Sunday 27 February

Our last day in Inle, and we walked around the town.  Went back to the market to see what was happening, and there wasn’t a lot, but still there were some vendors.  Things we never thought we would do in Myanmar – buy Nivea deodorant from a local shop.  We were getting low, and went past a kind of local pharmacy, so took the opportunity to stock up.  Just like at home, except for the writing, and confirmed that sanctions don’t really work!

We continued walking, found another small temple that we had a look around, passed a number of women washing clothes in the river, and generally had a pleasant morning, and followed by curry lunch at the hotel.

In the afternoon we decided to try to get out to see the Red Mountain Estates vineyard. http://www.redmountain-estate.com/ 

We had heard about it, and sampled some of their wine, which wasn’t bad.  First problem was how to get there.  Several people assured us we could do it by bicycle, but since it was now the afternoon and hot, that didn’t have a lot of appeal.  We asked the hotel about a taxi, which was going to be about $30, which was too much.  So, a short walk to one of the travel shops near the hotel, and we arranged for a moto tuk tuk – open tuk tuk powered by a motorcycle, for about $6.  The road was bumpy enough that we were really glad we hadn’t cycled.  It was bad enough in the back of the tuk tuk.  And we were correct in thinking that the vineyard was up fairly high, which would have been hard to do on a bike.

Got to the vineyard, where they offered tasting, but don’t really have much commercial sense - they put a glass down in front of you and go away.  No discussion of how it’s made, etc.  Finally we found someone to ask about the operation, and she took us through the chai, which was interesting.  They are doing some nice things, but still have a way to go.