Inle Lake Myanmar – Top Thrilling Things to Do and to See

We spent 4 days in Inle Lake which after a day out on the lake on our boat trip left us with 3 full days for exploring and taking other tours.

This was the perfect amount of time although there's so much to do you could definitely stay longer if you wanted to.

Trekking around the lake

The one big activity we missed out on was trekking – where you can enjoy 1/2/3 day treks from a local village down to the lake (from around USD15). This comes highly recommended and will obviously require a little more time in the area.

Exploring Nyang Shwe village

The best way to get around is to hire a bicycle or simply to walk around. Nyaung Shwe is a small town and easy to explore without getting lost – it's also very safe which helps with the relaxed atmosphere. Be sure to take plenty of water and take a hat though as the sun is unforgiving and whilst mornings and evenings can get chilly, the afternoons are extremely hot and can be dusty.

Market in Nyaung Shwe

We used our first day to get our bearings and explore more of Nyaung Shwe village. There's a central market which is an interesting sight, selling everything from souvenirs, bags and clothing through to herbs, spices, fruit, veggies, meat and fish. It's loud and crowded and a bit of a culture shock but very interesting to wander round for a couple of hours!

Pagodas and other attractions in Nyaung Shwe

There are also a couple of small pagodas to tick off the list if you haven't seen enough after Bagan… Kyauk Phyu Gyi with its Buddha image is a highlight.

There's also a cultural museum (9.30am–3.30pm, Tue–Sun, USD2) which is small but vaguely interesting.

For a change spend one evening visiting Aung’s Puppet Show (7.30pm & 8.30pm nightly, USD3) to watch a traditional Myanmar puppet performance. Aung and his family are lovely and have been in the puppet industry for many generations now, they are determined to preserve this ancient art to the best of their ability.

Cooking classes

On our next day we decided to devote our time to a cooking class. Shan cuisine is well known and very popular throughout Myanmar so it's a great location to learn and there are many cooking classes on offer. Expect to pay around USD25 to USD35 for a standard half-day class which includes a tour of the market to buy ingredients followed by several hours learning how to cook the local specialties.

What was great about this class was that between our group of 10 or so people we cooked over 15 dishes! Sitting down and tasting them all was great fun and meant we got to sample lots of different food. Traditional dishes included banana flower salad, river fish curry, dumplings and spicy shrimp salad – strong flavours all round but delicious.

Bicycle tours

Our final day we decided to explore by bicycle – these cost just USD1 from our hotel and we saw similar details elsewhere.

*Note Do be careful though as they're not always in the best working order – it wasn't until we were well on our way that I discovered the brakes on my bike were in far from a good working condition! Luckily no accidents ensued and we had a brilliant day cycling around the village and outskirts soaking in the scenery and taking plenty of pictures.

Visiting Inle Lake winery

Our top tip is to cycle to the winery that's located on the outskirts of town. It's up a rather steep hill and it's worth dropping off the bike halfway up and walking to the finish, but the views you'll be rewarded with are incredible. For just under USD4 per person you can enjoy a wine tasting where you'll sample 6 local wines together with a small plate of bread and cheese.

Wine tasting in Myanmar was not something we were expecting to do, let alone enjoy, but it was a brilliant afternoon. The wines themselves are, whilst not necessarily the best you'll taste, drinkable and sitting and watching the sunset over the lake whilst sampling them is a perfect way to spend an afternoon.