DAY TRIP TO SANKAR

One day trip to Sankar? 

Sankar is located at the southern end of Inle Lake. It believe it has only been open to visitors since 2003 and it still does not attract as many visitors as other areas reachable around the lake, but it is definitely worth your while to do this trip. A long winding canal connects the southernmost tip of Inle with a reservoir near the village of Sankar. Running through the water here is the remnants of an old irrigation canal, made of sand and lime over 500 years ago for a settlement ruled buy a Shan chief.

It is approximately two hours journey up river (25 kilometers ) from our hotel. You will need to pay for a guide ($25), plus $5.00 each for border fees, the the boat for the day is US$70.00, a little expensive but well worth it, allow a day to do this trip. Trips to Sankar can be arranged through Golden Island Cottage.

 
Restoration of some of the monasteries long this river between the two lakes are being restored and funded by private  individuals from other countries. We saw quite a few plaques with the names of those who have donated funds for their restoration. So nice to know that in a country such as this there are those who care enough to disregard the embargo's to help this country preserve it's heritage, otherwise these marvelous monuments would just crumble and decay until there was nothing left, how fortunate we are to see these marvelous structures.

 

This gentleman is the toll master, he drops a tin through the bridge at the Sankar border to collect the toll from those who wish to pass under the bridge.

 

This picture is taken at the border, we saw the Shan ladies in traditional costume, not for the tourist either, but they were very shy, so we didn't photograph them.

 Our guide called this the mud market - wear your wellies if you want to look at this one. They only sell local produce

This old building, our guide told us was a former Shan King's palace, it is in now in ruins, maybe a fire gutted it. The Buddhas inside are probably from another pagoda, although our guide said they were originally from this palace.

Saw so many pagodas have forgotten many of their names, but these are hard to avoid on this trip

The Royal Barge

One can easily slip into into a relaxing trance along this river, observing this beautiful peaceful landscape. You can pretty well choose whatever you want to look at along this river, we just had to ask. Further up the river there is a brewery making a local spirit, pretty interesting just to have a look at how they do it. There is a very nice clear lagoon in this area great for a swim and to cool off.

  The alcohol distilled in this distillery is made from a special red rice from this area 

An extremely nice day, relaxing and soul reviving. 

 

Myanmar - a good read

 

AROUND INLE LAKE

The four days we stayed in Inle Lake fortunately coincided with the day the floating market was active, it is held every five days. There were very few tourists when we visited this market, although I believe in peak season it can become very crowded. There is a lot of pressure to buy, but at no time did we experience any animosity or bad will for just looking. The bartering was done in a jovial manner and not buying didn't bring on long faces, as it often does in other tourist destinations throughout Asia. Most of our activities were done by boat as are most of the activities by the inhabitants of this lake area. "Quite amazing really, suburbia on water, Asian version of Venice.

 

Most of the houses on the lake are large two stories constructed with teak wood and on stilts. Initially I thought there must be a lot of large families to warrant such huge houses, but I guess if ones land area around the house is water a large house can be very practical.

Floating gardens - tomato growing, their main crop, at least for this time of year (September). The bamboo spikes are used to keep the islands from floating away.

There are a few very nice restaurant dotted around the lake, one we visited was called the Golden Kite, the owner has a real clay oven in which he makes very nice pizza with real mozzarella cheese and home grown basil, very impressive. Another restaurant we visited further up on the river on the way to Sankar. (more on that later). I was surprised to hear the owner of this restaurant speak faultless English. On asking him where he learnt English he told me that he was a taxidermist working for the government and had been sent to an  English University many years ago to further his knowledge on taxidermy. Usually one has to organize the stop at this restaurant as he doesn't always have a huge supply of ingredients. Anyway being the vegetarian that I am his wife made me some great french fries.

 The Golden Kite Restaurant - Great pizza's

Across the lake opposite the Golden Island Cottages Resort there is an amazing monastery called Jumping Cat Monastery, (not the real name). The monastery is around 150 years old and for me one of the highlights of Inle Lake, it is so, so beautiful. From the outside it is rather plain looking but on the inside it is amazing. The little house in the foreground is probably where the monks live. The main building is

 Jumping Cat Monastery 

Jumping cat monastery from front

To see the cats jumping one has to give a donation making sure the elderly monk who is sleeping peacefully nearby can hear you at the donation box, then he will lazily lift his arm out to ring a bell before going back to sleep, only then will the action to take place and you will then witness the cats that have been trained to jump through a hoop.

  Getting ready for the big jump

 Whaaa did it.

The main hall of the monastery has I believe 100 teak pillars, the central part of the monastery has a double row of carved Buddhas, many marble and some wood these are back to back, so it is like a big square in the centre that you can walk around.

 

  Tobacco Factory

 Next to Sankar.............

 

 

MAGNIFICENT, BEAUTIFUL INLE LAKE

Inle Lake is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km²), and one of the highest at an altitude of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).


Magnificent, l beautiful, tranquil, this is Inle Lake an adequate description for this beautiful piece of paradise (at least for us and for now). To get there you will have to fly from Yangon.  We flew from Bagan via Mandalay to Heho airport, approximately one and half hours flight including the stopover in Mandalay. No direct flight from Bagan to Heho. Once arriving in Heho we found it very easy to hire a taxi to take us to Nyaungshwe, the main town near Inle Lake, about an hours drive from Heho. The drive to Inle Lake was pleasant and picturesque especially the last third of the leg when we passed through a mountainous region down into the town of Nyaungshwe.


