How can I arrange an original tour around the Inle lake?

Hello dear travelers, I'm planning my trip to Myanmar (leaving soon!) and lately I have been reading a lot of travel diaries of backpackers who have visited the Country. When it comes to Inle lake it seems that most (if not all) of the people remain disappointed about the lack of authenticity of the experience, especially with boat tours. I have read that virtually all boat tours follow the same itinerary that include plenty of tourist traps. Is that true? If this is the case I'd rather arrange a private tour with a personalised itinerary, and this is why I'm asking for your help :-)
My plan would be to spend a couple of days in the Inle lake area straight after the trek from Kalaw.
Thanks in advance for your precious help!

Go straight to the boatman,and explain clearly what you do (and don't ) want to do.You will need to negotiaite a price,depending how far you want to go and what you want to see.

A longer trip to the southern part of the lake is a good idea IMHO.

They may still try to stop at sellers etc on the way....make it clear you are not interested.

Thanks for your reply. That's what I had in mind, but do you have any advice on what to see in the area? I read about the 5 day market, which seems interesting. Any other ideas? My fear is that if I approach random boatmen asking for a less touristic tours without giving specific indications, they will take me exactly in the kind of places I want to avoid.

The market for sure,which changes location as you said.That was great for photos,lots of traditionally dressed locals,animals and products etc.

The far south of the lake...the water here is much narrower.You need special permit to get down there,which you can pick up on the way.There are some villages with temples and pagodas down there.

One of the floating villages on the way.And at least one of the floating gardens too.Up close with one of the small boats with fishermen (better at the start..early morning,say 8am or so).

I avoid the 'craft villages' and the more touristy monasteries (eg the cat one) but some people want to see that stuff too.....

First of all i dont find the normal boat tour a tourist trap, i have done it a few times and still like it even tough ... there are many people doing it nowadays. There are perhaps a few too many silversmiths now, but the lotus weaving and boat making is absolutely original and unique in Burma/Inle lake.
The special permit to get down to Sankar was dropped a few years ago when the inle zone fee was raised to 10$/ 12500 kyat. It is a long trip though many villages and no stops, 3 hours of sitting and just passing though village after village, bamboo forest, more villages, more forest until you reach the next lake, Mobye lake which is also called Sankar lake. Have a look at the map, Samka is the original name.
So if you want authentic get up early and go to Sankar. Or do a bicycle tour around and visit the places the boat tours never touch.

I didn't know the permit is not necessary any more..that's good.

I liked that end of the lake a lot more.Far fewer tourists and the boat is often up against the shores,so you see alot of local life,villages etc.

You don't have to do the shopping trip you can go elsewhere. You can book your boat through an agent such as Thu Thu Aung who I have used several times, she can advise on where to go and where the 5 day markets are. Sankar maybe worth it but will be quite a bit more expensive. Boat for full day on lake should be around 15-20,000 kyat thats for up to 5 people, Sankar I hear is around 60,000 kyat.

As I have read in other comments, tell the boat man exactly what you want and don't want to see. The lake is huge and you can customize your trip. I have been to the lake many times and although most of tourists and boats go to the same places, it is really amazing. For example, one of the tourist stops is to see how they work with lotus flower silk and it's really interesting.
If you want to avoid all tourist places no matter what, just tell the boat man so and enjoy the lake, floating gardens, fishing villages, and my favourite, one leg paddling fisherman: http://www.myanmartravelessentials.com/activities/the-art-of-fishing-and-one-leg-paddling-inle-lake/

Happy travels,
Juan

Thank you everybody for your help! I'll try to organise a beautiful boat tour :-)

I've also heard that renting a bicycle in Nyaung Shwe and exploring the surroundings of the lake is nice. A traveller told me that he visited a village where people make tofu and that is was an impressive experience, well worth spending one extra day there.

Hi, I am one of those who rented a bycicle, and I really want to recommend this experience. Rentals cost about 1500 MMK, while mountain bikes are about 7-8000 MMK. The villages which are reachable by bike are Khaung Doing, shortly after a hot springs site, and Maing Thauk, in the opposite direction. The excursion to the first location did not really impress me, but Maing Thauk was really nice. It was not market day, I was approached by a man with a canoe, who took me on a tour among the small canals, close to the houses, where the boats with engine do not go.
I could see scenes of everyday life, and take nice pictures. 3000 MMK for 40 minutes, really deserved

Wow... the way you describe this experience is fantastic! Thank you so much for your post!

I do not want to offend .... but if you are looking for authenticity , why do you plan to trek from Kalaw to Inle , a trek which you will nowadays share with hundreds of "backpackers" looking for the authentic Myanmar trekking experience?

As mentioned above , all boats in Inle are actually private tours as long as you are not travelling in a tour-group. You can expect that every single boat including all tour-groups will be visiting the actual five-day-market , they are unfortunately no longer authentic with more and more tourist souvenir stands popping up , the worst one being the so called floating market which is nowadays a pure tourist market.And , yes , the one-leg-paddling fisherman are amazing , but unfortunately they are nowadays nearly all fake ; not fishing anymore but posing for tourist photos instead.
In my opinion the best you can do is starting early , i mean really early before sunrise! Yes , its very cold on the lake that early but you might even meet a real fisherman at that time, the sunrise on the lake is still magic and you wil then go to the market first thing in the morning eventually being able to beat the crowds and see the real market. The local markets often start at 4-5am and they start closing down already at 10am , if you arrive later only the souvenir sellers are still there.
The far south with Sankar is great but you wont be the only tourist there as well. There are some great very local authentic markets at Sankar lake but if you are starting your trip in Nyaung Shwe you wont be able to arrive there until the market closes down already.
As others mentioned before , if this is your first trip to Inle lake many of the so called tourist stops are actually not so bad , umbrella making , silk weaving, cheerot ; you do not have to buy at those shops , just relax and enjoy the lake , it is still a very magic place.
For the authentic experience you should have come to visit 20 years ago.......

Thanks for your reply and your tips. I will try to follow your advice and wake up early :-)

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