HIDE AND SEEK

OVERVIEW

Half a kilometre west of Nyaung Shwe town, you’ll find A Little Eco Lodge, one of Myanmar’s best boutique, family-run and genuinely responsible eco-lodges. Although it primarily functions as a guest house, it’s also home to one of the most culturally immersive Myanmar travel experiences out there, one that also doubles up as a cooking class. Without the help of a guide, explore a small settlement on the eastern side of Inle Lake with the aim of getting your hands on the key ingredients required to cook today’s lunch. Armed with a shopping list, some images and a few basic Myanmar phrases, will you be able to source everything you need before the time runs out?

PACE

Easy going

TOUR PERIOD

Half day (morning)

HIGHLIGHTS

Armed with a shopping list, images and some basic Myanmar phrases, search the village for the ingredients required for today’s lunch.
You will not be accompanied by a guide; this will help to ensure a real sense of challenge and full cultural immersion.
Converse, laugh and learn with the villagers you cross paths with.
Handpick fresh vegetables from A Little Eco Lodge’s organic garden.
Cook traditional Shan cuisine with the help of U Kyaw Swar and Ma Mee Mee’s family.
Enjoy your creations from the top of the eye-catching and architecturally brilliant Tree House Restaurant.

ITINERARY IN DETAIL

(Click to read)

After finishing breakfast, transfer to A Little Eco Lodge, an eco-conscious guest house located just half a kilometre west of Nyaung Shwe town.

On arrival, you’ll be handed three envelopes containing some instructions (not to be opened just yet!), a sheet of useful Myanmar phrases and images of typical cooking ingredients. Having familiarised yourself with everything, follow a member of A Little Eco Lodge’s staff into the village and meet with the owner of the first home. Once inside, you can open ‘Envelope 1’ to find some instructions; follow these and try to source what’s specified within the given time frame.

Please note that the host will not speak any English, nor will a guide accompany you; this may seem daunting, but it will help to ensure a truly authentic and immersive experience. As we found when we tested it ourselves, it’s also likely to lead a lot of tears (happy ones!) and laughter.

When visiting a Myanmar home, it is customary for the host to provide the guest with snacks and hot tea; you may wish to bear this in mind before eating too much at breakfast. It is not expected that you eat everything, but it’ll mean an awful lot to the host if you try at least something; it’s not every day they get to cook for outside guests.

With your ingredients hopefully in hand, it’s now time to move onto the next house following exactly the same steps; don’t worry, somebody will be waiting patiently to escort you.

Once all three envelopes have been opened, and the set tasks completed, it will be time to return to A Little Eco Lodge. Prior to cooking up a storm in U Kyaw Swar and Ma Mee Mee’s kitchen (the owners), first pay a visit to their organic vegetable garden to handpick some fresh greens. We’ll then grind, peel, dice and slice the ingredients before conjuring up, what we hope will be, one of the best meals of your Myanmar adventure.

INCLUSIONS

Hide and seek cooking class
Lunch
Air-conditioned transportation to/from A Little Eco Lodge
Drinking water and hand towel

EXCLUSIONS

Inle Lake zone fee
Anything not mentioned

NOTES

This experience works best when combined with a night (or more) at A Little Eco Lodge; doing this allows you to avoid too early a start, awaken your senses with a delicious Shan breakfast and keep the overall cost down as a morning transfer won’t be required.
Tour Mandalay’s guides will not accompany you for this excursion; this will help to ensure a real sense of challenge and full cultural immersion.
When entering homes in Myanmar, it is expected that you remove any footwear. As such, we would recommend wearing something that is easy to slip on and off.

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