Compare Classic Myanmar by Asia Precious Junction

Day 1: Arrival in Yangon (your own tickets, flight information to be advised)(D)

Meals: Dinner

Upon arrival, you clear the customs formalities yourself. Meet on individual arrival at Yangon International airport. Our guide will welcome you. Then transfer to hotel and check in to the hotel (if available). (The regular check-in time is at 2:00 p.m., early check-in is NOT included and subject to availability upon check-in time). Welcome Reception & Dinner at local Restaurant. Overnight at the hotel in Yangon.

Day 2: Yangon – Touring

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Healthy breakfast at hotel. We’ll set out to explore Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. We’ll start with the gleaming, octagonal Sule Pagoda, in the center of the city, before continuing to the Botataung Pagoda, one of the few pagodas in Myanmar which can be visited inside. Then, we’ll walk past old Colonial style Downtown buildings to the Nanthida Jetty at the Yangon River.  We’ll visit the Myanmar National Museum featuring the last Burmese king’s high Sihasana Lion Throne, returned to Burma in 1908 by Lord Mountbatten, and afterwards, we’ll take a scenic drive around the Kandawgyi Lake, and past Aung Su Kyi’s residence. In the afternoon, we’ll enjoy a perfect sunset at the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred spot in Myanmar, built to house eight hair relics of the Buddha.

Day 3: Fly to  Nyaung Oo (Bagan) & Touring

Meals: Breakfast

All rooms check out. Breakfast box will be served. Depart from Hotel to Yangon Domestic Airport for flight to Bagan. Bagan, the ancient capital and the birthplace of the Burmese culture. Bagan, formerly known as Pagan, sits on a spectacular plain stretching away from the Ayeyarwaddy River, dotted with thousands of 800-year old temples. Although human habitation in the area dates back almost to the beginning of the Christian era, Bagan only entered ts golden era with the conquest of Thaton in 1057 AD, and it has been the capital of several Burmese kingdoms. Today, Bagan is one of Asia’s most visited archeological destinations, with excavations concentrated around 2,200 of the original 4,400 temples. We’ll visit the Nyaung Oo Market and the Shwezigon Pagoda, the prototype of later Myanmar Satupas.

We’ll proceed with an archeological tour of some of the most important temples and pagodas in Bagan. Ananda Temple, the first great temple built in Bagan, Wetkyi-in Gubyaukgyi Temple with fine mural paintings, the Dhammayangyi Temple, the largest monument on the plains of Bagan, where even the brickwork is considered a masterpiece, and the Tharabar City Gate, the oldest example of Bagan architecture.

Day 4: Bagan Touring

Meals: Breakfast

Optional morning tour We’ll be able to experience the signature Bagan experience: the Sunrise Hot Air Balloon ride over Bagan (an optional activity, additional cost applies). If you decide to join us, we’ll take to the skies in the early morning and fly over the vast plain of Bagan, seeing the thousands of temples built between the 11th and 13th century from above, as the sun rises over the stupas and the Ayeryarwaddy River. On landing, we’ll celebrate the adventure with a glass of champagne.

Balloon Over Bagan car will pick you up from your hotel. Back to Hotel.

Healthy Breakfast at the Hotel.

We’ll set out for Mount Popa, an extinct volcano, now topped with several shrines and one of the most photographed sites in Myanmar. Along the way, we’ll explore the Bagan countryside, stopping to visit a village to meet some of the friendly villagers in their modest homes. We’ll also visit a palm sugar village to gain an insight into the process and try the tasty palm juice. After returning to Bagan in the evening, we’ll enjoy a sunset cruise on the Ayeryarwaddy River accompanied by local cocktails, as the sun sinks slowly behind distant mountains on the horizon.

Day 5: Bagan Touring

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Healthy Breakfast at the Hotel.

Meet our guide at hotel’s lobby. We’ll take a half-day excursion near Bagan. We’ll stop at Min Nan Thu Village to see the village temple decorated with elaborate murals, visit a local school and a local family. The villages around Bagan are known for producing the finest quality lacquerware in Myanmar, so we’ll stop by one of the workshops and learn about the painstaking process of lacquerware making and decoration. We’ll also see the Myinkaba Gubyaukgyi Temple and the early masterpiece of Nanpaya Temple featuring intricate stone carvings.

After lunch, we’ll return to Bagan, and the afternoon will be at leisure to experience Bagan according to your individual interests.

