Red, Red Wine

One of Inle Lake's main attractions is Red Mountain Estate Vineyards and Winery. Now, I am definitely not a connoisseur of wine but I was more  than up for the adventure of getting to the winery. We decided to take the long, scenic route there and ended up getting soaked in the process. The scenic route involved a 45 minute bike ride to the boat launch and a haggle for a boat across the lake, where we would jump back on the bikes and peddle until we reached the winery. The bike ride to the boat launch was enjoyable and scenery, as always, amazing. It felt great to stretch the leg muscles as they were quite sore from the three day jaunt from Kalaw.

As we got closer to the boat launch, we passed some men sitting on motorbikes. As it turns out, they are boat drivers and basically wait for tourists to go by on their bicycles. One will then call dibs, hop on his motorbike and head towards the launch where he'll wait for you at the entrance and lead you in to make a deal. Because we are so savvy, Danna, Jenna and I were able to get the driver down from 15,000ks to 6,000ks. (Or in USD about $15 to $6.) Now, I know this seems like an extreme drop, but the average cost of renting a boat for the entire day is anywhere from 15,000-18,000ks and we were only using the boat to go across the lake.

The joy of the ride before the rain. 

The view from the boat.

Ahhh the boat ride! Of course, as was usual with my time in Myanmar, I got caught in a rainstorm. . . again. As soon as we got into the boat and through the canals to the main part of the lake, we could see exactly where the rainstorm began and ended. We were headed straight for it. The three of us (Jenna, our friend and trekking partner from Kalaw was still with us) went from being very relaxed and stretched out to curled into balls to stay as dry as possible. This was also the day that I didn't take my raincoat in an optimistic hope that it would not rain. Needless to say, by the time we arrived at the dock everyone, including the boat driver, was drenched.

On the dock before the wait, dash, wait race began.

Shortly after getting the bikes off the boat and paying the man, the rain stopped. We began the mad dash (or more accurately, quick walk) with the bikes down the dock. Because the rain in SE Asia is very temperamental, we didn't even make it halfway before it started to pour again. And so the wait, dash, wait, process began. In all, I think it took us about an hour to get off the dock and in the end it was still raining when we decided to give up hope of waiting out the rainstorm and just finish the journey to the winery.

Sampling some wine. 

So, at last, the three of us arrived at the winery for a very late lunch, beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and lake and most importantly, the wine tasting. The food was delicious and the wine, if you like wine, I'm sure was great. I did enjoy the Rose and truly could not have beat the price. The sum total for the three of us sampling four glasses of wine was the equivalent of 6 USD or $2 a person. And they say (it is true), Myanmar is one of the more expensive countries in SE Asia. While we sat, lunched, and wined, the rain stopped but when it was time to bike back, it started again. Thankfully, this time, it was more of a drizzle rather than a steady rain.

The view from the restaurant at Red Mountain Estate.

My time in Inle was truly spent just lazing around, biking, eating and going to the market. I loved the laid back ambiance of the city and enjoyed the ease of getting around. I even bought a longyi, traditional Burmese skirt worn by everyone in Myanmar. To buy the fabric and get it sewn, was $4. One of the cool things about Myanmar was that everyone wore these long skirts and seemed to have agreed to boycott pants. I'm not sure skirt is the right term as you could literally fit four of me into one, but the men and women have different ways of wrapping them so they stay up. In all, Inle was a success and great place to relax after walking for days!