Description

DAY 1 SATURDAY ARRIVE YANGON (RANGOON)
Upon arrival in Yangon you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Tonight meet your tour leader (or local guide) and the rest of the group in the reception area of your hotel for a welcome drink and a tour briefing. This is a great chance to get to know your fellow travellers and talk about the adventure that awaits you.

ACCOMMODATION 2 nights
Category A Property:  SUMMIT PARK VIEW – Superior room
Category B Property:  SULE SHANGRI-LA – Superior room

DAY 2 SUNDAY YANGON
Start your exploration of Yangon with a walking tour taking in some of the best examples of the city’s wonderful colonial architecture, the lovely Mahabandoola Garden and Independence Monument as well as the lively Indian Quarter. Stop at a local tea house in time for lunch then explore Chinatown before heading down to the local port area for a glimpse into local life. Finally, end the day at the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon’s crowning glory. Watch the changing colours of this stunning temple as the sun sets behind its enormous spire. Breakfast included.

DAY 3 MONDAY YANGON TO MANDALAY
Early morning flight to Mandalay.
On arrival in Mandalay, start your visit with the lively Jade Market buzzing with traders and workers cutting and polishing jade – great for people watching and a feel for local life! Continue with a wander through the backstreets behind the market which reveals a number of cottage industries which have been operated by the same families for generations. Here you will see various snack foods made by hand, produced in vast quantities, packaged-up and sent for sale to local markets and to other parts of the country.

Continue with an afternoon city tour including the Royal Palace, Shwe Nandaw Kyuang or ‘Golden Palace Monastery’ noted for its intricate wood carvings and Kuthodaw Pagoda, home to ‘The World’s Largest Book’, a collection of some 729 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist teachings. Breakfast included.

ACCOMMODATION 2 nights
Category A Property: HOTEL YADANAPON DYNASTY – Superior room
Category B Property:  SEDONA HOTEL MANDALAY – Superior room

DAY 4 TUESDAY MANDALAY
Head out of Mandalay to Sagaing Hill, widely regarded as the religious centre of Burma. Sagaing Hill is covered with over 600 white-painted pagodas and monasteries, and is home to over 3,000 monks and nuns. Here you will visit a local nunnery where you will contribute food at the daily alms offering before joining the nuns for lunch. After lunch there will be a chance to interact with the nuns and learn something about their lives of spiritual devotion.

Continue to U Bein Bridge – a 200 year-old teak bridge which spans over 1.2 km and offers fabulous views of the surrounding farmlands and streams. Return to your hotel in the late afternoon or early evening. Breakfast and lunch included.

DAY 5 WEDNESDAY MANDALAY TO BAGAN
Head off very early this morning to board a local boat for a full day cruise on the Irrawaddy. Sit back and relax as you observe life along the Irrawaddy: oxen working the fields, water buffalo wallowing in the mud, golden pagoda spires, fishermen, villagers bathing in the river and, of course, every type of boat and river craft that you can imagine. Arrive in Bagan as the sun sets and transfer to your hotel.

NOTE: The cruise to Bagan is subject to cancellation if river conditions are unfavourable. In the event that this cruise is cancelled, transport to Bagan will be by flight.

ACCOMMODATION 2 nights
Category A Property: AUREUM PALACE HOTEL & RESORT – Deluxe room
Category B Property:  THAZIN GARDEN – Superior room

DAY 6 THURSDAY BAGAN
Eat breakfast as the locals do and chow down on delicious noodles at a local tea house. Later, start your discovery of Bagan with some of this magnificent ancient city’s most important monuments such as Shwezigon Pagoda, and famous Ananda Temple, an architectural masterpiece. Built 1105 AD in the early Mon-style, Ananda contains two unique Buddha images whose expressions seem to change depending on the distance and angle from which the statues are viewed.

This afternoon visit the charming Minnathu village. The people here are very friendly and will greet you with warm smiles as they going about their business. You will make a stop at the village blacksmith who still makes wagon wheels and more by hand. Continue with a visit to the imposing 12th century Dhammayazika Paya, known as ‘the bad luck temple’, then stop at a neighbourhood workshop or two to see how some of the local handicrafts are made such as lacquer ware and wood carvings.

End the day with a short climb to the top of one of Bagan’s monuments for a stunning sunset view of this vast ancient city.

DAY 7 FRIDAY BAGAN TO INLE LAKE
This morning catch a flight to Heho airport, then drive to Nyaung Shwe beside glorious Inle Lake. Stop at Shwe Yanghwe Kyaung (Shwe Yan Pyay) – the unique oval windows of its ancient teak ordination hall are the subject of hundreds of photographs – then board a local boat to start your exploration of Inle Lake.

Along the way you will gain a fascinating insight into life on the waterways of Inle Lake, passing fishermen famous for their curious ‘leg-rowing’ technique and lush ‘floating gardens’ where local farmers grow a surprising variety of fruit and vegetables. Later, take a stroll through a village which straddles the water and shores of the lake then continue to some villages known for their local crafts such as the weaving village of Inpawkhone, a Silversmiths’ village and a community which specialises in the production of hand-made ‘cheroot’ (typical Burmese cigars). This evening you will spend the night at a lovely hotel on the shores of Inle Lake. Breakfast included.

ACCOMMODATION 2 nights
Category A Property: INLE RESORT – Royal Villa Lake View room
Category B Property:  INLE RESORT – Garden Cottage room

DAY 8 SATURDAY INLE LAKE
Start the day with a visit to the region’s morning market, which rotates its location around the lake’s villages in a 5-day rhythm and is visited by all kinds of people from surrounding villages and hill tribes. The market is not just a place for trade, it is also an important central meeting place for the locals in the region*. Later, cruise along foliage cloaked canals to the lakeside village of In Dein. Here you will explore the ancient stupas of Nyaung Ohak and Shwe Inn Thein Paya. The structures date from the 17th and 18th centuries and while some have been restored, many of the intricately carved stupas are crumbling, weather beaten and choked with Banyan tree roots and other thick foliage. These crumbling remains of a glorious past are hauntingly beautiful in their ruined state. Breakfast included.

DAY 9 SUNDAY INLE LAKE TO YANGON
This morning, transfer to Heho for your flight back to Yangon.

The afternoon is free for your own explorations. This evening, celebrate the end of your journey with a farewell dinner. Breakfast and dinner included.

ACCOMMODATION 1 night
Category A Property:  SUMMIT PARK VIEW – Superior room
Category B Property:  SULE SHANGRI-LA – Superior room

DAY 10 MONDAY DEPART YANGON
Today your tour ends with a transfer to the airport for your onward travel. Breakfast included

Departure Dates 2017

High Season: 14/01/2017 | 28/01/2017 | 11/02/2017 | 25/02/2017 | 18/03/2017
Low Season: 8/04/2017
Peak : 21/10/2017 | 4/11/2017 | 18/11/2017 | 2/12/2017 | 16/12/2017

Departure Dates 2018

High Season: 13/01/2018 | 27/01/2018 | 10/02/2018 | 24/02/2018 | 17/03/2018
Low Season: 7/04/2018
Peak : 20/10/2018 | 3/11/2018 | 17/11/2018 | 1/12/2018 | 15/12/2018