Amazing Burma Your itinerary Start Location Visited Location Plane End Location Cruise Train Over night Ferry Day 1 teak bridge in the world. Welcome to Myanmar Hotel - Mercure Mandalay Hill Resort Frozen in time, the colourful streets of what was once the capital of Myanmar provide a captivating introduction to a land that has remained unchanged and Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch almost inaccessible to visitors for decades. On arrival at Yangon International Day 6 Airport, you'll be transferred to your hotel. Later, meet your fellow adventurers and Travel Director for a Welcome Reception drink with local appetisers. Cruise up the Ayeyarwady River to Mingun Hotel - Pullman Centrepoint Enjoy some free time this morning to uncover the splendours of Mandalay on Included Meals - Welcome Reception your terms. This afternoon, board your own private boat and cruise up the Ayeyarwady River to Mingun, in the heart of Myanmar. This is a rare opportunity Day 2 to witness local life along the river first-hand. Watch the small longtail boats, Discover Yangon bamboo rafts and ferries going up and down the river and admire the beautiful golden stupas that emerge from the dense river-front forest along the river's Explore the remnants of British colonial rule as you embark on a walking tour of banks. On arrival, you'll visit the Mingun Bell which, at 87 tonnes, it's the world's Yangon. At its centre lies the City Hall and the beautiful colonial heritage building largest ringing bronze bell. Continue to Hsinbyume Paya, which rises in seven that once housed the Immigration Department. View the High Court and the red terraces representing the seven mountain ranges around Mt. Meru. See the brick General Post Office before continuing to the luxurious Strand Hotel, built in unfinished but mighty Mingun Pagoda, which was built to be the world's largest 1901, for a well earned refreshment. After a lunch of Mohinga – a fish broth with but never completed due to local superstition. Later, cruise downriver back to noodles served with various accompaniments – you’ll visit a local monastic school. Mandalay, where this evening you'll 'Connect With Locals' and join a local family Then head to nearby Ngar Htat Gyi Pagoda with its huge sitting Buddha. Return for an exclusive 'Be My Guest' dinner in their home. to your hotel later and relax before this evening’s special visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda. During this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, you'll take part in an oil Included Meals - Breakfast, Be My Guest lamp lighting ceremony before enjoying the sunset over the glistening pagoda. Day 7 Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch Continue to Bagan via Pakkoku Day 3 This morning, drive to Pakkoku, an unspoilt village famous for its tobacco trade. Onwards to scenic Inle Lake The village also brims with small family-run businesses producing a variety of goods, such as traditional Burmese slippers, checked cotton blankets, paper This morning, fly to Heho, the gateway to Inle Lake and on arrival, head to mâché animals and dolls and wood carvings. After lunch in a local restaurant, Nyaungshwe. Board your private longtail boat bound for Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, ''Dive Into Culture' with a visit to a small market selling Thanaka, a traditional the holiest religious site in the area and home to five gold-leaf covered Buddha yellowish-white cosmetic made from ground bark. The locals apply this mixture to figures. Following lunch at a local restaurant, you'll 'Dive Into Culture' with a visit their faces and arms to protect their skins from the harsh sun. Later, take a to a boat construction workshop. Admire the local handicrafts of the area next private boat and cruise down the Ayeyarwady River to Bagan as the sun sets over with visits to several workshops where you'll witness first-hand the traditional the numerous pagodas, which dot the landscape. methods of weaving silk, making cheroots and talented smiths forging metal at a blacksmiths' forge. Your final stop today is Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery, one of the Hotel - The Hotel at Tharabar Gate oldest monasteries on the lake. Take a quiet moment to contemplate this wooden spiritual centre, sharing its tranquility with the resident cats and Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch centuries-old Buddha statues. As the sun sets over another glorious day on the lake, return to your hotel, slicing through the calm waters and admiring the Day 8 changing light. Uncover Bagan's Temples After a visit to a local market this morning, you'll head to the golden Shwezigon Hotel - Novotel Inle Lake Pagoda, built by King Anawrahta in the early 11th century. See the 13th century Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner frescoes adorning the corridors and