Kathie

I am still working on our plans for Burma for November. I am debating about what to do with our time at Inle. One day will be touring the lake, but we have another full day (as well as half a day when we arrive). The one thing I want to do for sure is to visit Kakku.

In general, I'm not planning on using guides. However, I have thought about using Craig and Jeane's favorite guide, Joyce. However, I'm not sure that the trip to Kakku is a good use of her time, as one has to have an escort to Kakku in any case. Craig, thoughts about this?

Anyone else have recommendations for must see/do around Inle? We are interested in fine handicrafts, especially textiles, and in Buddhist sites.

Craig

Hi Kathie, I was just rereading your Kathmandu trip report a few minutes ago - long weekends are a great time for trip planning. You are right that Kakku would not be a good use of Joyce's time. She did not accompany us on that 3 hour round trip, staying instead at her home town of Taunggyi. I think your time might be better spent with an extra day on the lake heading further south as we did. You might be able to arrange Kakku as an afternoon trip on your first day - it would be a long one but with no stops, it would be the best use of your time. The lake is best IMO in the mornings so I would not waste the opportunity by heading away to Kakku on either of your two full days. Hope this helps.

Kathie

I appreciate your thoughts on this, Craig. The logistics of this trip are complex. We were planning on flying from Bangkok to Rangoon and onward to HeHo our first day. We will have arrived in BKK the previous night and slept at the airport hotel. I have been unable to determine the time of our flight from Rangoon to HeHo, so I'm not sure how much time we'll have the first day.

If we were going to Kakku, would we go first to the hotel and on the Kakku or from the airport directly there?

Craig

Kathie, the road to Taunggyi/Kakku runs north of the lake. You'd save about 20-30 minutes of travel time by not going to your hotel. Do plan on visiting the central market in Taunggyi. There is also a winery right off the main road where you can stop in for a tasting.

Kathie

Thanks, Craig. I had made a note about both the Taunggi market and the winery. What is your estimate of how long it would take to visit Kakku, Taunggi market and the winery from the airport, then go to the hotel?

We're still playing around with our itinerary.

dogster

Kathy, can I suggest you make a time-line of your planned day?

Think about it: we'll assume your flight leaves BKK at 8.00 a.m. AND that you can transfer direct to Heho.

5.30 a.m. wake up
8.00 flight BKK to YGN
9.00 arrive YGN
10.30 YGN to Heho
11.30 arrive Heho
12.00 exit airport.
Heho to Taunggyi - say 90 mins?
1.30 Taunggyi winery, market, lunch
2.30 grab local guide drive to Kakku
3.30 Kakku sightseeing
5.00 leave Kakku - Taunggyi - Inle - say 2.00 hours?
7.00 arrive Inle.

Maybe. This is assuming everything works like clockwork. It won't. It might. Dunno. This is from memory. Craig may have better timings.

Kathie

Dogster, thanks. I do believe I can transfer direct to HeHo after my arrival in Rangoon, as Hanuman was able to do this (although getting a direct answer from an agent seems impossible). So given my (and your) assumptions, it sounds possible if there are no glitches but makes for a very long first day in Asia. I'm trying to figure out whether my plan is realistic or whether I need to spend a day/night in Rangoon on my way into Burma (I'd rather not break up my time in Rangoon).

I appreciate your input. If you have other ideas, do let me know.

dogster

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I always like to look on these trips as a symphony. So what happens at the beginning will reflect on the end. This seems like a jagged way to start your symphony. I'd be thinking more about achieving the move from bed in BKK to your hotel at Inle Lake. Remember, you have to eat. You've been up since 5.30 ish. Then go out on the lake late afternoon, go to the floating village and take 7 million pictures.

Also, I think Kakku is pretty crappy actually. If you went down to the wondrous million-temples-on-a-hill-place at the southwern end of the lake first, that would be a wonderful way to start your symphony. Kakku has been ruined by restoration and really, really ugly green tiles and gold paint from a benefactor in Korea. IMHO. So best you get a look at the real deal first.

BTW Remember, those picturesque boats on that picturesque lake roar like a jet engine. It ain't all tranquility at Inle Lake.

