ARRIVAL AT YANGON

Welcome to Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon and once the capital of Myanmar.  You will be welcomed by your guide and driver and transferred to your hotel for check-in and light refreshments. Later enjoy your day by exploring nearby places and markets. Overnight at hotel in Yangon. 

YANGON SIGHTSEEING

Today Morning after breakfast, we will start our city tour at Maha Bandula Park which offers the perfect vantage point to view the eye-catching surroundings.  These include the octagonal, golden Sule Pagoda, City Hall, Immanuel Baptist Church, Independence Monument, the Supreme Court and an array of colonial buildings dyed with the pure colors of time and history. Next, we will visit Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda, home to one of the biggest and finest Reclining Buddha Statues in Myanmar. 

Later we will arrive at Kandawgyi Park where you can choose to stroll along the lake over the poetic long bridge or walk in Karaweik Barge and discover its interesting history. Don’t miss the chance to visit the exquisite, Shwedagon Pagoda to meditate or just surround yourself in its peacefulness.  This truly magnificent pagoda is at its best when bathed in the beautiful colors of the sunset. Overnight at hotel in Yangon.

YANGON - BAGAN, LOCAL SIGHTSEEING

After having breakfast, we transfer to the airport for a morning flight to Bagan – the glorious ancient capital city where the legacy of Myanmar’s Buddhist beliefs still exists in the area’s well-preserved, beautiful red-brick temples that date back to the 11th century.  

Upon your arrival in Bagan, our station guide and driver will welcome you,  and along the way to your first destination, Ananda Temple, the guide will  tell you of the history and significance of the area, best known for the most beautiful temples in Bagan with their elegant,  symmetrical structures and their picturesque stone exteriors.

After lunch and a short break, we continue our travels to visit the Bagan House of lacquerware to see how this interesting, delicate process using bamboo, eggshells, and lacquer enables artists to make both beautiful artwork and useful, everyday products. 

Afterwards, more temple visitations await as we take you to Gubyaukgyi Temple, also known as the “cave temple” outstanding in its own right because of its Indian-influenced architecture.  To conclude the fascinating first day trip in Bagan we will explore Htilominlo Temple – a majestic 46-meter high temple, richly decorated with beautiful mural paintings inside which date back to the  13th century. When the sun is hiding behind ancient temples, take your time to relish the best moments of the day while temple bells and gongs surround you like magic. Overnight at hotel in Bagan.

BAGAN SIGHTSEEING, SUNSET CRUISE

After an early breakfast, you will be picked up by our guide and driver to start off on a fun-filled exploration of Bagan. As morning is the best time to visit the market, we will first head to Nyaung Oo Market and witness how local residents trade goods for their daily living. 

After time mingling with local shoppers in the market, we will move to Old Bagan and commence our journey to a series of major religious sites,  with the first stop being at Shwedagon Pagoda – one of the oldest and most impressive golden pagodas in Bagan,  built by the former founder of Bagan empire. Cars continue to pass us along the small dusty roads as we walk under shady trees in between a number of smaller,  less known temples, to be taken on foot to visit a small, nearby village. Walking through this quiet village you can see and feel the simple way of life the local people experience and you can observe how Bagan farmers live in harmony among thousands of ruins.

Afternoon comes, and we will enjoy a  journey by horse cart – an old way to travel through ancient time. We will pass by the tallest temple in Bagan, Thatbyinnyu,  and the largest temple, Dhammayangyi,  built in the shape of an Egyptian Pyramid, as we learn about the ancient methods of construction. Finally, we will stop to savor a breath-taking sunset from the upper terrace of the elegant, multi-storey  Sulamani Temple.

SUNSET CRUISE

When dusk is coming, if you wish, we will transfer to a nearby river jetty and embark on a private riverboat for a spectacular sunset moment over the gently flowing Irrawaddy River. This is an ideal way for you to relax and chill-out after a strenuous day of traveling around Bagan.  Stretching out in a lounge chair, looking over the sky dotted with small groups of cranes flying home to roost before, dark or just watching the fishermen on their bamboo rafts trying to catch the last luck of the day are simple ways to end a lovely day. Overnight at hotel in Bagan.