walls of the Gubyaukgyi Temple before heading to the Ananda Temple, a whitewashed masterpiece of Mon architecture Day 4 with four standing Buddhas. Learn from a 'Local Specialist' how lacquerware is Set sail around Inle Lake produced in one of Bagan's famous workshops. Then, enjoy a relaxing afternoon or choose one of our Optional Experiences to see more of Bagan. Dinner this 'Dive Into Culture' with a visit to a local market offering insights into the life of the evening is at your hotel. ethnic Pa-O, Danu and Intha people who visit the market to buy and sell goods. There are more cultural experiences to enjoy. Embark on a scenic boat ride to the Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner northern part of Inle Lake for a hands-on cooking class with a 'Local Specialist' in a traditional stilt house. Here you'll learn how to prepare a range of traditional Day 9 dishes which you'll enjoy with your fellow travellers for lunch. Later return to the Return to Yangon hotel for an afternoon at leisure. Keep an eye out for the lake's characteristic leg This morning, proceed to Bagan Airport for your return flight to Yangon. You'll rowers, the Intha fishermen. See how they row standing up with one leg wrapped have some leisure time at your hotel, before taking a stroll around Bogyoke Aung around a single oar, leaving their hands free to manipulate the conical fishing net. San Market to buy some last-minute souvenirs. The market was named in honour Included Meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner of Myanmar's national leader, who was assassinated in 1947. However, many people still refer to it as Scott's Market, its original name. On your last evening in Day 5 Myanmar, you'll want to celebrate special memories and new friends at a rousing Journey to Mandalay Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant. This morning, transfer to Heho Airport for the short local flight to the exotic city of Hotel - Pullman Centrepoint Mandalay. Your first stop today is a visit to Mahamuni Pagoda, one of the holiest sites in all of Myanmar. Here you'll observe local devotees applying gold leaf to Included Meals - Breakfast, Farewell Dinner the already thick layers of gold adorning the spectacular Buddha image. Next, stop at local workshops to see ornate Kalaga tapestries being embroidered and Day 10 gold leaf being beaten into paper-thin pieces by a Local Specialist. Afterwards, visit Farewell Myanmar Shwe Kyin Monastery and enjoy lunch alongside the student monks who live Say a fond farewell to Myanmar as your adventure comes to an end. After there; a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Enjoy lunch alongside the student breakfast, transfer to the airport for your onward flight. monks who live there, then cross the Ayeyarwady River to Amarapura. Visit the impressive wooden Bagaya Monastery, with its superb collection of Buddha Included Meals - Breakfast statues. Then, take a sunset stroll on the U Bein Bridge, believed to be the longest All optional experiences for this trip Book with your travel director when you travel AVAILABLE ON DAY 4 Boat Trip to Indein AVAILABLE ON DAY 5 Travel by long-tailed boat across the lake and through a narrow canal en Dinner in Mandalay route to Indein village with its spellbinding pagodas along the banks of the Enjoy a tasty dinner of Burmese and Chinese specialities in a local lake. Pass through the busy village of Ywama, the largest on the lake, with restaurant. The meal includes an appetizer, soup, salad, a selection of main its many channels and tall teak houses on stilts. Marvel at the alluring dishes, steamed rice and dessert all washed down with a choice of 2 glasses scenery of leg-rowing fishermen and floating gardens along the way. of wine, beer or soft drinks. The price shown is in US dollars. Disembark at the jetty and take a short walk along a lovely shady path through Indein village to reach the 14 th -18 th century pagoda ruins of Adult Price: $20.00* Nyaung Oak. Many pagodas here remain charmingly non-renovated, with * The Optionals and pricing listed here are a guideline only and plants and even small trees growing out of them, making the area very subject to change. atmospheric. A covered walkway popular with souvenir stallholders leads up to Shwe Inn Thein Paya, a complex of weather-beaten 17 th -18 th century zedi (stupas); some are newly reconstructed. Return to the river and continue by boat downstream past Yethar village, watching local life on the banks and birds in the trees until re-joining the lake and returning to AVAILABLE ON DAY 8 your hotel. The price shown is in US dollars. Bagan Temple Explorer Adult Price: $14.00* Bagan is famous for its temples and out of the 10,000 that were * The Optionals and pricing listed here are a guideline only and constructed between the 11 th and 13 th centuries, the remains of over subject to change.