After 18(!) strenuous hours on a not very comfortable bus from Rangoon we arrived in Nyaungshwe, the main village of the Inle region, about 5km north of the lake. On the first day we had to recover from the bus ride so we just spent a relaxed day in the village. Nyaunshwe is in fact geared towards tourism, but there were not many tourists around. It is quite an attractive place with some picturesque pagodas and canals. In the afternoon we spent two relaxed hours on a canoe (1000kyat) and the driver calmly rowed us through a maze of canals in a rural idyll. We visited a monastery on the way and observed the everyday life on the water.
On the second day we did the usual Inle Lake boat trip (7000 kyat for the boat). The lake is surrounded by mountains whose slopes are dotted with pagodas. Our first stop was the floating market of Ywama, pretty much a tourist trap, but nice to look and the village is very attractive. The second stop and highlight of the day was the visit to Indein, a village that can be reached from the lake via a canal in half an hour. It is the site of hundreds of ancient, unrestored stupas. A very atmospheric place; from a hilltop nearby there are wonderful views over the site and the surroundings. After a tasty lunch (grilled fish, 1200kyat) in a restaurant near Phaung Daw U Pagoda, we visited the floating gardens where the locals plant vegetables on the lake. Then we stopped at the 'Jumping Cat Monastery', where monks taught the cats to jump through rings, an event which ecstasied locals and tourists alike, which I really could not understand. The excursion ended with a swim in the shallow but pleasantly cool lake.