Day 6: Bagan –Mandalay Touring

Meals: Breakfast

Healthy Breakfast at the Hotel.  Check out of the hotel.   We’ll transfer to the airport for our flight to Mandalay. After arriving at the hotel and some time to rest, we’ll meet again in the afternoon to tour the city of Mandalay, the royal capital of the last Burmese kingdom. We’ll start with the Maha Muni sacred site, home to one of the country’s most revered Buddha images, covered with gold leaf. Afterwards, we’ll explore Mandalay’s artisans’ workshops to observe the making of wood carvings, kalaga tapestries, marble carving, and gold-leaf hammering, using techniques which remained unchanged for centuries and were used to craft items for the Royal Court. We’ll top our day with a visit to Kuthodaw Pagoda, whose 729 marble stone slabs of Buddhist scriptures have earned it the title of the ‘World’s Biggest Book’ and a visit to Golden Teak Monastery. This intricately carved building was once a part of the Mandalay Palace, used as private meditation apartments by King Mindon and his chief queen. We’ll end the day with a drive up to the landmark Mandalay Hill to enjoy the magnificent views from the summit, before being rewarded with an authentic Mandalay style dinner.

Day 7: Mandalay – Coffee Plantation

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Healthy Breakfast at the Hotel.

We’ll transfer to Pyin Oo Lwin, formerly referred to as Maymyo, a British station during the Colonial era, and is now a scenic coffee is grown and harvested in this tropical location, and the local farmers will demonstrate for us the process of milling green coffee beans. We’ll even have the chance to strap on picking baskets and pick some dark red beans, then we’ll taste freshly roasted coffee, served using the pour over technique.

We’ll visit the Kandawgyi Botanical Garden, an expansive area filled with thousands of trees, hundreds of exotic flowers, fruits and a Chinese Temple. Back to Mandalay.

Day  8: Mandalay Touring

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Breakfast at hotel.  We’ll continue our exploration of  Mandalay. First, we’ll travel to Amarapura and visit the tranquil Mahagandayon Monastery to get a glimpse of the Buddhist monks’ daily life, as we observe them walking mindfully in procession for their last meal of the day. Next, we’ll take a short boat ride to Inwa (Ava) on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy River. Once a royal capital, Inwa is now a quiet rural oasis. We’ll tour, by horse-drawn carriage, the Nan Myint Tower, nicknamed the leaning tower of Inwa and the Maha Aung Mye Bonzan Monastery, famous for its ornate woodcarvings and teak posts.

After lunch: We’ll continue to Sagaing, the spiritual center of Myanmar, with hundreds of stupas, monasteries and temples, where we will visit a local nunnery. We’ll end the day at the picturesque, teak U Bein Bridge. At dusk, the bridge teems with monks and local people as they stroll home or linger to enjoy the colors of the sunset.

Day 9: Mandalay – Heho & Touring Pindaya

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Healthy Breakfast at the Hotel.  All rooms check-out.  In the morning, we’ll transfer to the airport for a short flight to Heho in the Shan State, known for its colorful markets, spectacular scenery, and especially its people, who are a mixture of several tribal races.  From Heho, we’ll drive to Pindaya to visit the revered Buddhist Caves containing ten thousand Buddha statues.

After lunch, we’ll transfer to the Nyaung Shwe Jetty on Lake Inle. and take the motor boat to arrive at the hotel in the afternoon.

Day  10: Inle Lake Touring

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Breakfast at hotel.   Today, we’ll spend the day touring Inle Lake by a private boat. Inle Lakes radiates the serenity of still water, accented by the colorful brushstrokes of floating vegetation and slow moving fishing canoes, as the rolling hills and high mountains hug the lake on all sides. As we’re cruising through this awe inspiring scenery, we’ll be able to meditate the existence of this place with its villages built on stilts over the lake, where the local Intha people live, the leg-rowing fishermen, and their floating gardens built with water hyacinth and mud and anchored to the bottom with bamboo poles. We’ll stop at Hpe Nga Chaung village to visit the old traditional Buddhist monastery, at the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the holiest shrine on the lake with five Buddha statues covered with gold leaf, we’ll explore the local cottage industry in Inpawkhone village, visit a cigar factory, and we’ll take a short walk through one of the lakeside villages. If we are lucky, we’ll be able to visit the floating market, where the local tribes buy and sell their goods.

After lunch, we’ll proceed to one of the most amazing historical sights of Shan State, the Inn Thein Pagoda complex to view the hundreds of small stupas emerging from massive vegetation.

Day  11: Inle Lake – Red Mount Estate

Meals: Breakfast

We’ll continue our explorations of the Inle Lake, starting with a visit to Mine Thauk Village which gracefully straddles the water and land, and is famous for a local market. Afterwards, we’ll continue to the Red Mountain Winery for a tour of the vineyard, followed by wine tasting with a beautiful view over the northern part of the Inle Lake.  After returning to the hotel, the afternoon today will be at leisure, so we can relax by the tranquil waters of the lake.

Day  12: Heho – Yangon Touring

Meals: Breakfast

Healthy Breakfast at the Hotel.  All rooms check-out. Transfer to the Heho airport to take a flight to Yangon.  After a morning flight back to Yangon. we’ll check back into our hotel.

We’ll visit one of Yangon’s private art galleries, then we’ll be able to spend some time at the Scott’s Market for some last minute shopping.

Day  13: Yangon Departure

Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast at hotel, transfer to airport to proceed your international flight for returning journey.