Meal: N/A | Accommodation: hotel in Yangon

Mingalabar! – a warm welcome to Myanmar. Meet your Yangon guide at the airport and transfer to your hotel in town. After check-in visits the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, perhaps the most revered and impressive monument of all in Myanmar. Rising 100m tall covered in gold plates and gold leaf and decorated with gemstones. You will see many local families and meditators who come spend time in the pagoda complex and return back to the hotel for an overnight stay.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch | Accommodation: hotel in Yangon

After breakfast, walking tour exploring Yangon’s incredible architecture: golden temples, local houses, iconic sites, and faded colonial buildings. You’ll also head to quiet side streets and visit a teashop to get a taste of the local culture and daily lifestyles of Yangon residents. The morning three-hour walking tour will cover five km in the central districts of downtown. Many of the buildings visited are on the Yangon City Heritage List, a list of 188 man-made structures mainly consisting of religious landmarks and colonial-era buildings. Highlights include City Hall, the old railway station, and the former Minister’s office where General Aung San was assassinated. Interspersed in the guided walk are various religious sites such as the St Mary’s Cathedral, built-in 1899, and the Buddhist landmarks of Sule Paya and Botataung Pagoda. You will be treated to a smorgasbord of structures and styles from the British colonial era: Victorian, Queen Anne, Neoclassical, Art Deco, and an amalgam of British and Burmese.

By walking through the streets you’ll also have a chance to witness the lifestyles of the locals- from the busy bus and boat stations to the tea shops and hidden street markets. There are plenty of chances to interact with Yangon residents and learn more about Burmese culture. We will stop for a cup of tea or coffee at Lat Ywae Sin, a favorite teashop with the locals. Busy from morning until night, this shop roasts its own coffee and has unique wood carvings on its wall. If you are feeling hungry, they are famous for their semolina cake and also offer great noodle

After a lunch break, we continue along Mahabandoola Street, where we will reach Chinatown. This large market is the greatest place for buying foods in the morning. Moreover, Chinatown is not only a common market but also a huge food stand. You can stop to watch or try tasting flat rice noodles and rice flour pancakes. We will then walk to the Indian Quarter, the Sri Kali Hindu temple, and visit the beautiful Jewish Synagogue. Afterward, we will travel around the famous Bogyoke Market and buy whatever you want. The rest of the day, we will travel through other sites of Yangon including the many colonial heritage buildings. End the tour with a drink at the historic Strand Hotel.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Bagan

Morning flight to Bagan and begin your journey back in time to the ancient kingdoms and civilizations of Bagan on a private walking tour discovering Bagan’s beautiful temples, small lanes and trails, farming fields, and simple village life.

This trek is graded easy. Your guide will adapt the route length to your fitness level and desired walking distance. You will mostly walk along small trails and sand roads connecting temple areas to one another. There will be plenty of photos that stop en-route and refreshments available.

Please note that it is generally rather hot in Bagan during the day, so we recommend wearing a hat. The best time for this excursion is early morning or late afternoon.

Start the walking tour by tracing the ancient city walls of Bagan. Go off the beaten trails following a dusty path weaving between sesame, corn, and groundnut fields (seasonal). Along the path, you may meet shepherd herding their sheep, bullock drivers traveling to their farms, and women collecting fire-wood. The timeless setting of farmers tending their fields and temples in the background will make you feel like you’ve traveled back centuries through a time portal.

During your walking tour, you will discover some of the late Bagan period temples where with intricate stucco work and impressive mid-13th century mural paintings. Your guide will share the legends and stories of Bagan. The Bagan walking tour will finish in Minnanthu village where the car will be ready to transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Bagan

After breakfast journey to the Ancient Kingdoms of Bagan, with a visit to the majestic and magnificent Shwezigon Stupa, one of King Anawrahta’s first pagodas built in Bagan as he ushered in a golden era to his prosperous and thriving kingdom. Next, after a short ride, we will get to admire some of the best-preserved mural paintings in Bagan at Myingaba Gu Byaukgyi Temple each depicting Buddha’s earlier lives known collectively as Jataka Stories. After that, we will proceed by car/ coach again just to be stunned by another glorious temple by the name of Htilominlo Temple where you will be able to see for yourself beautiful stucco works on the exteriors. We will finish up our morning tour with Ananda Temple, which locals endearingly claim to be the most beautiful of all temples in Bagan boasting four gigantic wooden Buddhas.

