The Best of Myanmar

Mandalay
Upon arrival to Mandalay Airport, you will be welcomed by our guide and transfer to the hotel for check-in. Mandalay was the final capital of then-Burma’s Konbaung Dynasty until its decline in 1885 at the hands of the British and is regarded today as Myanmar’s capital of culture. We will spend the day exploring the city’s sites with highlights including the Mahamuni Pagoda, the wood-carved Shwenandaw Monastery and the world’s largest book at Kuthodaw Pagoda. In the evening, enjoy yet another spectacular sunset from the top of Mandalay Hill.
Overnight in Mandalay

Amarapura – Ava – Sagaing
Today you will explore the ancient capitals close by to Mandalay. The first will be to the ancient royal capital of Amarapura. Here we will visit the Mahagandayon Monastery, a school for young monks, and U Bein Bridge, a more than 200 year old structure and the longest teakwood bridge in the world. We then continue to Sagaing, which was the capital of the Shan Kingdom in the 14th Century and briefly the capital in the 18th Century, as part of the Konbaung Dynasty. The town is located slightly downriver from Mandalay and has many interesting stupas scattered over Sagaing Hill. Transfer to “Sitagu Meditation Center”, where you will have the chance to experience a traditional Burmese meditation session. Later, you will visit another former royal capital, Ava, which was founded in 1364 and was the royal capital for nearly 400 years. Highlights here include the ‘leaning tower of Ava’, Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, which was built by masonry as opposed to most other monasteries which are built with wood, and the elegant teakwood Bagaya Monastery.
Overnight in Mandalay (B)

Mandalay – Pakokku – Bagan (boat)
After breakfast, you will drive to Pakokku, a charming town famous as a tobacco trading centre, famous for its weaving shops. You will visit Pakokku market and Thanakha wood market; local people use this wood to beautify face and protect from sun burnt. After exploring markets, drive to Shar Pin Kaing village (30 min). You have a lunch at Shar Pin Kaing village. Experience seasonal agriculture activities and visit homes to have tea and Burmese snacks made of rice, pea, beans and palm sugar. To document these experiences, one should not miss taking a camera. Leave this village for jetty on Bullock cart (20 min). Ride a boat to Bagan in Irrawaddy river with the sun setting and alongside islands for some time where no people are living but the birds and thatch growing. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the Hotel.
Overnight in Bagan (B/L)

Bagan
After breakfast, you will enjoy a Bagan Archaeological. Tour will take you in famous sites including Damayarzaka Pagoda, Shwegugyi and Thabyinnyu. Other highlights include the mural paintings at Gubyukggyi and Abeyadana Temple, which is famed for its mural paintings about Mahayana Buddhism. In the afternoon you will visit a lacquer ware shop to learn about this unique art, which Bagan is famous for, is carried out before enjoying Bagan’s famous sunset from atop one of the temples.
Overnight in Bagan (B)

Bagan – Kyun Thiri village – Bagan
After breakfast a boat ride across the Irrawaddy presents an opportunity to spend the morning with the monks and villagers of Kyun Thiri Island. You’ll pay a visit to the local monastery and spend the morning learning about the local daily lives. So you’ll get an opportunity to interact with the locals and support underprivileged children. Later you will return to Bagan by boat and visit to Shwezigone Pagoda, a prototype for many Myanmar stupas built later. You will then visit the 13th century cave temples at Wetkyi-in- Gubyaukgyi, one of Bagan’s most famous sites the Ananda Pagoda and many other temples dotted around this vast, beautiful complex. In the evening, you will enjoy sunset from Shwesandaw Pagoda, which offers the best views across the plain.
Overnight in Bagan (B)

Bagan – Heho (flight) – Pindaya
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight to Heho. Upon arrival, drive to Pindaya which is noted for its extensive limestone caves filled with Buddha images. Driving there we will pass through the Pa-O and Danu villages of Pwehla and Ji Chanzi and endless fields of dry cultivated mountain rice and potato. Inside the Pindaya Caves are nearly 8,000 Buddha images that have been built there over the centuries as a form of merit making. Made of various materials and of different sizes, the statues are carved into every space of the vast cave chambers.
Overnight in Pindaya (B)

