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INLE LAKE – COOKING CLASS

FULL DAY
Spend a half-day in an authentic village with stilt houses and take part in a Burmese cooking class. After shopping for fresh ingredients at a local market, you will board a local canoe to your host's stilt house and learn to cook the main Burmese dishes in the company of a professional chef. After lunch, you can enjoy a mall boat tour around the village.

INLE LAKE – COOKING CLASS

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IN CONSTRUCTION

HIGHLIGHTS

– Shopping for ingredients at a local market.
– Participate in a Burmese cooking class at a stilt house on the lake.
– Small boat tour around the village.

Join our cooking class along beautiful Inle Lake!

Spend a half-day in a charming village with its authentic traditional stilt houses and take part in a Burmese cooking class to learn everything about the regional delicacies.

Departing at 8:00 am from your hotel, you’ll be led to one of the markets around the splendid Inle lake. There, you can buy the fresh ingredients that will be used in the cooking class with your Burmese chef.
You will then board a local canoe to go to your host’s absolutely incredible house on the lake, an enchanting, calm, and authentic spot.

Relish in the peaceful atmosphere for a few moments because it’s time to get to work!
In the company of the Burmese chef, you will learn to cook the main Burmese specialties. On the menu, a dozen typical dishes such as bean soup, green tomato salad, tea leaf salad, tempura vegetables, fried cauliflower, Shan tofu curry, fish cooked in banana leaves, chicken curry with basil, eggplant salad, and vegetarian curry. All mouth-watering dishes you’ll get to eat!

Yes, after all that effort, it’s time to sit back, relax and eat.

After lunch, you can enjoy a small boat tour around the village to explore more of this lovely place before returning to your hotel to make the most of your free time.

Useful Information
Full day
English Speaking Guide

Q&A

Q&A

Official Language: Burmese
Capital: Nay Pyi Daw
Economic Capital: Rangoun
Surface: 678 528 km2
Population: 51 million
Currency: Kyat (MMK)
Telephone code: +95

The local currency is KYAT (pronounced “Chatt”). You can exchange USD in the main cities of the country. Banknotes must be new and unfolded. Cash withdrawals are possible in most cities, with a credit card (Visa, American Express, or Mastercard). Payments are also possible in some hotels, luxury shops, or restaurants. We recommend that you carry cash to cover your personal expenses throughout the trip. Currencies are exchanged in exchange offices for Kyats.
The country is above all agricultural. It is one of the world’s leading rice producers. The development of the industry mainly concerns the processing of agricultural products (rice, sugar, cereals) and wood (sawmills, plywood), textiles (cotton spinning mills), cement and oil refining. Natural gas and petroleum.
Classic Burmese cuisine is a surprising mix of Burmese, Môn, Indian and Chinese influences. Rice, the basis of all meals, is served with a variety of curry dishes, fish, chicken, prawns or, most often, sheep. Burmese curries are the sweetest in Asia. Almost all dishes are seasoned with n’gapi, a salty paste made from dried and fermented shrimp or fish. Meals often end with thok lephet, a kind of salad of moistened and pressed green tea leaves, mixed with sesame seeds, fried peas, dried shrimps, fried garlic, peanuts, coconut and other crisp and flavored ingredients.
Myanmar, whose capital is Nay Pyi Taw, has a surface area of 678,578 km² and is rather compact in shape, extending southwards to a long and narrow strip of land. The country extends over 1,900 km from north to south and 900 km from east to west. It is crossed by the Irrawaddy River, which is navigable for 1,500km and whose vast delta is located west of Yangon. The country is located between Laos and Thailand in the East, Bangladesh in the West and China and India in the North. A horseshoe-shaped mountain system surrounds Myanmar with peaks of more than 5,000 metres (Hkakabo Razi) at the eastern end of the Himalayan range in the north of the country. We also discover green landscapes composed of a great diversity of fauna and flora, because the forest covers a large part of the territory (more than half).
Myanmar has been under the influence of Buddhism for nearly 10 centuries. Almost 90% of the population is Buddhist. However, this does not prevent them from believing in the spirits, known locally as “nat”. The other inhabitants are divided between Christians (5%), Muslims (4%), animists (1.2%), Hindus (0.5%). In Myanmar the main public holidays depend on the lunar calendar. Independence Day, January 4 in YANGON. The rice harvest festival takes place on the first full moon of the year. In April-May, the day of the full moon, we celebrate the feast of the birth of the Buddha. By mid-April, it’s the water festival from 13 to 17 April, marking the beginning of the new year. In October-November, we celebrate the Festival of Lights on a full moon. Karen New Year is celebrated during the full moon of December-January.

