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It is a long way from anywhere as I sit uncomfortably in my cramped seat en route to Inle Lake from Bago Myanmar. It’s three in the morning, I am exhausted, my body is aching and I have been either riding a bus or waiting to board one for the past 19 hours. This lake had better be as “remarkably beautiful” as all of the guide books tell us because it is the most difficult traveling I have done in five months.

It is water festival time, the hottest time of the year, and everyone in the country is taking the bus to visit relatives and to see the sights for themselves. We arrive in Bago, a town situated 80 km northeast of Yangon via Kyiakito in early afternoon to book our overnight bus to Inle Lake. The tour operator eagerly takes our money, but fails to let us know that it is next to impossible to secure a seat during this busy season on such short notice. As the hours tick by, we wait impatiently for a spot to become available, our desperate proprietor flagged every coach that passed through this dusty town down until finally a driver agreed to take us.  Read more...