Trek From Kalaw To Inle Lake

The trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake is one of the highlights of many traveller’s visits to Myanmar.

The trek takes you through farmland, small villages and forests and gives the opportunity to get close to the rural Myanmar that has remained untouched by the recent rise in tourism to the country.

Uncle Sam Trekking

There are many agencies in the town that offer the trekking experience. You will usually have the choice of a ‘2 days, one night’ or a ‘three days, 2 nights’ trek. We chose Uncle Sam Trekking as it was the first trekking company in Kalaw and he had the best online reviews. Jungle King is another provider that seemed popular.

The price of the trek depends on how many people take part. If your group is 5 or more, the price is 40,000 MKK. Four people pay 45,000 each. Any less and you will pay 70,000 each. We booked two days in advance and our names were the only ones on the list. However, we were joined by two Belgium girls meaning we paid 45,000 MKK for the 3D2N trek. This includes meals and accommodation.

What To Take On The Trek To Inle Lake

Uncle Sam will provide you with a list of essentials. From what I remember, this included: comfortable hiking shoes, waterproof jacket/poncho, torch, toilet roll, mosquito repellent, sunscreen, hat/sunglasses, water for first day.

I would also advise bringing something to read and a power bank if you have one as you will not have any opportunity to recharge your phone on the way. You don’t want to miss out on taking photos after day one!

Your backpack will be sent to your next accommodation free of charge.

Starting The Trek To Inle Lake

I expected us to drive to a starting point but, after a talk with Uncle Sam himself, we basically left the office and began the trek right there!

We headed to the train station where we left the town and entered the green countryside.

In no time at all, the views were already wonderful.

Along the way, we had to step aside and make way for many buffalo.

The trek took us through small villages.

The locals were full of smiles.

Along the way, we saw plantations of rice, pumpkin, corn, avocado, ginger and chili. We then stopped in a small village where we were welcomed into a local’s house for lunch and tea.

During lunch, it started to rain heavily meaning the terrain was very slippy when we began our trek again. It did not spoil the incredible views.

As the rain began again, it made the trek much more difficult.

Life still went on for the local people and they continued to work the fields in the torrential rain. We passed local children heading home from school.

We finally reached the village where we would be resting for the night. This gave us another glimpse into how locals live. None of these houses had running water or electricity.

We were greeted into the village by some of the locals.

We were shown into our first night’s accommodation, which was as basic as expected.

We had a couple of hours in which to rest before our host brought us our evening meal. There was a chicken curry and numerous vegetable dishes. The food was delicious.

After dinner, we were invited to sit with the family in the kitchen. We learned that our host was an 83 year old woman with 32 grandchildren, some of whom were sat around the fire smoking cigars and chatting into the evening. It was an amazing experience being invited into the home of our host and seeing first hand how people in this part of Myanmar live.

Day Two Of The Trek To Inle lake

We hadn’t actually moved any closer to Inle Lake. The first day trek was moving south of Kalaw. On the second day, we would be heading east towards the lake. We began the second day trekking in the rain. The local farmers were already out working the fields.

Once more, we passed through small villages, meeting locals of all ages along the way. The children were excited but shy.

We reached the village where we would be stopping for lunch. This was probably even more basic than any of the previous homes we had visited.

Once again, our host was an old woman . She made money by selling rice crackers to the locals.

Once again, our guide made us an excellent lunch and gave us time to rest before heading out again.

We headed out again and, after a few buffalo encounters, we reached our first rain-induced dilemma. The whole road we were taking had been churned up by the buffalo and the rain, making it difficult to use. Our guide was an expert in showing us exactly where to place our feet.

We got to the end of the road, crossed a wobbly bridge and then continued trekking over the fields. But the problems were not over. We came across part of our route that was flooded. Our guide recommended we take off our shoes and wade through the water but I had spotted a way across without taking off my shoes.

We were getting closer to the village where we would be spending our final night. The views at this point were breathtaking.

We finally reached the village for our second night. It was a bigger village than the one we stayed in the previous night. There was even a shop! By shop, I mean a barn where a woman had about four items for sale!

We reached our homestay and sat on an outdoor terrace. Surprisingly, our host had beers for sale. This was unexpected but appreciated. I sat on the terrace and downed four beers as the sun set over the village, watching our host make bamboo baskets, buffalo returning home and children playing ball games in the street.

Our guide provided us with another wonderful meal; probably the best so far and we retired to our sleeping quarters. It was early but we had no problem falling asleep. It’s hard work, trekking for 20 km a day!

Day 3 Of The Trek To Inle Lake

We woke up early on our last day as we had to reach Inle Lake by a certain time. The ‘shower’ was much the same as the previous place (bucket wash) but here at least there was some level of privacy.

By this point, the soles of my feet were very sore and the inside of my thighs were sore from chaffing. What kept me going was knowing we only had to trek until lunch then we were done. A Jacuzzi awaited us at our next hostel and that was never far from my thoughts. That still seemed a long way off as we began the third day trekking.

So far, we had been relatively lucky with the weather. During our stay in Bagan, other travellers who had already done the trek told us tales of wading through knee-high waters. We hadn’t encountered anything as extreme as that and we were hoping that would remain the case.

We began day 3 walking through a monastery. We had expected to stay here before we booked the tour but it appears Uncle Sam no longer uses the monastery to accommodate his customers. If you would like to stay at the monastery, you can arrange this with your guide.

We walked through a small village and in no time we reached the ‘Inle Zone’ meaning we had to pay the entrance fee of 15,000 MKK.

We continued trekking, passing locals working in the fields.

After a couple of hours, we came across a cafe where we sat and had tea and rested our tired feet.

We finished our tea and set off again, for the last time. My feet were very sore and it was beginning to be a real struggle. It was a relief when we saw, for the first time, Inle Lake in the distance.

This part of the trek was probably the most difficult for the feet as it was very rocky. Pure determination was needed to try and forget about my sore feet and chaffing legs.

Completing The Trek To Inle Lake

Finally, after another hour or so, we reached Inle Lake. We had trekked for three days and two nights, covering approximately 60 km. We sat and had lunch and a much needed rest before heading for the boat that would take us to Nyaungshwe.

It was a 10 minute walk to our boat. We said goodbye to our guide (Kosaw). He had been wonderful with us; providing us with information about the area, the plants, the culture and the languages of the different tribes we had experienced. He had a smile the whole time and we couldn’t have asked for a better guide. We felt sad saying goodbye and we all missed him immediately.

Boat To Nyaungshwe

We made ourselves comfortable for the hour-long boat ride that would take us to the town of Nyaungshwe.

The boat dropped us off 18 minutes walk from our hostel. Tuktuk drivers were waiting but we opted to walk. After 60 km, what was another 18 minutes?

Is The Trek To Inlay Lake Worth Doing?

It was an amazing experience to see how people in rural Myanmar live. It also makes you realise how lucky you have it back home where things like electricity and running water are taken for granted. The people we saw along the way were welcoming and, though sometimes shy, didn’t mind having their photo taken.

I can’t speak for other agencies but our experience with ‘Uncle Sam’ was fantastic. Our guide was excellent and spoke good English and was very knowledgeable about the area. We arrived at our hotel and our bags were already there.

A visit to Myanmar is not complete without doing this trek. It is tough on the feet so bear this in mind when choosing the 2D1N or 3D2N tour. Whatever you choose, I am sure you will have an incredible experience.