We only had a day all up in Inle Lake. Nyaung Shwe is the name of the township. It's a pretty relaxed little village, and I could've easily spent a few more days chilling out and eating the delicious fresh food. Even though we oly had a short stay, we managed to do 3 cool things.
1 - The Aung Puppet Show
We stumbled across this one evening on our way to a restaurant. We had no idea what to expect but bought tickets anyway, they are only 5000 Kyat. We came back after dinner all ready for the 8pm show.
The 6 of us were the only attendees, except for two others, who just happened to be Kiwis too! On arrival we were given a lollie and a cup of green tea. We took some time to look at all the marionettes for sale while they prepped for the show. I ended up buying two puppets, and I'm glad I bought them from here rather than elsewhere. They are apparently hand made by the owner.
The show began and it is perhaps one of the strangest shows I've ever seen. (This was until I saw the Moustache Brothers in Mandalay...that was weirder).
I had no idea what the stories were about...but it was entertaining and you could tell they love performing it. The puppet master has been doing this for over 30 years! There were about 8 different stories, and the show lasted about 25 minutes all up. There are puppets for sale all over Myanmar, so it was cool seeing some in action with a real puppet master.
The 6 of us were the only attendees, except for two others, who just happened to be Kiwis too! On arrival we were given a lollie and a cup of green tea. We took some time to look at all the marionettes for sale while they prepped for the show. I ended up buying two puppets, and I'm glad I bought them from here rather than elsewhere. They are apparently hand made by the owner.
The show began and it is perhaps one of the strangest shows I've ever seen. (This was until I saw the Moustache Brothers in Mandalay...that was weirder).
I had no idea what the stories were about...but it was entertaining and you could tell they love performing it. The puppet master has been doing this for over 30 years! There were about 8 different stories, and the show lasted about 25 minutes all up. There are puppets for sale all over Myanmar, so it was cool seeing some in action with a real puppet master.
#2 - Go to Thanakha Garden for dinner
Oh em gee this place was delicious. The food was some of the best we had in Myanmar, and we got to try local Inle Lake fish. It was reasonably priced and we ordered way more than our fair share. It's the perfect place to try out lots of different varieties of Myanmar salads too - order the tea leaf salad! Or the avocado salad! Cheap beer too, and cheap cocktails. Oh I'm sad now, this place was so good.
But maybe best of all...they have a flush toilet. We got to a point in Myanmar where we'd all be very excited if a sit down toilet was discovered. In some instances, we ended up staying another twenty minutes or so while everyone gave it a go. The first person who goes to the toilet has to come back with a toilet report. This place received a very positive toilet report. A+++++
But maybe best of all...they have a flush toilet. We got to a point in Myanmar where we'd all be very excited if a sit down toilet was discovered. In some instances, we ended up staying another twenty minutes or so while everyone gave it a go. The first person who goes to the toilet has to come back with a toilet report. This place received a very positive toilet report. A+++++
#3 - Cooking class with Myu Myu
This was one of my best days in Myanmar. Myo Myo greeted us at our hotel about 9am. Our first stop was the Nyaung Shwe market where we would get all the produce we need for our cooking class. It was just the 6 of us, and it was nice to not be in a giant group of strangers.
Going through the market with Myo Myo was a highlight of my time in Myanmar. Just having a local person show you all the different foods they have and explaining things about the culture makes for a unique experience. It was interesting learning the different names they have for things, for example, they call 'snow peas', 'golden peas', and 'spring onions' and 'skinny leeks' which I guess makes sense. From now on I'm always going to do food tours or cooking classes whenever I can. Wherever you travel, life seems to resolve around food, so learning about that food means you really get an insight into the local culture.
Myo Myo knew lots of the stall owners, so we got to stop by various stalls and try different foods. The rice pancakes pictured below were especially tasty. She had earlier asked us what we wanted to cook, and we decided on a soup, three salads and two curries. Once we had procured all of the ingredients we needed for those dishes, we headed off to the class, in the back of a thoun bein.
Going through the market with Myo Myo was a highlight of my time in Myanmar. Just having a local person show you all the different foods they have and explaining things about the culture makes for a unique experience. It was interesting learning the different names they have for things, for example, they call 'snow peas', 'golden peas', and 'spring onions' and 'skinny leeks' which I guess makes sense. From now on I'm always going to do food tours or cooking classes whenever I can. Wherever you travel, life seems to resolve around food, so learning about that food means you really get an insight into the local culture.
Myo Myo knew lots of the stall owners, so we got to stop by various stalls and try different foods. The rice pancakes pictured below were especially tasty. She had earlier asked us what we wanted to cook, and we decided on a soup, three salads and two curries. Once we had procured all of the ingredients we needed for those dishes, we headed off to the class, in the back of a thoun bein.
Myo Myo's cooking class is located a wee way from town, down a gravel road. It's a pretty big house! And a lovely outdoor kitchen. Also, side note, flush, sit down toilet! Well...kind of a flush....
Myo Myo did most of the cooking while we watched, and helped out occasionally. I know some people would prefer that it's 100% hands on, but I was more than happy to watch and take notes while watching. Also, there's less likelihood it's going to get screwed up if she does it!
We cooked avocado salad, green tomato salad, tea leaf salad, fish curry, chicken curry, fried vegetables and a soup. It was a feast! We probably spent about 3 hours at Myo Myo's, and an hour at the market, so be prepared to give up most of your day. Check out the delicious dishes below.
Myanmar cuisine is a mixture of salty, sour, and sweet. It really deserves more recognition, especially the salads. And they put avocado in everything, what's not to love?! Hopefully as Myanmar becomes a more popular holiday destination we'll see the cuisine pop up in more places around the world.
Myo Myo did most of the cooking while we watched, and helped out occasionally. I know some people would prefer that it's 100% hands on, but I was more than happy to watch and take notes while watching. Also, there's less likelihood it's going to get screwed up if she does it!
We cooked avocado salad, green tomato salad, tea leaf salad, fish curry, chicken curry, fried vegetables and a soup. It was a feast! We probably spent about 3 hours at Myo Myo's, and an hour at the market, so be prepared to give up most of your day. Check out the delicious dishes below.
Myanmar cuisine is a mixture of salty, sour, and sweet. It really deserves more recognition, especially the salads. And they put avocado in everything, what's not to love?! Hopefully as Myanmar becomes a more popular holiday destination we'll see the cuisine pop up in more places around the world.
Preparation
Preparing the chicken curry
Fried veges
Green tea leaf salad - my favourite
Green tomato salad
Avocado salad
Lentil soup
Fish curry
This is my "hurry up and take the photo Simon so I can eat" face