The Lake
I arrived in Nyaungshwe at 4am to once again be greated by taxi drivers. Though they were calm and non of that normal craziness. They told me they had a friend with a cheap hostel that had both wifi and hot water - sold! Best of all they checked me in straight away for some sleep.
I got up and hired a bicycle for 1000 Kyat (7 SEK/ €0.70) and cycled around the area. I took a few wrong turns and ended up in little local villages that were absolute stunning.
I decided to head up to the winery or close to it to watch the sunset. Before heading to the local night market for dinner.
The next day ended up being one of my favourite days here in Burma. I got up at 6.30am and headed out in the refreshing 6 degrees and towards the lake where I spent 6 hours with a driver going around the little villages. I paid 15000 Kyat (97 SEK/ €9.70) for the day and it was really worth the early start seeing that I managed to get to the stops before most of the other tourists.
First we passed by some fishermen, the first few just at the beginning of the opening to the lake were just for show and simply posed for photos in return for money.
But shortly after we got to the real fishermen and I got some much better pictures of the real deal then the fakes.
Our first proper stop was at Maing Thouk market which was a short walk from the dock.
The market really had it all, from a few souvenir stands to fruit and vegetables, clothes, fish and meat.
The next stop was Inn Paw Khan - a weaving factory producing lotus, cotton and silk products. They showed me around and told me how they make the products.
After we headed to the black smith in Se Kaung where they showed me how the make silver jewellery from scratch, all made by hand. We also went next door to the cigar market where they once again showed me how to make traditional cigars.
We headed for lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the Paung Daw Oo Pagoda which I then walked over to and exploreda bit more.
Our next to final stop was to visit the long neck women opposite Yuva Ma Pagoda.
They start wearing the necklaces at the age of 9, at that time the necklace weighs 4kg. They keep increasing the number of rings as they grow until they get to their 20s and have 25 rings, weighing close to 8kg.
Finally we stopped at a floating monastery, which I've forget the name of, but was beautiful.
On the way back we stopped by the fishermen one more time.
The trip took me 6.5 hours but could be longer (or shorter) if you wanted to stay longer in each place. It was one of the best excursions I have been on during my trip!
The next day it was time for me to continue down south and as I sat waiting for my pick up at the hostel I got to chatting with one of the daughters of the owner. She told me that there are still a few states in Myanmar that are closed to tourists and with the new government election recently taking place her biggest fear was that they would close down more states.
As I got picked up in a little tuk tuk all the three sisters got out and waved me off after I promised that I would recommend their hotel, Friday Inn (which you can't find anywhere online, just show up, and is one of the cheapest ones in the area) and of course witha promise that I would be back. After that a very uncomfortable 11 hour bus ride to Yangon followed.
I got up and hired a bicycle for 1000 Kyat (7 SEK/ €0.70) and cycled around the area. I took a few wrong turns and ended up in little local villages that were absolute stunning.
I decided to head up to the winery or close to it to watch the sunset. Before heading to the local night market for dinner.
The next day ended up being one of my favourite days here in Burma. I got up at 6.30am and headed out in the refreshing 6 degrees and towards the lake where I spent 6 hours with a driver going around the little villages. I paid 15000 Kyat (97 SEK/ €9.70) for the day and it was really worth the early start seeing that I managed to get to the stops before most of the other tourists.
First we passed by some fishermen, the first few just at the beginning of the opening to the lake were just for show and simply posed for photos in return for money.
But shortly after we got to the real fishermen and I got some much better pictures of the real deal then the fakes.
Our first proper stop was at Maing Thouk market which was a short walk from the dock.
The market really had it all, from a few souvenir stands to fruit and vegetables, clothes, fish and meat.
The next stop was Inn Paw Khan - a weaving factory producing lotus, cotton and silk products. They showed me around and told me how they make the products.
After we headed to the black smith in Se Kaung where they showed me how the make silver jewellery from scratch, all made by hand. We also went next door to the cigar market where they once again showed me how to make traditional cigars.
We headed for lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the Paung Daw Oo Pagoda which I then walked over to and exploreda bit more.
Our next to final stop was to visit the long neck women opposite Yuva Ma Pagoda.
They start wearing the necklaces at the age of 9, at that time the necklace weighs 4kg. They keep increasing the number of rings as they grow until they get to their 20s and have 25 rings, weighing close to 8kg.
Finally we stopped at a floating monastery, which I've forget the name of, but was beautiful.
On the way back we stopped by the fishermen one more time.
The trip took me 6.5 hours but could be longer (or shorter) if you wanted to stay longer in each place. It was one of the best excursions I have been on during my trip!
The next day it was time for me to continue down south and as I sat waiting for my pick up at the hostel I got to chatting with one of the daughters of the owner. She told me that there are still a few states in Myanmar that are closed to tourists and with the new government election recently taking place her biggest fear was that they would close down more states.
As I got picked up in a little tuk tuk all the three sisters got out and waved me off after I promised that I would recommend their hotel, Friday Inn (which you can't find anywhere online, just show up, and is one of the cheapest ones in the area) and of course witha promise that I would be back. After that a very uncomfortable 11 hour bus ride to Yangon followed.
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