Inle Lake Boat Tour Chronicles Part 6 – Ancient Ruins of Indein

After our trip to the local market, we immediately proceeded to the ancient ruins of Indein. We didn’t know much about this place since the whole itinerary was arranged by the other two travelers that we were with. They told us that it was a nice place to visit and it wasn’t as far as Sangkar.

From the lake, we entered another pathway that led us further inland. It looks to me like some sort of a huge irrigation canal or something like that and you could see farmlands on both sides.

Before going to Indein, our guide asked us if we would like to visit some silver jewelry factory which we really didn’t want to but the two other travelers that we were with said yes so off we went to the factory. We actually had a nice time watching how the silversmiths create beautiful jewelries. It looks like a painstaking job but their output looks very beautiful.

After spending some time in the factory, we then walked around and went to the monastery across the river. There was an old man who called me and even if we’re having a hard time communicating due to language barrier, he showed us around the monastery and tried his best to explain some stuff about the place. It was such a nice experience as he was not really a tour guide but just someone who lives there and who’s eager to show some foreign visitors about their temple.

After visiting the factory and the monastery, we then traveled towards Indein which is one of our main destinations that day. As we go further, the water becomes cleaner and cleaner. After some time, we docked our boat and walked towards Indein. The road towards Indein was being paved when we got there. They’re making it more accessible and convenient for the future visitors that will be coming to this place.

After a few minutes of walking we saw the ruins just across the bridge. It was amazing how beautiful they were and sad that they weren’t able to preserve these temples and stupa. One of the stupa got overtaken by a tree. As I was walking around and checking each and every temple I couldn’t help but imagine what it was like when these temples were still new and locals frequent them to pray.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the ruins of Indein:

My picture didn’t do this place justice, the water looks really clean and inviting!

There’s a temple on top of the hill with a mixture of old and new stupa. They’re currently restoring the damaged stupa when we were there maybe by the time you visit this place most of the stupa will be restored. I hope they also restore the temples and the stupa down the hill.

Along the way is a long strip of shops where you can buy souvenirs.