Remember Inn, Nyaungshwe (Inle Lake)

I had read from a blog where the author said he booked his hotel through the hotel where he was staying. I decided to do likewise by asking the White House Hotel boss to help me book a room and to make the transport arrangement from Heho Airport to Nyaungshwe.

Remember Inn was a bit far from the jetty where the long boats to Inle Lake were berthed. It was near the town entrance at the North-East end of the town while the jetty was on the North-¬West end of the town.

English is spoken at Remember Inn. On arrival at the hotel, I asked for an air-conditioned single room but was given a fan room. It has hot water. I learnt from another guest that it did not have air-conditioned room because at an elevation of 900 metres, Nyaungshwe has cool weather.

The room was large, airy and clean and it looked like it has just been refurbished recently. Free breakfast was also provided. There was free wifi too. For USD15, it was certainly great value for money.

The white building on the right is Remember Inn

Entrance to Remember Inn. The reception is on the left

Reception. The boss was the guy in spectacles

The common room on the first floor

My room was on the left side

Day 6: Back to Yangon - Encounter with a Timid Taxi Driver; Buying Red Ruby and Blue Sapphire

17 May 2013 (Friday)

The arrangement with Remember Inn was for a taxi to pick me up at 7:30 a.m. My flight was at 9:45 a.m. It would take about an hour to reach the airport in Heho.

When I failed to see the taxi driver at about 7:30 a.m., I got a little worried. The hotel boss assured me that the taxi would be there. Finally, the driver showed up. We walked over to his taxi and when he started the engine, it failed. It was already 7:30 a.m. and I was really worried.

He called for backup and we waited. No taxi came after 10 minutes! The hotel owner raced off on his motorcycle to call him. The taxi finally came, racing towards the hotel. It was a relief. This must be a fast driver, speeding like this. I should be able to make it in time to the airport, or so I thought.

The good feeling lasted only a few minutes. This driver was so timid that even when the road in front was clear and there was only a motorcycle to overtake, he would slow down and horn. Since there were vehicles coming and going all the time, he drove very slowly and practically horned all the way from Nyaungshwe to Heho Airport, horning at buses, cars, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, ox-carts, pedestrians, dogs, cats, mouse and snails. He probably feared that the vehicles or people or snails in front would suddenly swerve into his path and caused an accident. I was very irritated with his slow driving and thought of taking over the wheels from him. Didn't he know horning like that reflect very poor road courtesy? I expect a driver holding a valid driving license would know that.

Fortunately, it did not take one hour but 45 minutes only to reach the airport. I was just in time. I later realised that Myanmarese have a habit of exaggerating the time needed to travel between two points. At Yangon, I was told by OK Travel and Tours that it would take one hour by taxi from White House Hotel to Yangon domestic terminal. The White House owner told me it would take 30 minutes because there was no traffic jam early in the morning. In actual fact, it took only 15 minutes.

Scenic road from Nyaungshwe to Heho Airport

Almost at Heho Airport now ...

Heho Airport

Air KBZ check-in counters at Heho Airport

Inside the departure gate area

Departure gate. Instead of using a public address system to inform passengers it was time for boarding, the placard and an announcement by mouth were employed

The plane took off at 9:30 a.m., earlier than the scheduled time of 9:45 a.m. This time, the plane was at least half-full (or half-empty), not almost empty. Unlike Bagan and Yangon, the passport needed to be checked and boarding pass to be stamped by the Immigration officer to be validated.

Boarding pass which has been stamped by Heho Airport Immigration

Air KBZ crew

The breakfast from Heho to Yangon. The same pastries were served on the Yangon to Bagan Air KBZ flight. It was quite delicious.

Airside of Yangon International Airport

At the Yangon International Airport domestic terminal, there was no transport counter at the arrival hall. I exited the building and someone came over asking whether I needed a taxi. I inquired how much and he quoted me 9,000 Kyat. I agreed and was led to a taxi driver who took me to White House Hotel.

The room I reserved at White House Hotel before I left was not available to me. The owner was fully aware that I would be coming back. The excuse given was the person who was supposed to leave did not do so because tropical storm Mahasen was affecting the weather in the north. I was told there was one last ensuite room on the fifth floor, with windows and was air-conditioned. The price was USD30.

This was the low season and I could have walk out and search for another hotel. Daddy's Home Hotel was just 30 metres away. However, considering that the hotel owner was quite nice and it was only an additional USD5 for one last night, I decided to take it. The room was worse than the already old room I got during my earlier stay, and I have to walk five floors up.

During my earlier stay, I had explored practically the whole stretch of Maha Bandoola Road from 14th Street to Sule Pagoda. At Anawrahta Road, I had explored west of Konzaydan Street. This time, I decided to walk on Anawrahta Road east of Konzaydan Street. What a discovery as I explored the area.

The pink route indicated the streets that I explored in Yangon. The total distance I walked was close to 20 kilometres, based on the record indicated in the tracks on my Garmin eTrex 20.

Sule Pagoda seen from the overhead bridge at the junction of Sule Pagoda Road and Anawrahta Road

The first thing I did was to take my lunch at a Muslim restaurant with no English sign.

The Muslim restaurant without an English name

As I continued walking east, I saw Innwa Cold Drinks and Confectionery restaurant patronised by a young crowd and went in for my second lunch. Next door was a fully crowded Shwe Htoo Restaurant, patronised mostly by older men. A well-patronised restaurant meant the food must be good, cheap and fresh. I have to come back to this restaurant that night.

