✓ Small, intimate group experience – no more than 16 people
✓ Return international airfares with Singapore Airlines
✓ All airport and port transfers
✓ All coach and cruise transportation
✓ 11 nights in 4-star accommodation
✓ 7 nights cruising the stunning Irrawaddy River
✓ 15 breakfasts, 11 lunches and 7 dinners
✓ Professional, English-speaking guides throughout
✓ Incredible sightseeing, including the UNESCO-listed ancient ruins of Bagan, 2600-year-old pagodas, the pilgrimage site of Pindaya Caves and the bamboo stilt villages of Inle Lake
✓ 24/7 customer service and your own Dedicated Support Agent
It’s time to discover the beauty, mystique and spiritual traditions of Myanmar, a fascinating country
that’s finally opening up to tourists. See the temples, sacred sites and natural beauty of this land. From bustling Yangon to the intriguing stilt villages of Inle Lake, you’ll experience the temples, sacred sites and natural beauty of this land. Ancient pagodas dot the unspoiled landscape. Cruise the mighty Irrawaddy River between the historic royal capitals of Mandalay and Bagan, stopping to explore traditional villages along the way.
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“Every hundred feet the world changes.” - Roberto Bolaño
Welcome to Myanmar! You’ll be met on arrival and transferred to your hotel. Feel free to relax or explore this historic city.
The former capital of Myanmar, Yangon is a bustling city – the commercial centre of a country steeped in mystique and rooted in tradition. Relatively unexplored by tourists, this magical country is now opening up, offering a truly unique opportunity to discover a culture that is a world away from our own.
The city features an interesting mix of British colonial architecture and modern buildings, ancient pagodas and street markets. It’s a lively city but it’s also incredibly green – there are many lakes, parks and tropical trees.
Some flights may depart the evening prior to Day 1.
After breakfast, enjoy a guided tour around the city centre, home to various historic and colonial buildings. We’ll stop at Sule Pagoda, 44 metres tall and more than 2600 years old, surrounded by government buildings. Then we’ll head to Mahabandoola Park, to see the Independent Monument.
We’ll pass City Hall – a Yangon City Heritage site – on the way to the Botahtaung Pagoda, located downtown beside the Yangon River. Next, see the Chaukhtatgyi Pagoda, home to the enormous, revered, reclining Buddha stretching nearly 70 metres long. The feet of the statue are carved with sacred Buddhist symbols and many locals gather here to pay homage and pray.
Enjoy the stop at Kandawgyi Lake, where you’ll see panoramic views from the lake overlooking the Shwedagon Pagoda. Next explore the famous Scott Market, a sprawling complex built in 1926, hence the colonial facade. Along the inner cobblestone streets you’ll find antiques, precious stones like Burmese rubies, handicrafts, souvenirs, clothing and other typical market wares.
The tour will conclude with a visit to one of the world’s most spectacular monuments. More than 2600 years old, the Shwedagon Pagoda is a gleaming bell dome structure that dominates the city’s skyline. At nearly one hundred metres tall, it’s gold plated with an enormous – 76 carat – diamond top. Legend states that the sacred hairs of the Buddha are enshrined here. It’s an icon, surely the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in this country.
You’ll be met in the hotel lobby and taken to the airport for your flight to the ancient capital of Mandalay, on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. Now a big, busy, modern Burmese city, it’s rich in culture and history. It’s the religious centre of Burmese culture and home to thousands of young monks.
You’ll be met at the airport on arrival. Before heading to your hotel, we’ll drive to the city of Ava, the ancient imperial capital. A short ferry ride across the river takes you to a waiting horse and cart. Visit the old wooden Bagaya Monastery, a typical Burmese monastery with two buildings – one for Buddha, and another for the monks living there. There are many small villages located among Ava’s ruins. Explore the area by horse and cart and get a glimpse up close of local life in the Burmese countryside.
We’ll continue onto Mandalay and check into the hotel to freshen up.
Later in the afternoon, visit 63rd Street, lined with dozens of street food stalls. We’ll visit the impressively named Maha Lawka Yan Hnain Aung Daw Mu Myat Swar Paya to witness Buddhist pilgrims grinding thanaka, a cosmetic paste which is also used to scent water that’s used for washing Buddha statues. There are many other symbolic, spiritual places at the temple, including a small pond with fish and turtles.
Today you’ll board the ship for your Inspiring Stay, cruising the stunning Irrawaddy River for seven nights between the royal capitals of Mandalay and Bagan. Along the way you’ll stop at charming villages and see traditional Burmese life on the shores of this mighty river.
You’ll board at 11:30am. After lunch onboard, enjoy an excursion to Mandalay to explore the country’s second-largest city.
