7-Day Essential Myanmar Tour

Upon arrival, you'll greet by your guide who will accompany and transfer you to your hotel. Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, is a relatively quiet and charming city. Its impressive colonial and spiritual heritage makes it one of the most fascinating cities in Southeast Asia.  (Early check-in subjected to room availability). This afternoon, we'll take a tour around the city center which is filled various historical and colonial buildings partly by car or partly on foot. We’ll first visit to Sule Pagoda which is a 2200-year-old temple surrounded by government buildings and commercial shop. Then, you'll pass along the way to Mahabandoola Park where Independent Monument exists. Continue your tour by passing City Hall, a little India and a little china.

From Here, end your day at Shwedagon Pagoda which is one of the wonders of the world. It was built 2500 years ago and enshrined with hair relics of Buddha and a place where to meet devoted Buddhists meditating and praying. Enjoy breathtaking views of the golden stupa from this vantage point. 

Overnight in Yangon.

This morning, you'll transfer to the airport for the flight to Bagan (NyaungOo).

Bagan, located on the banks of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, is home to the largest and densest concentration of Buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins in the world with many dating from the 11th and 12th centuries.

On arrival, your journey begins with a visit an elevated temple from where you will have a panoramic view of the magnificent plains of Bagan.

Continue with a visit to the golden Shwezigon Pagoda, first and prototype monument, which was built in Myanmar style in 1087. Then, visit to Gubyaukgyi, a cave temple @ Wetkyi-Inn Village which is well-known for its exquisite jataka mural paintings and the elegant Htilominlo Temple noted for its fine plaster carvings and glazed sandstone decorations. 

This afternoon begin with a visit to a traditional lacquer ware workshop where you can observe the production of one of Myanmar’s best-known handicrafts. Continue to Ananda Temple, an architectural masterpiece and one of Bagan’s most beautiful temples.  Built in the early Mon-style, Ananda contains two unique Buddha images whose expressions seem to change depending on the distance from which the statue is viewed.                                                                                     

From here, travel by horse cart for a tour passing Thatbyinnyu, the highest temple in Bagan, massive Dhammayangyi Temple, noted for its remarkable brickwork, and Sulamani Temple.

Enjoy an unforgettable sunset over the plains from the upper terrace of one of the temples.

Overnight in Bagan. 

After breakfast at your hotel, you will take the cycling tour with Nyaung Oo Market where villagers gather every day to buy and sell their produce and other goods.  Continue to Myinkaba village and take a short walking tour to explore the temples of Manuha and Nan Paya. Explore more temples in the area, visit more craft shops or return to your hotel for a break to relax from the midday heat. 

This afternoon, continue to the rural village of Minnanthu, one of Bagan’s least visited areas.  Here you will explore temples such as Payathonzu, Lemyentha and Nandamannya before heading to the riverside pier.  Board a local boat for a slow cruise down the Irrawaddy River. Return to your hotel this evening. Overnight in Bagan. 

After breakfast, transfer to Bagan Airport for a flight to Heho. From Heho, we'll take 2.5 hour drive to Pindaya. Along the way, you'll pass patchwork of fields and hedges, buffalo carts and group of toiling farmers in black Danu tunics and checked Pa-O headcarves.

When in Pindaya, we'll first visit to famous Shwe Oo Min Natural Cave Pagoda, a massive limestone cavern filled with thousands of gilded Buddha statues. Afterwards, we'll head to the north to visit Kan Tau monastery, a fine teak monastery, with a large collection of antique Buddha images on ornate plinths. Then, continue your tour with a visit to workshop which produce umbrellas and souvenirs made with Shan recycle papers. Lunch at a local restaurant in Pindaya. (own account)

After lunch, we'll continue our drive to Kalaw, a hill station where the atmosphere is cool and the streets are filled with green leaves. Kalaw is a charming city surrounded with hills which offer some of the best trekking in Myanmar. Check-in to your hotel and take relaxation or explore the town on foot.

Overnight in Kalaw.

After morning breakfast, you will leave from Kalaw and drive to scenic one-hour drive leads to Nyaung Shwe, the gateway village to Inle Lake. Along the way, stop at the wooden Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery which is an elegant ancient monastery with its oval-shaped windows. We will also stop in Nyaung Shwe for a short walk around town and visit to the colorful market if it is being held that day. 

Upon reaching the edges of Inle Lake, board a private motorboat to head out to Inle Lake, one of Myanmar’s most spectacular sights. Pass villages built on stilts over the lake, observe the leg-rowing fishermen and see their floating gardens built up from strips of water. Visit Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, famous for the 800 years old Five Buddha statues which are covered in gold leaf. Explore the local crafts of Inle Lake with a stop at the weaving village of Inpawkhone and a cheroot factory, where the typical Burmese cigars are made by hand.

If time permits, there may be time to enjoy a short walk through one of the lakeside villages. 

Overnight on Inle Lake. 

After breakfast, visit the lake’s morning market. The market rotates its location around the lake’s villages in a 5 day rhythm and is visited by lake inhabitants and surrounding hill tribes who come to sell and trade their wares. (Note: market is daily except on dark moon day and full moon day). 

From the middle of the lake, continue down a small canal leading to Indein populated by ethnic Padaung (“long neck women”). You’ll walk on a covered alley lined on both sides with a thousand pagodas. Continue on foot by a long covered staircase to discover the magnificent complex of Alaung Sithu in a beautiful scenery of ancient stupas buried in vegetation with a panoramic view of the lake. This afternoon, you will transfer back to Heho airport and take the flight back to Yangon. On arrival at Yangon, you will transfer to the hotel for check in. Overnight in Yangon.

After morning breakfast, you will transfer to Yangon International airport for your departure flight.

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