Today is our last full day in Myanmar. With a heavy heart we ate once again a delicious breakfast. Fresh fruit, local specialties, fresh eggs – we will miss it! One thing we are looking forward at home is our coffee. Nothing beats freshly grounded beans! Definitively not the instant variety that the British have left in each of their former colonies! Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to try the Shan Highland coffee.
One last 45-minute boat ride to the nearest town on firm land connected to the road system in the early morning. Cloudy sky with a little bit of sunshine and dramatic light on the lake was a nice memory that we will take of this day. Actually it feels a bit like the expulsion from paradise.
No vacation for us is complete unless we can squeeze in a horse ride. To see the country from a horse back is like watching it go by at a leisurely speed and one has all the time to soak in scents, sounds, and feelings as they occur in real time. Unfortunately, our planned riding trip in Bagan was cancelled due to the rain, so we already thought that our chance for one had passed.
Sunday was to be out free day until the driver was picking us up mid-afternoon from the boat jetty. With some more research, we found out that there is indeed a riding place with panoramic views over the lake close by that town and on route to the airport that offered a two-hour ride.
We jumped at the chance and booked. While checking their website we saw pictures of tourist being led on a pony – so we called again making sure we could ride alone with guide and avoid a repetition of our experience in Bhutan!
We were picked up by a giant Tuk-Tuk or Trishaw which was already waiting for us at the jetty. For the German readers: 15 Minuten vor der Zeit, das ist burmesische Pünktlichkeit. Indeed, everything went smooth and we were presented with some quite small horses (well anybody else besides the Icelandic riders would call them ponies; o))) As tall as Icelandic horses but more delicate in their build. Burmese horses, we were told, all are stallions, but that that size they are not very intimidating. Obviously, the Burmese horses have Mongolian blood in their veins, at least that’s what the owner of the Inle Horse Club told us. He has about twelve horses, the other 25 are rented from their different owners in the surroundings.
After a short trial ride on various horses, we set out to explore the nearby villages and fields. It was a very pleasant and nice ride through the farms and fields – quite relaxing after the last days jam-packed with so many exciting impressions.
The owner and his wife were very welcoming and served us a delicious lunch as well. Time flew by way too fast. Last unknown for us: will our driver come in time and will he find the place? And yes, indeed, once more everything worked like clockwork: Our driver came ahead of time to pick us up and we headed to Heho airport to catch our flight to Yangon. Heho Airport ist quite provincial, you have Wifi, but the Wifi is not connected to the internet. There is a charging station for smartphones but it is not connected to electricity. There are flatscreens supposed to show your flight but… well, you get the point. Instead an airport official is weaving with a sign and your flight number when it comes to boarding.
The plane waits directly in front of you.
Yangon awaits as with humid 30° C and a smiling Zin Zin from the local agency Silk Road To Asia who helped us organize this memorable adventure. Thank you Zin Zin, you did a great job!
For sure we both felt that we haven’t seen enough of this beautiful country that is still so unspoiled by mass tourism. We sincerely hope that this will remain like that for a while because we certainly intend to come back and explore the rest of this wonderful country with its amazingly friendly and welcoming people.