BAGAN - MANDALAY, LOCAL SIGHTSEEING

Takes a short flight to Mandalay in the morning. Landing the new destination, our guide and driver have been waiting up to pick you out to join another adventure through the second largest city of Myanmar. If Bagan is well-known as a majestic ancient city, Mandalay is rather like a cultural library of Myanmar which houses hundreds of monastic schools, famous marionette theaters along with countless significant historic documents that could be seen in various kinds of representation. After about 1 hour drive, we reach the foot of Sagaing Hill in which lied hundreds of pagodas and monasteries overlooking the mighty Irrawaddy river. As we drive up to the hilltop, visit U Min Thone Pagoda, also known as Thirty-cave pagoda. The place offers such a wonderful photo opportunity with its 45 beautiful Buddha statues shining by sneaking sunlights through 30 entrance caves. Taking some further step upstair to discover Swan OoPonNya Shin Pagoda located right in the center top of the green hill. It is the oldest and the most important pagoda over Sagaing Hill dating back from the 12th century. After having the full spirit of the places, we drive down and visit a less-visited local market in the hill foot before turning to a nearby small pottery village where people still apply traditional manufactures to make out simple necessary products from clay and water.

Next agenda, we will move to Ava – a little antique town in which all sightseeing should be done by a local transportation. Firstly we drop by Bagaya Monastery, a teakwood masterpiece featured by eight stairways made up of bricks. Don’t miss out the Nanmyint Watch Tower if you wish to grasp a panoramic view of the whole picturesque village into your eyes and camera set. We then head over to Amarapura, the city of immortality as many said, and discover its all highlights including Mahagandayon Monastery, where roughly a thousand monks live and learn religious lessons day by day. Follow the way out then to the iconic U Bein bridge, renowned as the oldest teakwood bridge in the world crossing the peaceful Taungthaman Lake. The bridge is not only one of the best symbols of Mandalay but also beloved photo stop for many photographers. Enjoy your very last time of the afternoon on the bridge, watching the life goes by and let your soul blowing with the wind under the beautiful sun setting down. Overnight stay in Mandalay.

MANDALAY - MINGUN - MANDALAY

After breakfast, we head for Mandalay Jetty and board in a private boat for a scenic sailing upstream the Irrawaddy River to Mingun, a west bank town village located 11 km from Mandalay. Landing the town after roughly one hour boating, we start visiting Mingun Pahtodawgyi, a massive unfinished pagoda which was meant to be the world’s largest pagoda in the world (at the expected height of 150 meters), but soon left as abandoned ruins on the western banks of the Irrawaddy because the King finally found no way to complete this big dream. Even though it was never completed, the remains are still impressive enough with an awe-inspiring structure made from the biggest pile of brick in the world featuring natural cracks from the severe 1838 earthquake. Don’t miss out the chance to see the largest uncracked bell nearby which is also the pride of place. Overlooking from the top of Mingun Pagoda is Hsinbyume Pagoda, an elegant white-washed monument representing the sacred Mount Meru in Buddhism. This is also an incredible stop for stunning photos.

If time permits, before returning Mandalay, we will stay in the quiet Mingun for a bit longer walking further to visit small villages nearby and interact with some honest and friendly locals.

Getting back to Mandalay in the afternoon, we will climb up Mandalay Hill, a windy hill at the height of 240 meters above the city flat land. First, we enter to visit Kyauktawgyi Pagoda and discover the largest marble Buddha statue inside. Outside of the pagoda offering a big veranda with a wonderful chance to capture a whole panoramic view of Mandalay City into your eyesight. From the top of the hill, you can see not only the winding Irrawaddy, Royal Palace but also the lofty Shan Mountain ranges embracing the city to the east. Downing the hill, we continue to discover Kuthodaw Pagoda, a special place proudly called “The World’s Biggest Book” consisting of 729 white shrines each housing inscribed marble slabs of a Buddha teaching. Lately, we drive to Shwenandaw Monastery with impressive structure out of marvelous woodcarvings. Meditate over the sunset before heading back to your hotel for a relaxed evening the. Overnight stay in Mandalay.

