Traveling by bus to Inlay Lake, Myanmar: not an easy task, but worth the trip
It’s a long way from anywhere as I sit uncomfortably in my cramped seat on the way to Inle Lake from Bago Myanmar. It’s three in the morning, I’m exhausted, my body aches, and I’ve been riding a bus or waiting to board one for the last 19 hours. This lake had better be as “remarkably beautiful” as all the guidebooks tell us because it’s the hardest trip I’ve done in five months.
It’s the time of the water festival, the hottest time of the year, and everyone in the country takes the bus to visit relatives and see the sights for themselves. We arrive in Bago, a city located 80 km northeast of Yangon via Kyiakito in the early afternoon to book our overnight bus to Inle Lake. The tour operator eagerly takes our money, but fails to inform us that it is nearly impossible to secure a seat during this high season at such short notice. As the hours pass we wait impatiently for a spot to become available, our desperate owner flagging down every coach passing through this dusty town until finally a driver agreed to take us.
It was an embarrassing experience when we got on the bus. People were kicked out of their seats to make room for us. By not speaking their language, our protests fell on deaf ears. We didn’t want people sitting on the ground for us, but there was nothing we could do about it, and we were taken to our designated spots.
The next 10 hours consisted of very loud “Laugh In” style variety shows that I couldn’t understand a word of, a bus so full of luggage I was forced to stuff my 70 liter backpack under my feet, and temperatures so high that it was difficult to breathe. Just as I was drifting off to the glorious escape of sleep, we stopped at one in the morning for dinner. Who eats in the middle of the night? But sure enough, they all disembarked and ordered full meals at the roadside food stall. We ended up staying at this lively stop for much longer than expected as our bus was undergoing repairs and wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
However, I had the opportunity to witness the entire show.
It is very late at night and children are running around playing, music is blaring, various food stalls are busy cooking food, and there is an open market selling vegetables and fruits. This place is driving as it makes its living from the night buses that stop here full of people willing to spend money.
We finally hit the road, and once we settled into our seats, the variety show moved up to “11” for everyone to enjoy. Somehow, I managed to go back to sleep, but at 5:00 am I was woken up by prayers blaring over the loudspeaker. No one seemed to care, so I sat back in my seat and took in the scenery. We passed ox carts full of produce for the market, horse carts taking people to town, water buffalo and children walking to school until the driver stopped the bus to tell us that this was our stop.
They dropped us off at the side of the road and the rest of the bus headed for Mandalay. Negotiations were to begin again for a truck for the lake. We never found one, but managed to get into a packed minivan where it would spend the next eight hours in 45 degree weather with no relief from the heat. 5000 Kyat ($6 US) bought me a seat in the engine with a thin straw pad to sit on. Four of us were crammed into the front of the truck. A driver who never stopped smoking, a young monk who was squeezed between me and the driver, and my husband, who was wedged between me and the door.
31 hours after leaving our initial destination, we arrived at Inle Lake, where we took the first guest house we could find and quickly retired for the rest of the day.
I wouldn’t know if Inle Lake was as beautiful as the guidebooks say, we were in Myanmar at the hottest and driest time of the year, but during our stay at the lake it was cold, rainy and cloudy. We never experienced that breathtaking panoramic view. But like everywhere we visit in this country, the people made the experience. They were warm and friendly and even invited us to a private home for tea and conversation. At a lakeside temple called the Jumping Cat Monastery, a group of people were so enthralled with us that they turned the tables and we were the attraction. People took turns taking photos with us and we shared a laugh as we gave the camera a thumbs up. Sunglass-clad monks gave a peace sign and vacationers hugged us to pose for photos. When Dave showed people the digital camera pictures of him, they all freaked out, wanting him to take more.
As for whether or not Inlay Lake was worth the bus ride from hell? Of course it was. I experienced pure hospitality, I had the rare opportunity to see the Intha Leg Rowers, famous for their unique way of propelling their boat with one leg wrapped around their oar. I visited a monastery full of cats that had been trained by monks to jump through hoops and was privileged to interact with a people who had been cut off from the outside world for so long.