Beyond the bustle of downtown, Mandalay is home to many majestic, sacred temples. Start with a visit to Mahamuni Buddha Temple, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Myanmar. The Mahamuni Buddha image, brought here from Arakan, is deified in this temple. To pay respect to the Buddha image, male devotees apply gold leaves to the image. As a result, the Mahamuni Buddha Image has a thick coating of gold. Your walk continues along the street renowned for its marble carvers.
Continue to Shwe Kyaung (Golden Palace Monastery), built in 1857 as part of the royal palace, before it was moved to the present site in 1879.
Explore Kuthodaw Pagoda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that contains the world’s biggest book. 729 marble slabs, engraved with the Buddha’s Parli Scriptures, are housed in shrines.
After visiting a gold leaf hammering workshop, stop by the moat surrounding the Royal Palace for a great photo opportunity with Mandalay Hill as the backdrop.
Set sail to Mingun for a morning walking tour around the unfinished zedi (stupa) built by Amarapura’s King Bodawpaya in 1790. It was intended to be the world’s largest stupa but has remained unfinished since 1808.
The village of Sagaing is home to several Buddhist monasteries, with pagodas and monasteries dotted along the hills parallel to the river. In the afternoon, drive up to the top of the hill to Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, the central pagoda that’s connected by a set of covered staircases up the hill. Admire the bird’s eye view over the Irrawaddy River, curving around the city of Sagaing.
Later on you’ll be introduced to a Buddhist nun’s way of life at a nunnery.
You’ll then drive to Amarapura, a former capital. Here you’ll visit a silk and cotton weaving workshop, a tradition and livelihood the town is famous for.
At sunset you’ll take a local boat ride on Taungthaman Lake at U Bein Bridge. At 1.2km long, it’s the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world.
Explore Yandabo village, famous for producing terracotta pottery from the river bank clay. This village is well-known as the place where the first Anglo-Burmese war ended, with the peace treaty signed here in 1826.
Enjoy a morning walking tour and a visit to a pottery workshop, to see the production process firsthand. This is a hands-on experience which you are welcome to try!
Visit the Pandaw-supported Yandabo School (not in school holidays).
You’ll visit Pakokku today, a quiet town located 30km from Bagan. It’s well-known for its tobacco production. You’ll experience the local market and centre by tuk tuk. Stop by a cheroot workshop and discover how traditional cheroot cigars are made.
Sail to the Ayardaw charity clinic, supported by Pandaw, that treats patients from the remote villages of Pakokku and Seikphyu. Enjoy an afternoon walk around the village.
Docking at Tant Chi Taung, drive up the winding road of the Tant-Chi-Taung mountain to visit the hilltop stupa. On the way back, watch a traditional paper mache elephant dance performed by the Tant-Chi villagers.
Sail on to Salay. Once a bustling trading port, it’s now a sleepy village filled with colonial architectural treasures and timeless teak monasteries. Walk from the ship to Yoke-Sone Kyaung, the best-known teak monastery with its spectacular wood carvings. Stop at Salay House on your return.
In the morning, cruise upstream from Salay to Bagan, the greatest archaeological site on earth. You’ll explore this city’s many temples – there are over 2,000 built between the 9th and 13th centuries – and admire the pagodas’ ancient architecture. The first is Ananda, known as the finest temple in Bagan in terms of ancient architecture. It was built in AD 1105 by King Kyan Sit Thar, a great king of the Bagan dynasty. Explore the high standard of Bagan craftsmanship including niches with statues, glazed plaques, the standing Buddha statues and murals.
Next stop is Gubyaukgyi Temple in Myinkaba village, built in AD 1113 by Prince Rajakumar, son of King Kyan Sit Thar. You’ll see the well-preserved murals depicting day-to-day life in Bagan.
End the day with a walk through West Pwa Saw village, a small village with just over 500 inhabitants, situated between New Bagan and Nyaung U airport. It was named after the very famous and influential queen in late 13th-century Bagan. These villagers rely on bean and pea farming, breeding cattle and their small lacquerware handicrafts. As you walk through the village in the late afternoon, enjoy the sunshine as you see the villagers’ way of life – fetching water, herding cattle back home and preparing for dinner.
You’ll remain docked at Bagan today, to explore this ancient city, former capital of the Pagan kingdom.
Visit graceful Shwesandaw stupa and the glimmering, gold-plated Shwezigon Pagoda, built at the end of the 11th century and believed to enshrine a hair relic of the Buddha.
Take a stroll around the Khay Min Ga pagoda complex before you enjoy lunch onboard.
In the afternoon, visit a lacquerware workshop to discover this process, the specialty craft of Bagan. Continue to unique Payathonzu, three temples built in the late 13th century, all connected by a narrow passage.
You’ll end the day with a visit to Dhammayangyi, the widest and largest temple in Bagan. The story behind its construction is interesting; it was built during the reign of King Narathu (1167-1170), who came to the throne by assassinating his father and brother. It’s said he built this grand temple to atone for his sins.