Shwe Htoo Restaurant was a really popular place for the ordinary Myanmarese

As I continued walking east, I saw the famous Nilar Biryani and Cold Drink Restaurant. I have been looking out for this restaurant since Day 1 and now that I have found it, I have to come here the next day.

That afternoon, I went to New Bogyoke Market. Most of the stalls were selling pharmaceutical products. It was located directly opposite Bogyoke Market across Bogyoke Aung San Road. Later, I went to Bogyoke Market to hunt for souvenirs and cheap ruby and sapphire to take home.

"Common Mistakes in English" was a gem. I relied on it with another grammar book
to improve my English in lower secondary school.

Most stalls were selling pharmaceutical products at New Bogyoke Market

New Bogyoke Market

The overhead bridge links New Bogyoke Market to Bogyoke Market

During my earlier stay in Yangon, I had asked the White House owner for tips about buying ruby and other precious stones and their prices. He told me that jewelleries sold at Bogyoke Market come with genuine precious stones, not imitations, but the prices could be cheap because of their inferior grade (I was told by Aung Su Wint, the co-owner at Mya Thida Hotel in Bagan that it cost more money to produce artificial stones than genuine stones!!!). For a non-expert, it would be impossible to know the quality of the stones. He told me the best stones are kept in the showrooms of the company owners in their mansions and only oversea gem traders and experts with millions of dollars to spend would get to see these high quality stones. Those sold at Bogyoke Market and the Gems Museum were of lower quality. Most stones were mined around Mandalay.

First floor, Bogyoke Market

Jewellery shop at Bogyoke Market

Along the central aisle at Bogyoke Market, both sides were lined with jewellery shops

Outside Bogyoke Market

Abandoned Yangon Railway building

Day 5: Beautiful Inle (Inlay) Lake

16 May 2013 (Thursday)

The boatman (or rather boy) came to fetch us at Remember Inn. We left for the jetty at 7:30 a.m. on foot. The weather was mildly hot. Rain could be expected. Tropical storm Mahasen would be making landfall over Bangladesh today and its effect would be felt around here.

The boat boy leading the way

At a small shop near the jetty, he bought a big container of fuel and brought it to his long boat

Click to enlarge Inle Lake map obtained from Remember Inn

The route to Thaung Tho Market and Thaung Tho Pagoda was on the right and the return route on the left. Names in block letters were waypoints where we stopped. Click to enlarge.

The boat left the jetty at 7:55 a.m.

At 10:12 a.m. we reached the river mouth of Inle Lake

The scenery I was hopping to find did not materialise. I had wanted to see clear blue sky casting mirror images of the houses on stilts in calm water. It was too much to hope for. The lake and canal were choppy. The sky was for most part cloudy. Nevertheless, at certain parts of the lake, it was so picturesque. The eyes could see a vast expanse of beautiful scenery but the camera could only capture a small section of it. It was really beautiful and amazing.

He was not rowing with his leg

Reaching the end of our journey to Thaung Tho Pagoda and Market. This was our first and farthest stop from Nyaungshwe. From there, we would return and stop at other places of interest

At 9:54 a.m., we landed at the bank and walked to Thaung Tho Market

Most of the vendors had left ... it was only 10:00 a.m. and the market was already at the end of market day. If I had known that the market was closing this early, I would not have bothered coming here. It was 35 kilometres away from Nyaungshwe jetty based on my Garmin eTrex reading

Thaung Tho Pagoda was just a short walk away from the market

The lions guarding the old entrance to Thaung Tho Pagoda

Inside Thaung Tho Pagoda

Stupas at Thaung Tho Pagoda

On the way back, the weather was not kind to us. It was the effect of tropical storm Mahasen. In the distant, rain could be seen falling. We had no choice but to cancel the visit to Indein Pagoda, one of the places I have come to see at Inle Lake. I was sure that this was an excuse given by the boatman because he seemed reluctant to bring us there. Earlier, just as we were departing Nice Restaurant where we had lunch for our next intended destination of Indein Pagoda, he explained through a restaurant staff that the distant to Indein Pagoda was not far but it would take one hour one way to walk there from the jetty or two hours to and fro. I was disappointed.

At 10:50 a.m., we left Thaung Tho Market

12:10 p.m., we had lunch at Nice Restaurant

View from Nice Restaurant

View from Nice Restaurant

1:05 p.m., we arrived at Paung Daw Oo Pagoda

Strange scripts is written above the Bamar scripts

 At our last stop at the Jumping Cat Monastery (the formal name is Nga Phe Chaung Monastery), heavy rain came. As shoes were not allowed into the monastery, I had left them in the boat. Just as a boy was passing me my shoes, they dropped into the lake.

At 2:05 p.m., we arrived at Jumping Cat Monastery or formally known as Nga Phe Chaung Monastery

The cats have decided to stop jumping for the tourists. They must be fed up with the inconsiderate tourists.

Fortunately, the rain lasted a short time only. It was during the rain that I saw how beautiful the scenery was at one end of the monastery where the two rows of souvenir stalls stood. The two girls were able to return to Nyaungshwe well in time to catch their bus to Yangon at 6:30 p.m.

Rain, rain, go away ...

At 2:45 p.m., we left Nga Phe Chaung Monastery back to Nyaungshwe

The scenery at Inle Lake is changing. It will only accelerate. With more income, it can only be expected that the local people will want to build better homes, instead of building houses using woven bamboo and leaves. Houses with zinc roofing have already made their appearances and it wouldn't be long before the traditional houses disappear for good. Visit Myanmar before it turns into another Sarawak with no traditional longhouses left.