11 Days Myanmar Cultural Journey

ITINERARY

Day 1: Yangon | Welcome to Myanmar!

International Flight: Excluded
Meals: Dinner
Welcome to Myanmar! Upon arrival, your guide will greet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel for check-in. Then have some leisure time.

In the evening, enjoy a Myanmar royal style welcome dinner on a floating marble boat.

Day 2: Yangon | Yangon Capital Highlights

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, your guide will meet you at the hotel. Then visit the downtown area to see the Old City Hall and Maharbandoola Park. Take a stroll along the famous old street ending at the old Strand Hotel. Next, drive to Botahtaung Pagoda which features golden decorations inside the pagoda. Continue to Bogyoke Market which sells many of the Burmese traditional handicrafts including stone carving, wood carving, bronze carving, painting, etc.

In the afternoon, visit Kandawgyi Park for a stroll near Chaukhtetgyi Reclining Buddha Image – one of the largest in Yangon. Continue to the highlight of Yangon: the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, which has been described as one of the wonders of the world. Shwedagon plays a very important role in the Old Burmese History and also is an important Buddhist icon. Enjoy the sunset over the pagoda.

Day 3: Yangon – Bagan | Bagan’s Valley of a Thousand Temples

Flight: Excluded
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Morning, transfer by flight to Bagan. Upon arrival, your guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel for check in.

Today you’ll explore Bagan, where you will see its thousands of Buddhist pagodas spread in the valley of the Ancient City of Bagan. These pagodas used to own by individual families during prosperous times. You will visit the Nyaung Oo Market where locals buy and sell produce. Then you’ll visit the Shwezigon Pagoda which is the largest pagoda in Bagan painted with real gold.

Have a rest in the hotel during the hot afternoon. Then you’ll enjoy a Horse Cart Ride first to the small village of Taung Phi where rests a worn teak monastery awaiting the rare tourists who are lost. You’ll continue by horse cart around temples and winding roads as the sun makes it’s way to the sky’s edge casting curious shadows from the temples across the plain. Continue to Shesandaw Pagoda. From your vantage point, you’ll watch one of the best sunsets in Southeast Asia. Then you’ll take a horse cart ride back to your hotel.

Day 4: Bagan | Popa Mountain

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Your Mount Popa excursion begins after breakfast when your tour guide and driver will meet you at your hotel.

We then head east toward Mount Popa, an extinct volcano standing 1518 meters high. Mount Popa has played an important role in Myanmar culture, religion and history since earliest times. Its shrine is dedicated to the worship of the 37 Nats, the Burmese ancient animist spirits.

Learn about nats and nat worship as you climb the stairs to the top with your local guide. The view over the Myingyan Plain from the top of the volcanic peak is impressive.Transfer back to Bagan late this afternoon.

Day 5: Bagan – Kalaw | Kalaw Discovery

Flight: Excluded
Meals: Breakfast
In the morning, transfer to the airport for a flight to Heho.

Upon arrival, your guide will greet you. Then drive to Kalaw (approx. 1 and half hours). Stop at Aung Ban on the way to visit a local Market selling typical foods, wines, traditional handcrafts, and you can try Shan Noodles at one of the Myanmar Traditional Teashops. The market is quite colorful from the Myanmar flower shops and fruit stalls as well. The Shan Dried Tea found there is known as the best in Myanmar. Then continue to Kalaw, a former British Hill Station surrounded by ethnic minority communities such as Pa-O, Palaung, and the Shan. In the town, you can still feel the colonial atmosphere. After check-in at the hotel and a short rest, drive West to start your half-day Trekking to a Palaung village. Visit a household in the village and be introduced to the tribe. Then continue on foot to another meeting point where you will take the car back to your hotel.

