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Nestled at an elevation of 3000
feet, between two parallel mountain ranges, giant fresh water INLE LAKE offers the true taste and color of Old Burma. Here you will spend much of your time traveling by longboat from place to place, visiting huge intricately-carved teakwood temples and whole villages on waterlogged stilts. Few experiences in Myanmar could be more restful than gliding though the clear water as you enjoy the beauty of these far-flung Shan States.
Your private car, driver and guide meet you at charming Heho Airport and drive you across a richly verdant mountain range down into the Inle Valley. On the way, stop to take a peek at the Hot Springs near your hotel on the lake -- you may wish to return later for a luxuriant soak with the locals (there is a private foreigners' pool, but it is not as much fun as chatting with the local Shan bathers). Arrive at your hotel in time to have a traditional massage in your room, given by a local villager. Dine at the hotel restaurant, famous for its excellent Burmese, Indian and French cuisine. If you'd like company, you may invite your guide to join you for dinner.
Don't feel lazy and want to spend the afternoon sightseeing with your guide and
a private boat? You can do that if we know in advance.
Your guide is waiting at 9:00 to
escort you to your private longboat. If it's a market day, you will visit the lakeside market first, followed by a stop at Indein Pagoda, with its kilometer-long corridor of handicraft vendors and its 16th Century funeral stupas. Then a short ride to the Inn Thar Lay Restaurant for a taste of the local delicacies. After lunch, you are ferried across the narrow waterway to visit the most sacred structure on the lake, the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda with its famous five small Buddhas, the lake's guardians. Then you visit a floating weaving factory and glide through the extensive Floating Gardens to the aptly named Jumping Cat Monastery, where cats have been taught by the monks to jump through hoops. Return to the hotel via the Tha Le Oo Pagoda. Dinner at the hotel again (it is not possible to dine elsewhere as all hotels and restaurants are reached by water and the longboats stop running at dusk).
If you are flying onward to Yangon, your airport
return will leave in the morning.
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INCLUDES
private airport transportation accommodation with daily breakfast guided sightseeing by boat  Inle's famous oarsman use their muscular legs for rowing
special festivals A Shan Buddha adorned with bejeweled vestments
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Where We Shine: