Inle:
It is the second largest lake (1328 meters
above sea level) in Myanmar with 22 km long
and 11 km wide. In this lake are 17 villages
on stilts. This lake is located in the
Southern Shan State and is 31 km from the
nearest airport, Heho which is about one
hour flight from Yangon.
Pindaya:
This town is about 64 km from Heho via
Aung Ban. Pindaya is a small quiet town
a bit far from the highway road.
Kalaw:
A hill station, 1320 meters above sea level,
during the colonial days and about 35 km
from Heho. Has pleasant weather with pine
forests.
Taunggyi:
Capital of the Southern Shan state, 1430
meters above sea level, and about 35 km from
Heho.
Main attraction:
Inle:
There are several places of interests in
Inle as follows:
One leg rowers:
For most Innthas (native of Inle), the only
way of transport in the lake is the boat
transport. They stand on the boat (flat and
shallow) with one leg and use another leg to
row the boat.
Unique way of fishing:
The fisherman uses a tall conical trap
containing a gill net. He thrusts the trap
to the lake bottom (about 3 meters at the
deepest point), releasing a ring that holds
the net up.
Nga Pe Kyaung monastery:
Known among the tourists as �Jumping cat
monastery� due to the cats which are taught
to leap through small hoops. In fact this
wooden monastery was built on stilts, four
years before the Mandalay palace. It
contains modest collection of Buddha statues
in Shan, Innwa, Bagan and Tibetan style
which are more than 100 years old. And so
are the pedestals on which the statutes sit.
Phaung
Daw Oo pagoda:
One of the most revered
pagodas in Myanmar, with five small Buddha
images in the shrine. Once a year, in late
September or early October, there is a
pagoda festival � that lasts 18 days -
during which, four of the five Buddha images
tour around the lake in a colorful Karaweik
barge.
Floating gardens:
The natives created the arable space by
using the sea weeds and wild hyacinth as a
base and top it with soil brought in by the
river; mud from the bottom of the lake; and
algae. As these plantations float in the
water, they are known as floating gardens.
Vegetables such as tomato; cucumber; beans
etc are grown on these gardens.
Floating
market:
Ywama is the site of daily �floating market�
which, unlike its distant cousin in Bangkok,
has so far managed to retain its authentic
flavor. Sellers from the neighboring
villages display their products in the boats
and buyers also come to the market by boat.
Other markets in Inle take place on land.
Impaw Khone:
The village where the traditional weaving
machines producing woven silk, woven lotus
robes for Buddha, and Shan bags could be
found en masse.
Inndein village:
2 hours boat ride from Nyaung Shwe) is at
the end of Indein creek, located on the
western bank of Inle lake. Places of
interest there are the ruined pagodas (built
in 12th to 13th
centuries) hidden in the bushes; the paddy
fields where the guests will see the farmers
working in the field with the water
buffaloes.
Pindaya:
This small town is 64 km from Heho via Aung
Ban. Pindaya cave is a huge cavern
inside the limestone ridge that overlooks
the Boat Ta Loke lake and the centuries old
Banyan trees. In the cave are nearly 9,000
Buddha images made from Alabaster; teak;
marble; brick; lacquer and cement. They are
placed there over centuries ago. The path in
cave is formed like a labyrinth throughout
the various cave chambers.
Unusual features in the cave
are a set of stalgamite and stalactites
formation that can be struck with the wooden
mallet to produce the gong tones. The Taung
Yo, Shan, Danu and Pa-ohs tribes live in the
environs of Pindaya.
Other attractions are the
Shan paper making workshops which use
the bark of the Mulberry tree. And the
parasol making workshops that use the
Shan paper as the raw material.
Katku:
42 km south of Taunggyi (1.5
hr drive one way); a previously off limits
to foreigners; the archaeological site of
Katku lies in the Pa-O countryside. It�s a
complex of pagodas (said to be 5257
pagodas), some of which are said to go back
to the Bagan period (11th to 13th
century).
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