Page 252 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

250 INLE LAKE AND THE EAST NYAUNGSHWE
INLE LAKE ENTRY FEE
There’s a $10 entry fee to the Inle Lake area, payable in either dollars or kyat; this is most
commonly levied at a booth as you approach Nyaungshwe from the north. Your bus, taxi or
pick-up driver will pull over (he’ll get into trouble if he doesn’t), and you may not even have to
leave your seat during the purchase process. Those hiking in from Kalaw probably won’t have
to pay, and in any case you almost certainly won’t be required to show your entry ticket at any
time after purchase.
6
far ridden these changes well, and with its lazy charm barely diluted it remains one of
Myanmar’s most enjoyable places to kick back for a few days, or longer, helped by a
good selection of accommodation in all price ranges and an excellent range of places
to eat and drink.
Top of most visitors’ bucket lists, naturally, is the memorable boat trip out onto Inle
Lake itself (see box, p.260), easily arranged at just about any guesthouse, hotel or travel
agent around town. In Nyaungshwe itself attractions include the enjoyable Mingalar
Market, the splendid old royal teak mansion now housing the town’s Cultural Museum,
and some pretty monasteries, while just outside town you’ll find the personable Shwe
Yaunghwe Kyaung and the idyllic Red Mountain Winery. It’s also easy and very
enjoyable to take off by bike around Inle Lake for an alternative, land-side view of the
waters, with possible destinations including the pretty village of Maing Thauk and the
hot springs of Khaung Daing.
Nyaungshwe gets particularly busy during the Fire-Balloon Festival in nearby
Taunggyi (see box, p.264), which takes place in November, and during the Phaung
Daw Oo Paya Festival (September/October).

Mingalar Market
Daily 6am–5pm
Despite being slap-bang in the centre of eastern Myanmar’s biggest tourist
honeypot, Mingalar Market offers an enjoyable and surprisingly authentic
slice of local life – rather more authentic and less touristed, in fact, than some
of the Inle Lake markets, although things do get busy when the rotating five-day
market (see box, p.241) arrives in town, taking up every available space in
the market itself and spilling out onto the surrounding streets. At other times the
market remains a low-key affair, with ramshackle stalls set below low-flying ropes
and sagging sheets of tarpaulin, along with dozens of local seamstresses hunched
over old-fashioned, pedal-operated sewing machines. There are also plenty of
colourful food and flower stalls, manned (or, more accurately, womaned) by the
local Shan and Intha who descend daily on the market to sell their wares, seated
behind piles of tea leaves, watermelons, pumpkins, avocados and dangling hands of
huge red bananas. The market’s one concession to tourism is an interesting little
cluster of handicraft stalls on its eastern side, selling a good selection of Shan-style
jewellery, traditional palm-leaf books, tattoo sticks, opium scales and pipes,
traditional puppets and so on.

Yadana Man Aung Paya
• Entrances on Main Rd & Phaung Daw Side Rd • Daily 6am–9pm • Free, though small donation expected
The Yadana Man Aung Paya is the most interesting of the Buddhist monuments
dotting the centre of Nyaungshwe, centred on a brilliantly gilded eight-tier
octagonal golden stupa planted on a tall square base. Inside, four Buddhas sit at the
cardinal points amid a quaint medley of assorted bric-a-brac displayed in glass cases,
including opulent antique lacquerware, metalwork, figurines and opium pipes.