177INLE LAKE8EASTERN MYANMAR8EASTERN MYANMARPINDAYADagon Beer Station CHINESE, BURMESE $
(mains from K1500; hlunch & dinner) Mere steps
from the town’s market, this echoing beer
hall is where local dudes come to have a
drink after work. Visitors (including wom-
en) are welcome too, and you can accompa-
ny your draught Dagon with standard and
not-so-standard Chinese-Burmese dishes,
such as pig-lip salad!
Memento Restaurant INTERNATIONAL, BURMESE $$
(mains from K1500; hlunch & dinner) Also along
the road that leads to Shwe Oo Min Pagoda,
Memento is an example of a restaurant try-
ing too hard to please day-tripping foreign-
ers. The menu here includes dishes such as
pork ball Vichy, and our ‘traditional food’
order was a very untraditional combination
of fi sh and French fries fried with turmeric
and ginger.
Kyan Lite Restaurant CHINESE, BURMESE $
(mains from K1000; hall day) On the lake shore
close to the market, Kyan Lite serves cold
beers and a familiar menu of Myanmar Chi-
nese dishes, as well as boxes of Shan tea.
8 Information
There was no functioning internet connection in
Pindaya at the time of research.
Old Home Tour Information Centre (%66188;
h9am-5pm) Located at the market intersection.
Here you’ll fi nd friendly local U Myint Thaung,
who sells a small selection of books and an-
tiques, and leads treks and day tours.
8 Getting There & Away
There is only limited public transport to Pindaya
so unless you’re willing to charter a taxi, you’ll
probably have to stay a night.
BUS Coming from Taunggyi, there are two
daily buses at 1pm and 1.30pm (K2000, four
hours). If starting from Nyaungshwe (Inle Lake),
you can catch one of these buses up the road
in Shwenyaung starting at 2pm (K2000, three
hours).
Starting from Kalaw, your best bet is to take
a bus or pick-up truck to Aungban – any of the
Taunggyi-bound morning buses/trucks can drop
you off here (K1000, 20 minutes). From Aung-
ban, a single daily pick-up leaves at 8am (K1000,
1½ hours) from near Mikhine Restaurant, at the
junction at the north end of town.
Leaving Pindaya, there are Taunggyi-bound
buses at 5.30am and 5.45am (K2000), and a
single daily pick-up departure to Aungban at
9am (K1000, 1½ hours), all of which depart from
near the market intersection.
TA XI It is much more convenient, though
much more expensive, to complete the jour-
ney from Aungban to Pindaya by taxi. Drivers
loiter on the main street in Aungban, charging
K25,000 for a drop-off in Pindaya and K30,000
for a return trip to the caves. Motorcycle taxis
will take you to Pindaya from Aungban for about
K6000.INLE LAKE
Placid Inle Lake (a='"el"kn') ranks among
Myanmar’s top fi ve tourist attractions,
which ensures that visitors come here in
droves. The once-sleepy village of Nyaung-
shwe at the north end of the lake has grown
into a bustling traveller centre, with dozens
of guesthouses and hotels, a surfeit of res-
taurants serving pancakes and pasta, and a
pleasantly relaxed traveller vibe. If Myanmar
could be said to have a backpacker scene at
all, it can be found here.
On paper Inle Lake is 13.5 miles long and
7 miles wide but up close it’s hard to tell
where the lake fi nishes and the marshes
start. Looking down over the lake from the
Taunggyi road, Inle sits like a puddle on an
enormous carpet of greenery. Dotted around
the lake are the stilt-house villages and
fl oating gardens of the Intha tribe. You
may also encounter Shan, Pa-O, Taung Yo,
Danu, Kayah and Danaw tribal people at the
markets that hopscotch around the lake on
a fi ve-day cycle.
Boats are the main means of transport
around the lake – travellers tend to explore
on motorised canoes (a little like Thai long-
tail boats) but most Intha people get around
using traditional fl at-bottomed skiff s pro-
pelled by a single wooden paddle. The Intha
technique of leg rowing – where one leg is
wrapped around the paddle to drive the
blade through the water in a snake-like mo-
tion – is unique.
The waters cool the surrounding air con-
siderably. A pall of mist hangs over the lake
before sunrise and during the morning, and
evenings can be surprisingly cold. Bring a
coat or buy a blanket in the market to keep
off the wind chill on boat tours around the
lake. z Festivals & Events
Inle comes alive during late September or
early October for the Phaung Daw Oo Paya
Festival at Phaung Daw Oo Paya. The four
revered golden buddha images from the