The ticket for the night bus from Bagan to Inle included the pick up at the hotel with a benched tucktuck taxi. With about 11 other people we raced to the bus terminal at 7.30 pm. Our bags were on the roof and I wasn’t sure whether they or one of us would fall off first. Finally, we all made it to the bus station. I was traveling with Prince Express (Min Thar) again for 17000 MMK.

With the night bus from Bagan to Inle Lake with Prince Express

The bus was the same as the last one and again we received a water, a coke, a moon cake and a tooth brush set. This time, I also noticed that I had a blanket below my neck rest.

We stopped at 10.30 and could have eaten dinner. I used it to go to the toilet but unfortunately there were no western ones at that stop. We’d have had a western one on the bus but luckily I never needed it and therefore I don’t know what state that was in.

This driver drove a bit more aggressive than the last one. There were a few sharp breaks and a lot of honking. However, they had pulled the curtain to the driver cabin and I couldn’t  even see what was happening. I was amazed how almost everyone else appeared to be sleeping. Especially since for the next two hours we speeded up a mountain pass road (at least as fast as the bus could go around the hairpin bends). It was a very shaky ride. I only saw the lights of the other cars and buses out of my side window whenever a curve turned in my direction. At 2 am this road was as busy as a highway in Switzerland during day time.

I have to admit that I didn’t inform myself about Inle Lake before going there. I just heard that it was nice. Turns out that it’s actually up in the highlands. So, another awesome thing that I could have done here would have been a trekking from Kalaw to Inle through the green hills and rice fields. Therefore, we had a brief stop in Kalaw at about 4 am and one third of the people on the bus got off. The rest continnued to Inle (or rather the tourist town Nyaungshwe). We stopped near the market in Nyaungshwe at about 5.30 am. From there it was about a 10 min walk to my hotel, the Gypsy Inn.

Where to stay in Nyaungshwe at Inle Lake

Note that Nyaungshwe is about 30 driving minutes located away from Inle Lake or 20 minutes on the river canal by boat. That still makes it a good place to stay though because the canals and especially the boats reminded me of Venice. Although the water was a muddy brown the whole time.

Gypsy Inn was a lovely place to stay as it was right at the river and the jetty and it was clean with enough space. They had a bit more variety at breakfast as the other places as well. I could observe the life from my terrasse. The owners were really nice and made tea every evening, so all the returning guests sat together. We were only three guests though since it was low season. I think the liveliest place is Ostello Bello, which is also in the middle of the food street. But therefore it’s a 4 min walk away from the water.

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What was your best/worst trip on a night bus or day bus? Please, comment after the post.