After a short bus ride of about 2 hours we reached the outskirts of Inle Lake, transferred to a taxi with another couple and headed into town. On the way there we have to stop to pay another tourist tax or Eco tax. Every region seems to have a tax for foreigners. Bagan was $25, here is $13.50. I feel that at every turn in Myanmar there is a grab for money.  I know in other Asian countries foreigners have to pay more than locals but at times I feel that here in Myanmar they are taking the piss.

The hotels are expensive in comparison to other Asian countries and the standards are not that high. The food is not  cheap but can be quite tasty at times and you notice the difference as you move through the country. The last two days I stayed in Kalaw in the mountains and the Nepalese food there was great but the hotel was shit and so was the service and did I tell you that it was expensive.

When I got off the bus at Kalaw I felt that it was a mistake, maybe that was partly due to the weather but it just didn’t feel welcoming, instead it felt like it was saying ” Give me your money”

The only good thing was that the hotel was about a 5 minute walk from the bus stop.  The hotel as I said before was expensive and the customer service was non existent. The room had not been used for some time and it just felt miserable. Breakfast the next morning was pathetic, it was tasteless in every way.  The only reason I stopped at Kalaw was to do trekking but the weather was so wet that I was unable to do that, so instead I killed time by reading and watching a movie or two.  A bit disappointed that I couldn’t do the trekking and I don’t think I’ll be back here to try again.