In the afternoon we will continue our explorations of this mesmerizing ancient city where the arts and crafts flourished and reached a high level of accomplishments. So we will pay an educational visit to one of many lacquer wares workshops at Myinkaba Village and learn about this ancient craft. Then we will continue with our exploration of the plain of merit and visits will be made to some more stunning monuments such as Mahabodhi Temple, Indian style architecture with a unique tower in Bagan; Bupaya Stupa, perching on the bank of the river; Dhammayangyi Temple, the biggest and most mysterious one in Bagan; and. return to the hotel and rest.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Kalaw

Today you will embark upon the six-hour journey to Kalaw by private car. The landscape you’ll pass through varies from flat, stretched out planes containing seasonal vegetable farms to the winding mountainous roads through picturesque valleys. En-route you’ll make stops at small villages and working farms and take the chance to meet friendly locals and learn all about their everyday lives. One of the stops is Mount Popa, the center for worshippers of the pantheon of Burmese ‘Nat” spirits. Visit a Nat shrine at the foot the Popa mountain and climb 777 steps to a pagoda at the top of the mountain for great views over the surrounding farming land and plains.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: homestay in the village

Morning picks up from your hotel in Kalaw at 8.30 am. We start with a couple of hours trek heading west to Ywathit Palaung village traversing slopes covered with tea plantations and seasonal crop cultivations. Further 15min walk takes us to Ta Yaw Palaung minority village a Tanaphet growing community. Tanaphet leaves are used for rolling Burmese cigars “cheroots”. Our lunch stop will be at viewpoint half an hour walk away. Packed lunch will be served. After lunch, trek to Taung Yoe minority village Myin Daik. On the way, we pass through Hintha Gone Danu tribe village. Myin Daik is situated along the Shwe Nyaung - Kalaw railway track and is a minor transportation hub for local produce sent to the regional markets. We stay overnight in Taung Yoe minority village of Yaw Pu, a short trek away from Myin Daik. Dinner and accommodation will be in a local house where we spend time socializing with the villagers.
 

Meals: Breakfast, lunch | Accommodation: homestay in the village

Breakfast at the homestay in Yaw Pu village. Today we travel east towards the Inle Lake passing through the Pao minority region. Enjoy the leisurely trek through beautiful valleys and gentle hills and farms growing garlic, wheat, cabbages, and other seasonal crops. During our hike, we pass through Taung Yoe, Pao, and Danu villages and take a lunch break in one of the villages. In the afternoon trek to Pao village of Pattupauk where we can see traditional bamboo basket’s weaving. Overnight stay in a local monastery in Hti Tein Village.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Inle Lake

Breakfast at the monastery and early morning departure. Our trail today ascends a forested mountain to Kyauk Su, Pao minority, village climbing up steep slopes to the mountain peak rewarding us with beautiful panoramic views over the surrounding region. The rest of the journey to Inle Lake is mostly downhill. Enroute we pass through Nguk Pao and Inn Thar peoples village and gradually start getting closer to the blue oasis of Inle Lake resting down in the bottom of the wide lake valley sided by mountain ranges. Our trail descends and brings us to Inn Thein village through a deep river valley, lush green mountains, bamboo groves, and a creek feeding waters to the lake. Visit the centuries-old Inn Thein pagoda complex with hundreds of stupas perched on a hillside. From Inn Thein board a private boat and travel along the winding creek through paddy fields to the lake. Spend the rest of the day exploring the lake by boat before transfer to your hotel on the lake or onshore.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Mandalay

Morning flight from Heho to Mandalay. Visit the snake pagoda of Paleik where Burmese pythons are worshipped and washed each day. Explore the backroads and trails of Paleik through ancient temples ruins that lie broken and scattered around the village. You will pass by some weaving workshops where traditional garments are woven by the ladies.

Continue to drive to Sagaing crossing the Ayeyarwady river over a bridge. Sagaing is one of the most important Buddhist education centers in Myanmar. Photo-stop on the highest hill in Sagaing offers a great panorama over the river and temple dotted green hillocks below. Enjoy a leisurely hike along small hidden trails connecting temples, monasteries, and nunneries. Make new friends and learn about their daily life, studies, and meditation practice.

From Sagaing continue Amarapura, another ancient kingdom where you will enjoy the sunset by the Ubein bridge.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: hotel in Mandalay

This morning your guide will bring you to one of the popular tea shops for a local breakfast. Try mohinga, shan noodles, or onyh khaw suay coconut noodle soup and local snacks accompanied with Myanmar sweet tea or coffee.

After breakfast, we take a morning stroll through Mandalay’s main market Zegyo. Your guide will show and explain how local salads and makeup are made and how monk's fans are made of money.

Next, continue to a jade market where you will see buyers and sellers in action. We will make sure to visit the most important highlights of Mandalay the gold-covered Mahamuni buddha’s temple and Golden Palace Monastery (Shwe Kyaung). In the afternoon drive out of Mandalay to the Yaetagun limestone mountain range for 1hr hike up to a limestone cave. This is a scenic trail and quite a strenuous hike. If you are not up for the top challenge you can still enjoy the scenery by a monastery where the trail begins.

Meals: breakfast | Accommodation: not included

Breakfast and free time until transfer to Mandalay airport for your departure flight.