Watch the sunset from the top of Taung Guni temple before returning to the ship.
After breakfast on board, you’ll dock and be transferred to the airport for your flight to Heho, a quiet town in the beautiful hills of Shan State.
It’s then about a one-hour drive to Pindaya, up into the hills and across the Shan Plateau, through fields of mountain rice. Visit magnificent Pindaya Caves, a Buddhist pilgrimage site set in a limestone ridge overlooking a picturesque lake. Thousands of different types of Buddha images are on display in the various cave chambers. You’ll visit some local houses, where families produce Shan paper and parasols.
After lunch, we’ll drive down to the valley of Nyaung Shwe on the edge of Inle Lake, about a two-hour drive. On the way we’ll stop at Shwe Yan Pyay wooden monastery on stilts, a distinctive red-painted teak building with oval windows.
Board your own local boat and delight in seeing the local fisherman who fish using traditional methods – operating the oar using one leg – a technique indigenous to the Inn Thar minority group who do this only on this lake.
Located 900m above sea level and approximately 22km long and 11km wide, much of the water paradise of Inle Lake is only accessible by boat. Villages, hotels, temples and monasteries are on stilts – the Venice of Asia. The lake is most famous for the extraordinary lives of the people who live on and around it, known as the Intha people.
Today you’ll visit a local market (if it’s open), where you’ll catch a glimpse of the life of the ethnic Pa-O, Danu and Intha people who buy and sell at these markets. It’s called the five-day market as it rotates from one village to another on a five-day system. It’s hard to keep track of, though – the market calendar is lunar.
Continue to Nam Pan village, entirely on stilts, to meet with residents and see traditional Ikat weaving techniques. You’ll continue to Inpawkhon village, to interact with locals and immerse yourself in village life. Visit a boat builder’s workshop, blacksmith shop and cheroot making factory, where you can try your hand at making the fabled Burmese cigar.
Today you’re invited to join a local family for lunch. Enjoy this Inspired Taste, a traditional Intha meal cooked by your hosts according to treasured family recipes. You’ll be welcomed into the home to discover some traditional cooking techniques and to get to know your hosts, residents of this magical part of the world.
In the afternoon, you’ll return to your hotel and have the afternoon at leisure.
After breakfast, head across the lake by boat to Indein, deep in the jungle at the western end. You’ll pass through the busy village of Ywama, the largest on the lake, with many channels and tall teak houses on stilts. Enter a long, often tree-lined canal, and watch farmers ashore tending to their land, against the backdrop of the Shan Hills.
Disembark at the jetty and it’s about a 15-minute walk through Indein village to reach the 14th-18th century pagoda ruins of Nyaung Ohak. Many pagodas here remain charmingly unrestored – crumbling ruins – with plants and even small trees growing out of them. It’s surreal. A covered walkway, popular with souvenir stalls, leads up to Shwe Inn Thein, a complex of weatherbeaten 17th-18th century stupas, some newly reconstructed. Some lean at precarious angles! From this hill you’ll enjoy panoramic views of the village and surrounding areas.
You’ll return to the river and continue downstream by boat past Yethar village, watching local life on the banks and birds in the trees. We’ll head to a stunning location for your cooking class.
After meeting your chef and enjoying a cup of tea, you’ll get started and learn how to prepare 8 to 10 special Shan dishes. At the end, you’ll sit down to enjoy what you’ve created. A recipe book is yours so you can recreate these dishes at home!
Before heading back to the hotel you’ll have the chance to go on a short canoe trip, about 20 minutes, around the area to see some of the floating gardens and villages.
After breakfast, you’ll leave by boat for Nyaung Shwe and then be taken to Heho Airport, for your flight back to Yangon.
You’ll be met on arrival. At Nanthida Jetty you’ll take a ferry across the river to Dala. It’s about a 15 minute ferry ride that gives great views of the waterways, as well as an opportunity to interact with curious locals! When you reach Dala you’ll take a tuk tuk through the town.
Visit a traditional, family-run candle factory and a monastery to learn about monastic life in Myanmar. This monastery also serves as a community centre and is an important part of rural Burmese life. If time permits, you’ll visit social enterprise ChuChu, with a shop, workshop and gallery. Six families work here and sell their crafts, made from recycled plastics.
Return to Yangon by ferry and back to the hotel.
This evening, enjoy a farewell dinner with your group and tour guide to celebrate your time in Burma. You’ll dine at the House of Memories restaurant, where General Aung San once had his office. This teak mansion is heritage listed, more than 100 years old, and filled with antiques and old momentos.
Enjoy one last delicious breakfast this morning, before your Burmese adventure comes to an end. You’ll be met in the hotel lobby to be taken to the airport for your flight home.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this extraordinary journey.
Arrive home today. We hope you've been inspired.
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