The small town of  Nyaungshwe is a very laid back little town. On entering into the town I got the impression that there probably wasn't much to see or do here, but to the contrary there are heaps of interesting places to visit both on the lake and surrounding areas. some compare it with Siem Reap or Cheng Mai, but I really didn't see it personally, much quieter, maybe it was the time of year (September) and very few tourists. There are numerous small boutique hotels and western style restaurants catering to the tourist, once again everyone was very friendly and helpful.

Our taxi driver took us to the tour office of the Golden Island Cottages Resort which was located just a short walking distance from the jetty. We were then guided to a large canoe equipped with a motor, two chairs, life rafts, wet weather raincoats and umbrellas. So with our two large suitcases and lacquer ware that we purchased in Bagan we climbed aboard. Every aspect of this transfer was effortless and very well organized by our hotel, very impressive.

The boat trip took 30 tranquil minutes to reach the hotel, initially we went down a river with houses on either side for about 10 minutes then into padi field territory which lead into the lake. Some of the areas along the river and in the lake are bird life conservation areas, and there are designated bird watching areas for the bird lover.

There are a few resorts dotted around the lake, ours was the second last one. On our arrival we were greeted by a four man band on the hotel jetty playing traditional instruments, I think they were fairly happy to see us as we were the only guests to occupy this resort for nearly three days before another group trickled in. We were greeted with a drink whilst our bags were whisked away. After checking in we ambled down a wooden platform to our little cottage. The room was fairly basic but nice, with a little veranda looking out over the lake. The bathroom was spotless as was the room, just perfect.

On reaching our hotel, I was at first a little apprehensive about having to travel 30 minutes on a boat to reach the hotel and my first thoughts were what we will do on a lake 30 minutes from the nearest town. As it was there was plenty to do and see around the lake and at the end of the four days I felt we could have stayed longer. I do believe one can reach the hotel by road but it takes longer as the roads aren't very good, at least not in the rainy season.

On our first day we had time to take a walk into the hills behind the hotel, very peaceful and easy walking; we passed through some small villages dotted along the way. We were informed that it is a great hiking area for hikers, very safe in this region. The people along the way were shy but friendly and at no time did we experience any hassles so often experienced in many other Asian tourist spots.

My feeling were if this is the start of our first day please give me more. The hotel was great, the staff wonderful and service brilliant.

Day two next...................

BAGAN - OVER 2000 TEMPLES AND STUPAS

Bagan was previously  called Pagan, it is an ancient city in the Division of Mandalay in Myanmar. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana (the City of the Enemy Crusher) and also known as Tambadipa (the Land of Copper) or Tassadessa (the Parched Land), it was the ancient capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma. It is located in the dry central plains of the country, on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 90 miles (140 km) southwest of Mandalay.

Bagan was submitted to become a UNESCO heritage site^[1] but many speculate of politics as partly the reason for the exclusion. UNESCO does not designate Bagan as a World Heritage Site. The main reason given is that the military junta (SPDC) has haphazardly restored ancient stupas, temples and buildings, ignoring original architectural styles and using modern materials which bear little or no resemblance to the original designs. The junta has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 200-foot (61-m) watchtower in the southeastern suburb of Minnanthu.

History of Bagan

Map of Bagan tourist area


BAGAN ARCHEOLOGICAL ZONE (Old Bagan)

To truly enjoy what this area has to offer you need to spend a minimum of three days in Old Bagan. Historically Bagan is one of the wonders of this world and definitely on a par with Cambodia's Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Although I myself did find it more interesting than Angkor Wat in that many of the old temples have beautiful frescos, most more than 800 years old and some 1000 years or more. They are of course worn and faded with age but never the less one can see how beautiful they were in their hey day.

An example of some of the frescoes

Husband and our guide with fresco in the background

We only spent three days in the Old Bagan due to time constraints; for us it wasn't quite long enough to enjoy the attractions that this area offers.  We visited in September, the weather was hot but not unbearable, we experienced a couple of storms which is natural for this time of year as it was the rainy season but they didn't prevent us from enjoying the sights.Can't wait to go back and see what I haven't seen.

If tranquility and peace are on your agenda then this is it, cycling is popular with the tourists, the terrain is very flat and one can easily slip into a peaceful daze whilst cycling around the numerous old ruins, or taking in the sights on horse and buggy. Many of the roads are dirt but well maintained.

(Thande Hotel Bagan) situated on the Irrawaddy River

Our hotel set amongst large lush mature Tamarind trees and a variety of flowering shrubs was clean and very comfortable with nice little verandas to sit and enjoy that glass of wine. Just a short distance from the hotel was a great vegetarian restaurant (good for me, the vegetarian in the family). We spent a couple of very relaxing hours in this open style restaurant chatting to the very friendly owner while the rain pelted down outside, so relaxing.

 Horse and buggy waiting patiently

We couldn't resit the beautiful lacquer ware that is manufactured in this area and bought two largish pieces which we carried around in our hand luggage for the rest of our trip, which I am pleased to report arrived at our final destination (home) without the slightest damage. There is a wide range of lacquer ware - tea sets, bowls, jewelery boxes, plates, cups, boxes of all shapes and sizes and many more.

Lacquer ware

The Bagan Archeological Museum is situated only a couple of hundred meters from our hotel; we were however, informed by a few of the locals in hushed voices that most of the relics on show are only copies of those found in the area, which seems a pity for such a beautiful building to house only copies of the many ancient artifacts. I did get an impression that the locals don't take kindly to their treasures exhibited elsewhere, if in fact that is the case.

Some more pictures of beautiful Bagan

 Mother and daughter dancing on top of temple

My husband with Irrawady in background

We were hoping to see one of the magic sunsets Bagan is famous for but unfortunately too cloudy, maybe next time.

Next stop Inle Lake................................