Messing about on the lake

Somewhat reluctantly we left Bagan early on New Year's Day, based on the terrible music blasting out of our hotel for new year's several guests were going to be nursing sore heads. Not ours, so a brief flight followed by an hours taxi drive later we arrive on the lakeside town of Nyaungshwe. A friend we met in Africa had been here a mere few weeks earlier and recommended a coffee spot in town. So a quick check in to the spacious Golden Dream hotel and we were walking the dusty streets in search of ' The French Touch'. A vision in orange we found it and quickly drank coffee, ate French bread and topped up the vitamin levels with smoothies. Time to discover this lovely little town. We started with the   mingala markets for some bargains, then we got out into the countryside in a tuk-tuk. Bizarrely there is a winery outside of town - Red Mountain winery. The views from the top are incredible and we sat down with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc ( £1.50 / glass and not half bad) and chilled out for a few hours. That evening we watched a very odd movie about monks filmed by the owner of The French Touch - and got an early night so we were ready for tomorrow's trip onto the river.

The next morning our boat driver picked us up from Golden Dream and after a fuel stop we headed on down to the jetty to our long tail boat. Blankets, cushions and wooden seats were provided - it was looking like being a comfy day out. The next six hours were spent visiting floating vegetable gardens, silver workshops, seeing local weaving houses and getting off at various temples. Everyone we met patiently wanted to explain how they made their living. We even visited the boat making workshop, a tourist boat like our one costs $2,500 and lasts around 15 years. We headed upstream to the village on In Thein to see a fabulous temple ' shwe in Thein paya'. Heading back to town gave me another opportunity to try and figure out how on earth the fisherman perfected their very odd technique - they seem to wrap one leg around the paddle to steer the boat. Amazing balance from these guys. 

If there was any disappointment to the day it would have been found at the final stop at the ' Jumping Cat Monastery'. Monks had apparently trained the cats to jump through hoops - happily. Well either the monks or the cats were having a ' no bloody way Jose' kind of day....my money is on the cats. Fickle beasts. 

We stayed: Golden Dream hotel, Nyaungshwe £25/ night - great, clean hotel our room overlooked a lovely temple

We drank coffee: The French Touch - well signed off the main road, expensive by burma's standards but worth it

We watched sunset from: Red Moutain winery - cycle here or cheap in a tuk-tuk - great place - recommend the Sauvignon Blanc. Stunning views. 

We ate: Inle Palace - new place next to our hotel on the main road, cool interior and our local food was great. Whisky sours at less than £1 each are a bargain. Good place to linger. 

Our boat trip: organised through our hotel and only around £11 for a day for the boat - amazing value and our driver was complete lovely

We shopped: all over but the Mingala markets in town are great