Itinerary headache

Yes big quake in 1975 although most of the restoration was done much later in the 1990s. I often prefer unrestored buildings.

Hi,
thanks for flight tips herbie47, I looked them up and it is possible as you mentioned to fly to Mandalay via Bangkok but i think we will stuck to Yangon.
Also as you suggested I was thinking about hiking,riding around Inle. Maybe a hike to Maing Thauk.
Could you suggest other few hours hikes?
I was thinking about asking one of boat owners for a trip to Sampar. We would rather go on our own.
so our plan is:
day 1 Yangon
2-early flight or night bus to Bagan
3-5 Bagan, night bus to Nyaungshwe
6-8 Inle Lake, night bus to Yangon
9-Yangon
10-Yango bus to Ngwe Saung
11-13 ngwe Saung
14-15 yangon
We prefer travel slow so i think it suits us well.

You can also do the bicycle trip to Maing Thauk and then take a boat across the lake and do a full loop. It takes about 4 hours, more here: http://bytelife.altervista.org/inlelake.htm

Re Inle treks, best to talk to agent at Inle about what is available and where the markets are each day, they have a 5 day market schedule, it goes on a 5 day cycle. I would recommend Thu Thu Aung at Nyaungshwe, she has shop near market, is in LP guide but maybe moved a short distance from the location shown on map. You can rent bikes from her as well. I went to Maing Thauk and then took the boat back to town. There are some longer trek up into the hills, also the area south west of Inle would be interesting but you would have to take a boat to In Dein first then trek. You can go to Sankar lake but you will need guide and permit, it will cost quite a bit, I did not go as no one else was going and it was too expensive just on my own.

Hi,
Thanks for another tips guys.
Great info in that link bytelife, very useful.
However it seems that there are contradicting information about permit and guide to Sankar.
According to info in this link permit is not needed anymore.
Are you sure herbie47 that permit still necessary ?
herbie 47 do you think that we could hike on our own without the guide?
Thanks,

Maybe the permit has changed but it was not very expensive and inc. in boat price. Pao guide was required for $10 plus $5 fee (permit), seems that has changed now then.

You can hike some places without guide yes, if you go east of Nyaungshwe you can do hiking in the hills there. Guides are better if you want to visit villages and go to areas where you may get lost.

Thanks herbie47
would you suggest any particular villages near Nyaungshwe?
i was thinking about a few 6-7 hours hike on first day then trip to Sankar on seconed, and bicycle ride on
third

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