Meal: N/A | Accommodation: hotel in Yangon

Welcome to Myanmar!

Upon arrival to the YANGON international airport, you will be welcomed by our Discovery Destination Management guide and transferred to hotel. Today we visit colonial-style city center of Yangon starting from one of the landmarks SULE PAYA stupa – built over 2,000 years ago. We continue to the quaint YANGON OLD QUARTER, built during the British colonial era where many charming historical buildings are still located. During our stroll through bustling MARKET STREETS full of merchants and food stalls, we visit a local pharmacy and learn about Myanmar traditional medicine, stop for a tea and snack in the fashion of locals, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Yangon. We continue to bustling BOGYOKE (SCOTTS) MARKET, where hundreds of gemstone, handicrafts, art, clothes and food stores are tucked in a maze of color. (Please note that the market is closed on Mondays and on public holidays). We complete the day with a visit to one of the world’s most spectacular monuments, the SWEDAGON PAGODA, a gleaming bell dome structure that dominates the city’s skyline. Legends state that the sacred hairs of the Buddha are enshrined here. The Shwedagon is an iconic symbol of the country, a sight not to be missed.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Yangon

Today early morning, explore the hidden backstreets, markets and the Indian village of Dala before crossing to the Twante canal to the Car-free river island. Cycling through paddy-fields and small villages. You will be warmly greeted by the friendly locals. An easy tour with many stops and many things to see. After a short stop at the ship-graveyard, we will be heading back to Yangon by boat. We will then transfer back you back to the hotel at the end of the day.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Mandalay

After breakfast transfer to airport for flight to MANDALAY. Discovery DMC local guide will welcome you at Mandalay airport and transfer to Mandalay 40km/1hr to your hotel. After check-in enjoy a stroll through the lively ZEGYO MARKET in the heart of the city to experience authentic local life. We continue to the ARTISAN QUARTERS, where some of the oldest craftsmanship are showcased dating back to last kingdom of Myanmar. We observe the process of pounding gold leaf, detailing teakwood carvings and embroidering Myanmar tapestry. We also see how bronze and marble Buddha statues are carved, cast and molded. Thereafter we proceed to the Ancient Kingdoms of Myanmar near Mandalay. We will first visit to the Ancient Kingdom of Sagaing, located across the mighty Ayeyarwaddy River. From the SAGAING HILLS, we enjoy views of the hillside dotted with countless pagodas and pay a special visit to a monastery to learn about the life of Buddhist devotees. We continue to another beautiful ancient capital; AMARAPURA, famous for its textile industries. There, we visit a cottage industry workshop to learn how Myanmar longyis and traditional fabrics are woven. We continue to MAHAGANDAYON BUDDHIST MONASTERY where over thousand monks live, and take a walk on the nearby UBEIN BRIDGE, constructed of old palace teak wood pillars spanning 1,2km over the Taungtaman Lake. In the late afternoon, start cycling to explore the shady paths through the ancient capital of Ava and finish our ride at U Bein Bridge. We'll walk along the shores and the bridge itself to catch the last light of the day before driving back to Mandalay.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Mandalay

In early morning, we will start our morning cycling tour to ride through the stunning countryside that surrounds Mandalay. Visit fresh markets, cottage industry, farming villages and return to Mandalay after having made a genuine connection to the Myanmar countryside. In the afternoon, visit to the major highlights of the city: the sacred MAHAMUNI PAGODA, housing one of the most significant Buddha images covered in several tons of gold leaf and the crown prize in wars between competing kingdoms; the GOLDEN PALACE MONASTERY, the sole surviving Royal Palace building in Mandalay, offering a glimpse of the original style and architecture of the Myanmar royals; and lastly, the KUTHODAW PAGODA, a compound housing Buddha’s teachings carved in the sacred Pali script on stone tablets and regarded the world’s largest book in terms of surface area. We end the sightseeing with panoramic views over city skyline on MANDALAY HILL, the highest point of the city.

Meals: breakfast, lunch | Accommodation: hotel in Kalaw

After breakfast at hotel, transfer to Mandalay airport for flight to Heho, a quiet transit town with one of the few airport links in the beautiful hills of Shan State. Visit the bustling main Heho Market, the meeting point for different ethnic minority groups of the surrounding areas to trade handmade goods and locally grown produce (on market days only). Enroute to Kalaw, we stop at a Local Family Work Shop to learn how Shan umbrellas and paper are made by traditional methods using the fibres of the mulberry tree. Then we continue drive to to Kalaw, a former British colonial hill station where ambassadors would spend the summers enjoying the crisp mountain air and sipping on gin tonics. After we check into the hotel and enjoy our lunch, we can spend afternoon either luxuriating in fresh mountain air for those who prefer sedentary pleasures, or hiking around Kalaw’s beautiful forest vistas for those yearning more active pursuits. Local guides can adjust the duration and difficulty of the more active activities according to our wishes.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: hotel in Kyauksu village

