A Little Lodge In Samkar — Hotel in Taunggyi District

We had chosen to stay 3 nights at Samkar Little Lodge in the southern part of Inle Lakes. The boat trip down to Samkar was unbelievable serene and highly recommendable, and Samkar itself was a nice little rural spot. The hotel was nice, in particular the upper terrace and the garden as well as the rooms/bungalows towards the garden – we had a nice room towards the garden and enjoyed the afternoon sun from our little terrace. The rooms on the opposite side of the house had very little light/sun and the generator was on that side, hence we were happy not to stay there. ||||The restaurant served surprisingly great Myanmar food and as it was my friend’s birthday while we stayed there I had asked if they could find a birthday cake for her, which they did and which we happily shared with the other guests and staff – really nice of the staff to organise it! ||||Though we understand it was a rural setting, we still felt the cleaning of the place and in particular of the rooms could have been better. Furthermore, the place offered little privacy as you can hear everything being said in the rooms next door and upstairs and given how easy sounds travel in the place it didn’t provide the tranquil place we had expected, but we still enjoyed our stay and relaxed in the pretty surroundings. ||||The staff were very sweet and accommodating, but unfortunately, no one really spoke English, which made it very difficult to get any advice on what to do and what to see in the area – and there was no written information material available at least at that time. We made a bit of research ourselves and found that there were the most wonderful pagodas on the other side of the lake as well as a small Sake distillery, which we went to visit and which I can highly recommend. The staff helped us organise a boat to visit the place. We would also have loved to cycle around in the rural area, but unfortunately there were no bicycles available at the place, but it would make a great addition...

We boated across the lake from That Kaung Pagoda to here. This guest house is really the only available accommodation in the village of Samkar aka Sagar. It consists of six rooms near the reception desk and two bungalows. Our family of four was in the two bungalows and our guide stayed in one of the rooms. There are no TVs or phones in the rooms and bungalows, but other than that, we had everything we needed in our bungalows. They were bright and clean with hardwood floors and there were two beds with mosquito netting in each of the bungalows. Each bungalow had a bathroom and a small veranda. There was free wifi, but we found that we only got signal by the reception area. We ate dinner and breakfast there and both meals were fine, although there was only powdered milk available for tea and coffee. The owner spoke limited English but she was really kind. One of our twins went off to explore and ended up joining in a soccer game that the local kids were playing nearby. Our other twin was fascinated with the neighbour's pig that kept poking his head through the fence. There is not a lot around this lodge, but we thought that that was the beauty of it. In the morning we biked with our guide to the nearby market (about 5 minutes away) and that was really fascinating. This is a real local market, selling fresh produce, including meat from freshly slaughtered animals. After our visit to the market, we spent about five hours biking to the town of Nampan. NOTE: Take earplugs if you're planning to stay. We were awoken about 3:30 by roosters that crowed continually for hours. We would stay here again in a heartbeat, but...

This is a very simple inn on the Southern Lake (south of Inle Lake about 2 hrs) in a charming remote village. The Lodge itself is a fantastic, characterful accommodation if you enjoy the idea of a remote destination. The bungalows are large, comfortable and designed in the local style with wonderful architectural detail inside; great bathrooms with large open showers and bountiful hot water. (I cannot speak for the rooms in the main building but that the building itself is dark and minimally furnished.) The restaurant is also simple but has a splendid open air terrace overlooking the lake and the food is well-prepared and staff eager, as helpful as can be given minimal level of English; the manageress, however, spoke quite well. There are pagodas to see in the village and the dawn chorus of roosters crowing was an unforgettable, other-wordly experience.

But Sakar (also know as Samkar) is the easiest starting place for a visit to Takhaung Mwetaw (also known as Tarhaung) Pagodas which is exceptional: serene with a small temple and 100s of beautifully restored pagodas with myriad Buddhas and other devotional figures. With the sound of birdcall and the bells ringing atop the pagoda, the few devout locals at prayer and its lakeside setting (2 of the pagodas are actually in the lake!), this was among the most moving religious sites in our experience of 3 weeks traveling in Myanmar; especially marvelous if one can arrive early before larger tour groups. Thus the Little Lodge, just across the lake, is ideal for that purpose and...