Day 6: Kalaw – Heho | Exploring the Shan Hills

Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast, drive to Pindaya (approx. 2 hours). It is a small peaceful town situated at the base of Shan Mountains and the end of the fertile plains. On the way to Pindaya from Aung Ban is quite picturesque. Make several stops for photos and the farmers while they work in the fields. The area is a boon for a variety of crops such as Sesame, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Mustard Oil, Wheat and perennial orchards like Mandarin Oranges and Tea. Upon arrival visit a Paper Umbrella workshop where you can see the Shan-style Parasol produced by hand. Then, drive up to Pindaya Lime-stone Natural Caves with more than 8000 Buddha Images. In the afternoon, drive to Nyaung Shwe (approx. 2 hours). It is another Shan town bordering the north edge of Inle Lake. On the way, you can visit Shwe Yan Pyay monastery built mainly of teak wood in 1882 and it’s pagoda with colorful mosaics decorated on the interior walls. Then continue to Nyaung Shwe where you will embark on a long boat to your resort for check in.

Day 7: Heho | Excursion on Inle Lake

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Your Excursion today will be made by private long tail boat to see the life of the In-tha tribe(name of local ethnic people who live on the lake), to discover their unique floating farms and life on the water. You will also witness local fisherman who fish while using only one leg to paddle the boat. Then you’ll visit the Long Neck Ladies who were relocated from the Myanmar and Thailand border.

Rest of the day is at your leisure to relax.

Intha Tribes at Inle Lake – 11 Days Myanmar Cultural Journey

Accommodation: Inle Resort

Day 8: Heho | Kakku Pagodas

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
In the morning, you’ll transfer to visit the 3rd-century Kakku Pagoda complex. Stop on the way for a visit at Ayetharyar Vineyards and Winery where you’ll taste Myanmar’s local wine and view the beautiful landscape of vineyards and hills. Continue to Taung Gyi, the capital of Shan State where you’ll visit the Kakku Pagodas. There you’ll see a large white pagoda surrounded by 2548 pagodas closely packed together. You’ll be able to wander through the marvelous stupas. Each stupa is intricately crafted with delicate images and sculptures that are beautiful and highly detailed.

Then stop for lunch. During the afternoon return trip, visit a Pa-O village.

Accommodation: Inle Resort

Day 9: Heho – Mandalay | Mandalay in Focus

Flight: Excluded
Meals: Breakfast
In the morning, transfer by flight to Mandalay. Upon arrival, your guide will greet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel for check in.

In the afternoon, you’ll go to see the Highlights of Mandalay, you’ll start off your day with an opportunity to learn about the distinct Buddhist culture unique to Burma. You’ll visit the Mahamuni Image where you’ll have an opportunity to watch locals pray and place gold paper on the statue of Buddha for blessing. You can participate as well if you like for a small donation to the temple(only men are allowed to place the gold on the statue).

You’ll also visit a gold paper factory to see how golden leafs are made, a staple in Burmese religious practices. Then you’ll visit the 19th-century Shwenandaw Monastery (Golden Palace Monastery) famous for its teak carvings of Buddhist mythology.

Next, you’ll see the Kuthodaw Pagoda which is a Buddhist stupa that contains the world’s largest book of Buddhism.

At the end of your day, you’ll enjoy a gorgeous sunset from the top of Mandalay Hill.

Buddhist Stone Books – 11 Days Myanmar Cultural Journey

Day 10: Mandalay | Former Capital of Amarapura

Meals: Breakfast , Lunch

In the morning, transfer to Sagiang, the capital of Sagiang Division located on the Irrawady River. You’ll cross the Inwa Bridge, which was built by the British in 1934. Then you’ll visit the Maha Ganayon Kyaung Monastery to see hundreds of monks line up for daily meals. Then visit the U Bein Bridge which is 1.2 kilometers long and is the longest teakwood bridge in the world.

Next, you’ll see Kaung Mu Taw Pagoda: a dome shaped pagoda which rises up 46 meters. At the base of the pagoda there are 812 stone pillars, each one with a hollow and image of a Nat inside. Continue with a visit to Sagaing Hill. The hill has a number of small pagodas with many meditation centers along with Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda – pagoda painted with gold. You can stop at monasteries and nunneries to speak with monks while enjoying hot green tea.

Lunch at a restaurant.

Then continue with a visit of Amarapura,”City of Immortality”, the old capital of Myanmar. At the end of the day, visit the ancient temple of Pahtodawgyi which was built in 1820.

Return to Mandalay and the rest of the day is at your leisure.

Day 11: Mandalay | Farewell!

International Flight: Excluded
Meals: Breakfast

Our guide will transfer you to the airport for your flight onward. Thank you for traveling with us!

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