silversmith and now we
are at the 5 day rotating market. Which as it’s name suggests moves around the lake
on different days of the week. These days the market is mainly for tourists so it is
a good place to pick up some local crafts as souvenirs. Next we moved onto one of Inle’s
many textile workshops, where they weave cloth out of fibres from a lotus plant. These days
Inle is one of the only places in the world where you can see this practice take place.
And the machines themselves are pretty mesmerising to watch. We even stopped to see some cigar
making, where every worker rolls about 500 cigars a day by hand, using completely natural
ingredients. But my highlight of the boat tour was at the very last stop. Hidden off
the main lake down some beautiful little estuaries, we walked on land to the village of Indein.
Made famous by a vast, ruined temple complex. We’ve just taken a short walk away from
the boat to the temples of Indein. Which are a thousand pagodas which are all ruined like
this. Really cool! The pagodas are believed to date back to the 17th or 18th century and
most of them haven’t been restored at all since then. Making for a real unspoilt site
and you can explore all of the little entrances and enclaves to find the hidden treasures
within. Proper Indiana Jones vibes now. The further you head up the hill the more intact
the pagodas become. They’re still really impressive. And this isn’t the only sight
to see off the lake. In fact, renting a bike is an equally great way to explore the area.
The main tourist town on the lake is Nuangshwe, where a simple gear bike will cost you as
little as £2 for the day. Hello there! Hi! And once you get out of town there are some
beautiful views of the countryside. This has actually been the coldest place we’ve been
in South East Asia so far especially in the mornings and evenings. So it’s about 9am
now and we’re going to check out the local hot spring. Just outside the Village of Khaung
Daing, natural hot springs are channelled into 3 different pools kept at various temperatures.
It’s quite a small place, but perfect for some relaxation. Unexpected gems of Myanmar
part 75. There’s even a bar where you can order drinks or food. A great start to our
day of cycling. They are actually open from 5am here which I imagine is an amazing time
to come when it’s really cold. But this will do just nicely. Just across the road
from the hot spring are these steps that lead up to a temple that should have a really good
view over the area. You can see right over to the lake from here. Awesome view. We cycled
on to another unexpected gem: the village of Kuang Daing. A place entirely dedicated
to making tofu. We had a guide called Yam who showed us all of the hidden corners and
secrets of the village. Every market stall, every house, was preparing a different kind
of tofu related snack. From savoury crisps to sweet donut like desserts which was really
interesting to see being made. And the samples just kept on flowing. After we were done eating
tofu, we couldn’t really be bothered to cycle all the way back to town, so we grabbed
a lift with one of the villagers and we got some extra views of the beautiful lake. The
next morning, we cycles out to one more stop. Something that we really wanted to see. One
thing I didn’t expect to find in rural Myanmar is a vineyard. The Red Mountain Estate was
founded in 2002 and the grounds are stunning. Offering amazing views over the countryside.
We did the wine tasting which is actually something I’ve never done before. They had
both reds and whites, which I thought were pretty nice. But I’m no expert despite how
qualified I look here. We spent the evening looking over the views of the mountains and
the lake in the distance. Which was the perfect ending to our time in Inle. Thank you so much
for watching this video if you’ve enjoyed following us around Inle Lake please leave
a like on this video and subscribe to the channel. There will be some more videos coming
soon. I’ll see you then.