MANDALAY – HEHO – PINDAYA – KALAW

Early morning transfer to airport for flying to Heho and then drive to Pindaya, through picturesque scenery. Visit Pindaya caves, Pindaya lakes; home base paper making and umbrella making industry. Next proceed to Kalaw, a mountain resort town in the Southern Shan Stateand looking around the mountain city .Overnight at hotel in Kalaw.

KALAW – INLE LAKE

Take an early morning visit to a local downtown market to genuinely feel the local atmosphere before going to  the Kalaw Train Station where you will hop on a short, scenic train  ride to Inle Lake. The train will pass by fantastic scenes of  hillside  villages and green plantations. Stop at Shwenyaung station after roughly 3 hours, where our team will pick you up for another transfer to Nyaungshwe jetty. From the jetty, we will take a private boat  trip around Inle Lake, one of the most spectacular Myanmar travel destinations. Embraced by the scenic Shane State and decorated with  floating gardens and villages, the lake is a perfect picture of life with what nature has to offer. Getting closer to the details, observe floating Intha houses built on wooden and bamboo stilts, and colorful, floating gardens skillfully made of a drifting fertile layer of earth and bamboo poles. You will also visit Nga Hpe Chaung Monastery,  a lovely, old wooden monastery, best known in the past for its  jumping cats, and for its large  collection of beautiful Buddha images.   Going inside, we can learn all about the  ups and downs of this oldest monastery in Inle Lake. Leaving the monastary, we continue on to the Ywama village to visit Phaung DawOo Pagoda, a  most revered place housing five, gold-leaf covered  images of the Buddha  dating from one of the most important historical events since the very old days of Burma. The pagoda is always a busy place for local people to show their respect to their greatist guardian. Around the lake, to see more of local working life, we will stop to visit some specialized handicraft workshops such as lotus weaving, cigar making or silversmithing (depending on the specific time of year). Our guide will describe  the process in words while skillful workers focus on their mission. When the sun is setting, we return to our hotel for relaxation after a fascinating boat trip. Overnight stay in Inle Lake.

INLE LAKE - INDEIN

After breakfast, we will continue our boat trip on the lake to visit Indein Village, a one hour trip from Nyaung Shwe Village. On the way, there is a good chance to drop into a 5-day floating market held in selected villages around the lake. The market is not merely famous as the biggest and most anticipated event for the lakeside inhabitants - the natives from surrounding mountains in the Shan state also come to this colorful gathering where multiples cultures mingle and exchange their homemade products with each other. 

After a long but scenic ride, in the second half of the morning, we will reach Indein Village – on the westernmost shore of Inle Lake. Walking through a dirt track under a shady bamboo forest to the hilltop, your eyes soon see an amazing huge jungle of ancient stupas embracing a quiet and calm pagoda set in the middle. While some of the stupas are well restored, many are still in their original states, untouched from the 12th century with overgrown small bushes and trees. The antique landscape will generously offer breath-taking photos for your Myanmar collection. Later on, en-route back to your hotel for a relaxed afternoon, if you wish, we will stop for a while at Inthar Heritage House to get to know more about traditional lake architecture and local artist’s work, while enjoying local coffee and tasty cakes (optional, not included). Overnight stay in Inle Lake.

INLE LAKE - HEHO - YANGON, DEPARTURE

After the last breakfast in your Inle Lake Hotel, pack your luggage and your drop-off guide and driver will take you to Heho Airport for a morning flight back to Yangon. Upon arrival at Yangon Airport, reunite with your Yangon guide again who will support you to connect to your departure flight home. Tour ends with some unforgettable memories of Myanmar.