Trekking starts from Hotel. Walk slowly up hill along the pine forest for two and half hours, then arrive to Danu village called Lutpyin. Proceed hike an hour to Shapin, another Danu village. Along the trail, there are fruit trees such as avocado, Papaya, banana and vegetable farm. They have also animals (water buffaloes and cows) for working in the fields.Take a rest and lunch in Shapin village. After lunch continue the trip along the ridge for two hours to Linpan, a Pa-O village. In the Pa-O area, they grow rice, ginger, potatoes, sesame, chili and banana. The trail goes up and down through beautiful scenery. Another Pa-O village named Kyauksu could be seen from Linpan. It takes for one hour to get there. Dinner and overnight in Kyauksu village.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: hotel in Kyauksu village

After breakfast walk down hill for one hour, then the landscape is getting flatter. Tea break for half an hour and continue the trip for two hours for lunch at Yekhaungto monastery, an old wooden one. After lunch trek up and down for two hours crossing a nice bamboo bridge on the way to Pattu, a Taungyo village. The village is surrounded by bamboo forest and most of the men in this village know how to make baskets not only for using and also for selling in the market. There is another interesting wooden monastery in Pattu, situated in the mid of the village. Dinner and overnight in Pattu village after visiting and seeing the village.

Meals: breakfast, lunch | Accommodation: hotel in Inle Lake

Less up hill and more down hill on the last day. After breakfast walk up hill about one and half hours to Nanyoke village. And then going down for three hours to Tonele, an Inntha village in the wetern shore of Inle lake. The path is sandy and rocky. Lunch in a bamboo hut in the bamboo forest at Tonele and afterward walk to jetty to take the boat to transfer to hotel. The boat ride takes for an hour and half to Nyaug Shwe.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Inle Lake

After breakfast we journey out by boat, following the currents of a small river to reach the INN THEIN PAGODA COMPLEX, a site that makes us feel as if we’ve stepped through a forgotten portal in time. To access the complex, we walk through verdant bamboo groves that open up to a field covered with the ancient pagodas constructed over 1,000 years ago. We boat back to the lake and visit PHAUNGDAW OO PAGODA, the home of some of the country’s most sacred Buddha statues covered in gold leaf by devout followers. We also make a visit to the INPAWKHON WEAVING VILLAGE to learn how local silks, linens and lotus fabrics are handmade and crafted. As an extra treat, we stop at a house for BURMESE CATS built over the lake, where we see the preservation efforts and reintroduction of this rare pure breed of felines to Myanmar. At NAMPAN VILLAGE, local craftsmen show us how Burmese cigars, or “cheroots,” are traditionally packed and rolled. We end our day with magnificent sunset canoe ride with boatmen who gracefully navigate and row perched on one leg.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Bagan

After breakfast, we transfer to airport and flight to NYAUNG U/ BAGAN. You will be picked by Discovery DMC Guide at the airport and transfer to your hotel. Then we start our journey with a visit to the gold gilded SWEZIGON STUPA, purported to contain a holy tooth relic of the Buddha. Not far from the stupa, the MYINGABA GU BYAUKGYI TEMPLE is a sight to behold, housing Bagan’s best preserved mural paintings of the Buddha’s Jataka re-incarnations. Next, we learn how Bagan’s famous lacquerware crafts are produced in MYINGABA VILLAGE, and then visit HTILOMINLO TEMPLE to learn how Burmese sand paintings are created. The day’s temple tour ends with a visit to the beautifully symmetric and majestic ANANDA TEMPLE with its four standing Buddha images that seem to gaze at the viewer with fixed serenity wherever the viewer stands. In the late afternoon, we transfer to the Ayeryarwaddy River for a PRIVATE SUNSET CRUISE where views of the temple silhouettes and bustling shore can be accompanied by cocktails on board.

* All touring schedules and activities can be adjusted according to guests’ wishes.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Yangon

In the morning, enjoy half day bike ride amid some of Bagan's 4000 temples. In addition to taking in the essential highlights, you will also get a taste for the lives of the local residents as we pass through fields, farms and villages. After refueling with traditional snacks at a tea shop, we drive back to your hotel. In the afternoon, transfer to airport for the flight to Yangon. Upon arrival at Yangon airport, guide will meet you at the airport and transfer to hotel for overnight stay.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: not included

Breakfast at hotel. Feel free leisure until transfer out to Yangon International Airport for your departure flight.