Highlights of Myanmar – 8 days

Arrive at Yangon International Airport. Welcome by our tour guide. Transfer to your hotel. Yangon sightseeing tour includes the city center where Sule Pagoda is located. See the bustling life of Yangon and City Hall. Then visit Bogyoke Aung San Market (former Scott’s Market), where you can buy many items in one place. This Market was built in British colonial times and has a colonial structure. The tour continues to Chaukhtathgyi Pagoda which is the fourth largest colossal reclining image in Myanmar and 67m long. In the evening, visit the most magnificent and spectacular religious edifice, Shwedagon Pagoda, and watch the sun set while the beautiful golden stupa changes to different tones according to the direction of the setting sun. Enjoy dinner at Karaweik Palace Restaurant with traditional cultural dancing. Stay overnight in Yangon.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your domestic flight to Bagan. Your tour starts with the busy local market and continuing with visits to a diverse selection of the most important Pagodas and temples, such as Shwezigon Pagoda, built by King Anawrahta in the early 11th century, Kubyanuk Gyi, a temple with exquisite murals of Jataka scenes, and Ananda Temple with four huge standing Buddha images and numerous seated figures in niches around the galleried interior. Continue sightseeing to Manuha Temple, built in Mon Style in 1095, Nanbaya Temple, a unique sandstone monument, said to have been the palace of King Manuha and continue on to Myingaba Gu Byaukgyi Temple, noted for its ancient mural paintings and under the protection of UNESCO. Proceed to Bupaya Pagoda to watch sunset over the Ayeyarwaddy River. Stay overnight in Bagan

Enjoy your breakfast in your hotel. Drive to Mt. Popa and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Popa Hill Lock or crag believed to be the abode of 37 Nats (spiritual beings) regarded as the gods for animism before the Bagan dynasty (11th to 13th cent). After climbing 777 steps to the top you can enjoy the scenic beauty around including the extinct volcano Mt. Popa which is about 1500 meters high. On the way to Mt. Popa, study the daily life of the people among the palm trees. Then proceed to Mandalay. Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel for your overnight stay in Mandalay. Take a trip to the extinct volcano Mt. Popa, which is about 1500 meters high and see magnificent views.

After breakfast, drive to Amarapura. Visit 200 year old U Bein’s Teak Wood Bridge. Then proceed to Mahagandaryon Monastery where there are more than 1500 Buddhist monks. Then proceed to Mahamuni Pagoda with its spectacular Buddha image covered with thick layers of gold leaf, Gold-leaf beating, Shwe Nan Daw Kyaung or Golden Palace Monastery, a superb example of a traditional wooden building and Kuthodaw Pagoda, known as the world’s biggest book, consisting of 729 marble slabs engraved with Buddhist scriptures. Among the historical buildings are crafts men’s workshops such as Bronze casting, Marble carving, Kalaga tapestries, etc. should be seen. Sunset from Mandalay Hill. Overnight at a hotel in Mandalay.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for a domestic flight to Heho. Arrive at Heho airport and drive to Pindaya. Visit Pindaya Cave. These caves are snuggly set in a limestone ridge overlooking the lake. Inside the cavern there are more than 8000 Buddha images – made from alabaster, teak, marble, brick, lacquer and cement and are arranged in such a way as to form a labyrinth throughout the various cave chambers. Shwe U Min Paya is a cluster of low stupas just below the ridge near Pindaya Caves. Stay overnight in Pindaya.

After breakfast, drive to Nyaung Shwe, gateway to Inlay Lake. Take an excursion by boat on Inlay Lake to see the Intha-fishermen rowing with their legs, pagodas on artificial islands in the lake, floating gardens and floating market (on market day only). Continue to Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, one of the principle shrines in Myanmar and dating back to the 18th century; the Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery, famous for its jumping cats trained by monks and the weaving village of Inpawkhon. Stay overnight on Inlay Lake

After breakfast, you have a chance to study more about the lifestyle of the leg-rowing Intha people. Enjoy a boat tour to Indein at the western end of the Lake where you can watch the farmers cultivate their products. Visit the 16th century pagoda complex of Indein. Experience the life style of lake dwellers their way by maneuvering around rowing with one leg. The net they use to catch fish in the shallow water is also something of interest for tourists. In the evening, transfer to the airport and fly back to Yangon. Upon arrival, transfer for dinner. After that, back to your hotel. Stay overnight in Yangon

Time at leisure to pursue individual interests until your transfer to the airport. Your guide will pick you up at your hotel and accompany you to the airport. Depart from Yangon.End of Highlights of Myanmar