From Loikaw to Inle: Sankar Lake

Sankar Lake is situated south of Inle Lake and linked to Inle Lake by a small passage. It is possible

to visit it from Inle Lake or from Phe-Khon, a small city on the shore of Sankar lake.

The journey really worth it. The lake is surrounded by green mountains and inhabited by tens of charming villages. What really makes the difference is that it is less crowded and touristic than the famous Inle Lake.

As we were coming from Loikaw, we started our journey from Phe-Khon jetty and we spent the night there. Actually, I would not advice to sleep there but to stay in Loikaw. There is no animation in the city at night and the only hotel available is not well maintained. We spent the night fighting insects in our rooms… However, we really appreciated the breakfast on the hotel’s terrace with a stunning view on the lac and the mountains and morning daily animation. 

On the morning, we had a pleasant ride thought non-ending rice fields and bamboo forests mountains, charming villages with floating houses, birds, flowers growing in the water, pagodas…

We stopped at Sankar village to visit the pagoda and the monastery. We had the chance to meet and discuss with monks living in the monastery. Our guide, Charlie, introduced us and did the translation for us so we could discuss with them about Buddhism, their daily life, our life and aspirations… We had a very nice moment.  

Then we went to Tharkhaung village to visit local food productions: Sake (local rice liquor) and crackers. We really enjoyed the snacks! We also visited an impressive ancient pagoda made of hundreds of stupas.

We had lunch in a restaurant on the lake. It was really pleasant to rest in the middle of the lake and watch the lake animations. We had fresh local food: fish from the lake, rice and potato, rice and fish and the usual tomato salad!

The next place we visited was a pottery production. We all tried to make some pots and understood how meticulous you need to be do make those nice handmade products…
I really enjoyed visiting all the small production shops on the lake. You can take time to look at the handmade products and don’t feel pressured to buy.

After the visits, we went straight to Inle lake. It is almost a two-hours ride but the time flight. We finished the day by a beautiful sunset over the lake!