A 50 minute flight from Yangon brought us to the airstrip at Heho. An hour-long drive followed over a bumpy, dusty road as we vied with ox carts and pick-up trucks crammed with people for our place on the narrow thoroughfare. Our final destination - Nyaung Shwe at the north end of Inle Lake.
It’s becoming a rarer and rarer experience, but now and again you have the good fortune to experience what can only be described as a “National Geographic moment”. It would actually prove to be a series of such moments over the next few days.
Inle Lake, situated at elevation and surrounded by the Shan Hills is home to the iconic Intha leg rowers. The technique involves standing at the bow or stern of a wooden canoe on one leg while wrapping the other around an oar. The rowing style evolved because the lake has thick vegetation and reeds at its shallows, as well as floating hyacynth and other varieties, making it difficult to see if one were to be sitting. The practice is restricted to males, women rowing in traditional style.
With 70,000 residents living in communities around the Lake Inle, most are Intha but there are also other ethnic groups including the Shan and the Pa-O, many of whom we were to see in their distinctive costumes at the local five-day market.
Most are devout Buddhists (some also hold animist beliefs in the cult of the 37 Nats or Spirits), and are self-sufficient farmers and fishers living in simple homes of wood and woven bamboo, often on stilts in the water.
Arriving in Nyaung Shwe we left our vehicle and boarded a long wooden motorized canoe with our guide Joe for the 45 minute ride to the Princess Resort across the Lake.
Our luggage tucked beneath an old blue tarp at the bow, we took our seats in modified wooden lawn chairs and sat back to enjoy the ride as the wake washed up alongside. Passing through several small lakeside communities, the locals repaired fishing nets or washed their water buffalo while the children waved enthusiastically.
As we neared the hotel, the boat’s motor was cut and a young boy hopped on board from a nearby dock and ably demonstrated one leg rowing as he guided the boat in silence to the hotel dock.
Not knowing what to expect in terms of accommodation or ambiance, I leave the pictures to tell the story.
Suffice it to say, we loved the novelty of the outdoor shower, the hot water bottles placed in our mosquito netted beds to ward off the nightly chill (its not cold for heaven's sake, we’re Canadian) and the locally produced Red Mountain Estate Sauvignon Blanc that ably complimented the Shan-inspired dinner.
And of course the sunset over the lake from our cabin's verandah wasn't shabby either.
A 50 minute flight from Yangon brought us to the airstrip at Heho. An hour-long drive followed over a bumpy, dusty road as we vied with ox carts and pick-up trucks crammed with people for our place on the narrow thoroughfare. Our final destination - Nyaung Shwe at the north end of Inle Lake. 
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