Inle Bike, Boat and Kayak Tour

An unforgettable day tour by bike, boat & kayak - Explore the stunning Inle Lake and colourful communities who live on & around it, cycling at a relaxed pace on secret village trails away from the crowds, journeying by boat through canals and the maze of floating gardens and exploring the local stilt villages by kayak. This is the best way to discover the hidden side of Inle, both on the lake and its surrounding villages.

Our day begins meeting at a shop located in central Nyaung Shwe at 7:45am. After introductions comes a bike fitting,  safety briefing, and the start of the Inle story from your guide; then it's off on the bikes.

After passing through town we begin with a bit of a warmup ride on a road usually thronged with kids on bikes, making their way to school. Water buffalo might be seen, chewing lazily as they watch you pass. Before too long we'll leave this tar road and find narrower trails through bamboo forests and along the edges of fields full of crops and flowers. Molasses production, rice milling, planting, harvesting - there's always a lot going on in these villages and the kids will almost certainly be out in force to cheer you along. We'll make sure to have some special stops along the ride to check out highlights and snap some great pictures.

After moving briefly to wider roads we'll arrive in the small town of Khaung Daing. Here we'll ride through, stopping to see medieval bread kilns, tofu production, rice wine distilling, rice cracker drying and maybe some bright red chillies being bagged up for market; there will also be a chance to sample some of these specialties along the way.

After exploring Khaung Daing and refuelling on fantastic local snacks we hop into our long-tail boat, along with the bikes, for our first trip on the water. This trip takes us through the maze of floating gardens unique to Inle Lake, growing a variety of seasonal vegetables and greens atop the water. Our boat will then continue on towards our secret destination at an isolated peninsula.

Arriving at our special location we'll take to the bikes again, following a little used rural route along dirt trails, beside water channels and rice paddies, getting far off the beaten track into remote communities that seldom see tourists. If we find mud it'll just add to the fun!

Our adventure through this beautiful countryside will bring us to a different section of the lake where our long-tail boat will again be waiting to take us out on the water. We arrive into a quieter area of the lake among a small stilt community where we can relax and enjoy a fantastic, truly 'home cooked', Shan lunch served in a traditional house.

After a short rest to let lunch settle and soak up the picturesque views across the lake we will then take to the kayaks for a laid back paddle taking us through villages, floating tomato gardens and across a stretch of open lake. Our long-tail will accompany us and give you complete freedom of choice about how far your adventure takes you.

Following our kayak we will return by boat transferring across the lake back to Nyaung Shwe. The cruise back is a good opportunity to catch some last minute photos of the lake and surrounding hills in the late-afternoon light. Arriving in town it is just a short ride to conclude our trip back at the shop.

You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.