Pindaya – Inle lake
Begin the day with breakfast at the hotel before we take a sightseeing tour on a long-tail boat on Inle Lake, visiting silk weaving and lotus industries in Innpawkhine Village before stopping in Nanpan to witness work at a Cheroot (Myanmar Cigar) factory. You will continue our tour to see the Phaungdaw Oo Pagoda and, if we have time, stop at Leshae Village to witness the making of a Buddha image through the use of dried flour powder.
Overnight in Nyaung Shwe (B)

Inle lake – Indein – Inle
It’s the Intha people that have tamed this lake, their perfect precision with canoes and fishing nets inform their lifestyle on the water. Today you are invited into their stilt village to cook, but before the fragrant smells waft across the lake, you will need ingredients. You will take a boat to the rotating lakeshore market, where wooden tables are packed with mountains of spices and vegetables. Atmospheric calls merge with the steam from tea stalls as you collect your colourful produce. Prepare a series of dishes in the stilt house as you occasionally gaze out the window onto the open lake view. You will take their recipes away with them as well as an apron and a cap to commemorate the day. After lunch, we travel to Indein to observe a 17th century Pagoda complex and pay a visit to many of the small communities alongside the lake’s edge. On the way, we will see some of the lake’s famous floating gardens and visit a number of souvenir shops.
Overnight in Nyaung Shwe (B/L)

Inle – Phekhone (boat) – Loikaw
In the morning you will take a scenic and off-the-beaten track trip south to Phekhone by boat (5 hours). On the way you will visit Sagar village. Transfer by car to Loikaw in Kayan state. Upon arrival, you will drive one of the most famous village for the distinctive ‘long-necked’ women of the Kayan tribes. The village is considered as one of the best established Community-Based Tourism programs in Myanmar, with a number of different village visit and trekking options. There are several fascinating occasions to have interesting insights into local life and culture, and activities were developed based on special elements of local life which community members feel proud and comfortable to share with guests. You will have the chance to visit also the “Hta Nee La Leh ‘Kayhtoebo” hall and shrines, where animist traditions are practiced. Guests learn why the site is important for the local community, and about festivals and ancient hunting traditions and rituals. You can even try your hand using a catapult.
Overnight in Loikaw (B)

Loikaw
There are many rural villages in Loikaw and we’ll visit one of the Padaung/Kayan ethnic villages, Pan Pet which is just 20 miles away from the town. Most women from that village have followed their traditional culture of wearing neck rings. Girls first start to wear brass neck coils at age of five but young generations seem not to want to continue with this tradition anymore. Over the years the coil is replaced by a longer one with more turns. The neck itself is not lengthened the weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compress the rib cage. All houses in the village are made of wood and bamboo. In the main room they all have corn hung from the ceiling just above the fireplace. This is the corn they will use to plant and grow. The reason for placing them there is to prevent birds from eating the corn seeds once they plant them. The smoked corn seeds will not attract them. Travel to Pemsong hamlet, to enjoy a moderately challenging trek, through lush, shady, forest. After a short climb, guests enjoy over 3 hours of continual, great views. En route, local guides will show guests various edible plants and herbal medicines which are used by community members in their “jungle larder”. A highlight of the trip is arriving at the original settlement of Pan Pet, perched on a mountain top, where evidence of past habitation is visible. This is considered one of the first Kayan settlements of Kayah state. Guests also enjoy a jungle picnic. The trek ends in Rang Ku hamlet, where guests can meet the famous Kayan people (popularly known as Long Neck Karen), who are a symbol of Kayah state. Enjoy learning a few words of Kayan language and interacting with these fun-loving and artistic people. There are also opportunities to buy local handicrafts.
Overnight in Loikaw (B/L)

Loikaw – Yangon (flight)
After breakfast, we will transfer to the airport for your flight to Yangon. Upon arrival, you will be transfered to the hotel. You will have the chance to visit the world famous Shwedagon Pagoda, which towers over the city and is the most highly-revered religious structure in the country. It is a sight that no visitor to Myanmar should miss.
Overnight in Yangon (B)

Yangon
Transfer to the airport to take your flight back home.