OR swan in to Yangon [easy as pie] check in, get adjusted and then go out and just do ONE thing: go to Shwedagon. Stay and sit and stay and sit and sit and stay - till AFTER sundown. Go home when you're ready. You'll know you're somewhere special. Next day, go to Heho.

Now, THAT'S the way to start a symphony.

Craig

Well I think Dogster pretty much nailed the time-line except you'll spend more than an hour in Taunggyi and more than an hour each way to and from Kakku. As I said before, a long day - in fact a really long day. The stupa ruins at In Dien village are an interesting contrast to the restored ones at Kakku and maybe worth seeing first (dunno, we saw them second and still appreciated them for what they were). The thing about Kakku was that there was NOBODY else there and the sounds of those bells on the stupas on a perfectly clear day - magical. Accept it for what it is - contrived, recreated, artificial - maybe. We thought it was pretty cool but then everyone's "symphony" is different.

Kathie, I should have said this before but bottom line is, you haven't allotted enough time to Inle Lake.

I am also leery about doing a connection from Bangkok to Heho.

Hanuman

Kathie,

Yangon it's only about an hour flight from BKK and the transfer was quite easy when I did it. A local travel agent with the domestic tickets met us first as soon as we cleared customs and took us over to the domestic terminal.

You can do like dogster suggest too since you'll be fighting jet lagged but that was not a problem for us.

Kathie

I really appreciate everyone's input. I know I have much more that I want to do than I can possibly do. I'm at the difficult stage of planning which is making the final cut. Because of the logistics of this trip, I have several alternate itineraries in mind. Because I don't think I have as much time as I need at Inle (thanks for confirming that, Craig), I could fly to Rangoon the first day and spend the day and night there (as per dogster's suggestion). We generally do well with jet lag, getting up very early the first few days to a week, but being ready to sleep early (about 7 pm), the first day. Given that, I don't want to try to go to Inle and visit Kakku on day one.

So my current thought is to stay in Rangoon, do a bit of wandering, make a first visit to Shwedagon and maybe get a foot massage. Having two stays in Rangoon means we could opt for two different hotels.

Flying to HeHo on day two will give us almost three full days at Inle. We won't have as much time as you had, Craig, but I think we can make it work for us.

About Kakku... I do know about the paved walkway and the hideous tile-covered stupa, but I've read that some of it remains in its unrestored state. It's only rather recently been opened for foreigners to visit (after 2000, I believe) and is less visited than the places on the lake. Craig's experience there is the sort of thing I'm seeking. Of course, I also want to visit the ruins at In Dien. As a woman who has never met a wat I didn't like, is there anywhere else (pagodas, stupas, etc) a bit off the tourist track that any of you would recommend? We've decided against the Pindayo caves.

Craig

Kathie, I think giving Pindaya a pass is a good idea. The villages on the reservoir south of Inle Lake are way off the tourist track and have some interesting sites:

http://craigandjeane.smugmug.com/gal...14715561_7ygkN

http://craigandjeane.smugmug.com/gal...14715855_cMDot

There is also a market at Samka but check the dates as it is one in the 5 day series.

Robbietravels

Hi Kathie, Seems I've arrived late to your party. Dogster's timeline is a best case scenario. I agree about an overnight in Rangoon (loved The Savoy and Kipling's Restaurant) Arriving Rangoon late morning would allow 1) a visit to the Chinese market for eye jollies (the goods at the Scott market, disappointing), 2) Ja Kat Waing Monastery around lunch to see hundreds of young boys line up with their rice bowls and tour the monastery and 3) a prime time late afternoon visit to Shwedaggon Pagoda.

When you arrive or depart at Heho airport there's a terrific noodle shop across the street from the entrance to the airport. Great noodle dishes and good 20 minute back massages ($1) while you eat. If paradise had already been paved at Kakku when I visited in 2005, I don't recall. It did not interfere with the feeling of discovering these ruins i their pristine state of disrepair. I know how much you enjoy these sites, so give yourself two hours at the very very least here. Besides the ruins at Indein, the village itself is full of character and characters. The Inle excursion to the south of the lake along a narrow channel was my favorite. If you can catch the weekly Lont Kant Market, a local Intha market (without tourists), it is high up there on my 'best markets ever' list.

Kathie

Craig, looking at those photos reminds me I need to go back though your pictures as I'm drawing up my itinerary. Samka looks pretty interesting.