No vaccination is required. However, it is recommended to protect yourself against hepatitis A and B (ask your doctor for advice). We advise you to bring your own:

of a broad-spectrum antibiotic;
of your usual medications if you are undergoing treatment;
an anti-diarrheal and an intestinal antiseptic (Intetrix, Immodium…);
a protective cream against mosquitoes;
moisturizing sunscreen, lip stick;
a healing ointment and a local antiseptic.

Water is not drinkable in Southeast Asia. Avoid tap water, require bottled water. It is harmless and safe to brush your teeth, but do not drink it.
In 1989, the military junta decided to definitively sever ties with the colonial past by replacing the name “Union of Burma”, of English origin, with the “Union of Myanmar”.

Burmese is a monosyllabic tonal language of the Tibeto-Burmese group, of Sino-Tibetan origin. It is spoken by 80% of the population. English remains the administrative language.

MINI GLOSSARY

Hello : mingala ba
Goodbye : ta ta
Thank You : tjay zu tim ba deh
Pay the Bill: beh lauk tja thaleh
How much it cost ? : da beh laulleh
I don’t understand : namalebabu
My name is : tjanaw nammeh
Where are the toilets ? : ein tha be hma leh ?
I don’t understand Burma : bama lo na maleh ba bu
Do you speak English ? : khin mya Pyinthit lo pyaw dat thalah ?
Market : zei
Museum : pyadai
Hotel : hotel

Recently, Myanmar’s mobile phone network operators have entered into agreements with foreign operators. So you can use your mobile phone in Burma. Most tourist sites are equipped, and hotels have WiFi. If you wish, you can acquire a sim card upon arrival. For about 1500 kyats, you will have the possibility to phone all over the country and surf the internet thanks to the 4G network, which is often of much higher quality than the WIFI offered in hotels. Refills with credit ranging from 1000 to 10,000 Kyats are available in all grocery stores in the country and from operators (MPT, Ooredoo, Telenor).
Throughout your trip you will find a wide range of artificially crafted items: clothing, lacquerware, gold, silver and carved wood. You can find beautiful hand-woven silks in the Inle Lake area and all kinds of cotton and linen fabrics. Bagan is renowned for its lacquer manufacturing know-how. Myanmar also produces the finest rubies in the world, as well as sapphires.
Tipping is not mandatory but is commonly practiced (between 10 and 15% of the price). As an indication we recommend 5$ per day and per person for the guide and 3$ per day and per person for the drivers for small groups of less than 10 people. For groups of more than 10 people we recommend $3 per day per person for the guide and $2 per day per person for the driver.

For digital cameras, provide sufficient memory cards, a spare battery and your charger. Voltage 220V with several types of plugs possible: two flat plugs, two round plugs or three plugs. Plan to bring a universal adapter. A UV filter will be an effective protection for your purpose.

Concerning drones in Myanmar:

To date, it is forbidden to import a drone into the country itself for recreational use.

Travelers can have their device confiscated at the entrance of the country. They will be returned out of the
country (leaving the same airport on arrival).

220 V with several possible socket types: two flat plugs, two round plugs or three plugs. Plan to bring a universal adapter. Power cuts are frequent, but most hotels have their own generators.
On your way, you will often have the opportunity to meet local people. Wherever you are, be discreet and humble. The multiplicity of cultures and traditions means that certain attitudes are perceived differently in different countries. To avoid being disrespectful, take the time to understand the people you meet, take the time to make connections. There too, listen to the advice of your guide! He knows better than anyone the behaviors to avoid or adopt. For example, if you want to take a picture of someone, always ask them for permission. The best way for acceptance is to have established a prior contact. Similarly, do not distribute gifts at all … This often encourages children to beg, to avoid this kind of drift, it is better to refer to the local structures competent (donate to school, hospital, village chief etc.). Finally, be careful not to wear too light clothing (short shorts, cleavage …) and avoid exuberant behavior.