Holiday in Myanmar - Inle Lake
From Bagan we flew to Heho airport before the drive to the town of Nyaung Shwe - the gateway village of Inle Lake. We then boarded our private motorboat and headed out to Inle Lake.
Inle Lake is famed for its leg rowing fisherman, but it was the hilltribe people at the morning market that was the highlight for me. The market rotates its location around the lake's villages in a 5 day circuit and local hilltribe villagers come to sell and trade their wares.
In a case of "it's the early bird that catches the worm", our guide suggested we get up early for the market and miss breakfast at the hotel - we were definitely there at the right time when the market was abuzz with hilltribe people. We spent a couple hours there - chatting with locals, making some purchases and of course taking plenty of beautiful photos.
Many of the hilltribe people were finishing for the day as we were leaving and most of the other tourists were arriving. We then enjoyed a lovely meal at a restaurant - much better to miss breakfast than that experience.
We also visited local villages and their floating gardens by dugout canoe and saw local silk weavers and artisans at work.