Eastern Myanmar Travel Guide

Explore Taunggyi Taunggyi bustles during the Tazaungdaing balloon festival and serves as Shan State’s market hub; visitors use it for Inle Lake excursions, highland markets, and tasting fermented tea leaf salads. Explore Yawnghwe Yawnghwe functions as the doorway to Inle Lake: boat taxis, floating gardens, the morning market where Shan trout and tomatoes trade hands, and lakeside guesthouses that launch day trips to fishermen weaving nets on wooden boats. Explore Kalaw Perched among Shan State pines, Kalaw attracts trekkers with colonial-era bungalows, cool trails and markets selling Shan noodles and tea; multi-day hikes head toward Inle Lake and hilltop villages. Explore Hsipaw A slow riverside town in northern Shan State, Hsipaw is a base for multiday treks to hill‑tribe villages, the old Shan palace and morning markets where tea shops and smoky street food set the rhythm of the day. Explore Inle Lake Inle Lake’s stilt villages and floating gardens host Intha fishermen who row with one leg; boat tours visit markets, weaving workshops and lakeside pagodas amid mountain-ringed water. Explore Pindaya Caves In Shan State, Pindaya Caves house thousands of small Buddha images carved and placed over centuries. Explore Namhsan Namhsan, a township in northern Shan State, serves as a local market town and jumping-off point for treks to nearby hill-tribe villages and upland farmland. Explore Shwenyaung Lakeside town on Inle Lake’s western shore serving as a transport hub; visitors arrive by road or boat, use it as base for lake cruises and to visit morning markets.