Robbie, thanks so much for your input. It sounds like there is so much to see and do at Inle...

Ok, here is the current state of my itinerary:

We'll arrive at midnight in BKK, sleep at the Novotel at the airport, then

Day 1: Thai Air to Rangoon, full day in Rangoon, hotel: Strand or maybe Governor's Residence.

Day 2: early morning fliight to HeHo, 3 nights at the Inle Lake View

Day 5: fly to Bagan, 4 nights at the Aureum Palace

Day 9: fly to Rangoon, 2 nights at the Strand.

Day 11: fly to Bangkok

I feel like we still don't have enought time, but I always feel that way. DO you think that will give me "enough" time at Inle?

I will be grateful for any additonal input.

dogster

Looks great to me. 3 nights at Inle is tons, Kathie. Much better paced, I think.

Why Aureum in Bagan? It looks fine but miles from anywhere. Have you looked at the location on a map? Tripadvisor reviews mention this. Check out Hotel @ Tharabar Gate. Location, location, location. Right in the middle of temple zone.

Craig

We had 4 nights at Inle which basically gave us 3 full days plus the trip to Pindaya on the way from the airport (it really isn't on the way but it was the most practical time to visit). You will not be able to get around quickly on Inle Lake - you need a full day to do the "touristy stuff" on the main lake and another full day to do the trip to Samka. If you are going to Kakku, that will also take up the better part of a day.

You also need time to explore the village next door to the Inle Lake View Resort, especially if there is a market day while you are there. We felt we could have spent more time there than we did.

On your first day if you come directly from the airport, it is conceivable that you could do an afternoon on the lake doing the touristy stuff. On your second day on the lake you could hit the places you missed on the way out or on the way back from Samka - there will be enough time I think.

Also if you have 4 days in Bagan, it doesn't matter where you stay as long as you have a driver. If you don't have a driver, you'll miss a lot I think. There would be some benefit to staying centrally in that you could hire a horse cart and driver on the spur of the moment and take off or wonder in the area on your own. However, the archeological zone is vast so keep that in mind. The Aureum Palace is twice as nice as any place else in the area and the setting is stunning. You could always split your time between 2 places. Note that if you have 4 nights, you will also have, because of the early morning flight, 4 full days which, even for a temple lover is a lot for Bagan.

Robbietravels

Itinerary and pacing sound on track for an enjoyable time. Craig, thanks for remembering and reminding me of the village behind the hotel at Inle.

Kathie

Dogster, Craig has it right about why we are staying at the Aureum- it's the best place in town. I am aware that we'll need a driver/tuktuk/taxi to get to the archeological zone. I've always had good luck hiring drivers as needed, and plan to do that this time. We do plan to do at least one day via horse-cart. Frankly, I like the flexibility of not being tied to one particular driver. If we find one we really like we'll use him over the time we are there.

Craig, thanks for laying our time at Inle. It's a great starting point. There are likely some touristy things we'll skip - probably the jumping cat monastery, as I have a jumping cat who is no doubt more talented than those - lol. I will want people's advice on what to cut, what to add once I've a better idea of all we want to see/do at Inle.

While I know that 4 full days in Bagan sounds like forever to some people, remember seeing the photos of Bagan as a child is what made me want to visit Burma. I never seem to tire of Buddhist temples/shrines/stupas, and ruins are an absolute magnet for me (when I was in elementary school, I planned on being an archaeologist when I grew up). We bought a copy of Paul Strachan's book, Pagan, and are studying up on the temples.

Again, thanks everyone for all the input. I'll be asking more questions as we get closer.

LAleslie

Kathie, isn't it amazing how pictures from our youth live in our travel fantasies forever? Oman and Saudi Arabia were two from my childhood. And Africa. A friend saw a Natl Geo. story on Bhutan as a kid, ended up marrying a Bhutanese guy and now lives there. Maybe you'll overthrow the Myanmar generals and stay!

Femi

Funny that. I'm still looking for the China I read about in 'The Good Earth' by Pearl Buck, and for Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (I don't mean the modern, shiny, air conditioned versions) and Malaya and Malacca and Ceylon and Bophuthatswana and Rhodesia and the great greasy banks of the Limpopo with its fever trees ...I could go on and on. Sorry for the hijack Kathie