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Myanmar is a country of mystifying contradictions. In this exciting tour you will get a good impression of the heavily gilded pagodas in the capital Yangon and its urban life. The area around Bagan is a huge plain dotted with many historical temples and pagodas. The former royal capital Mandalay is another highlight of this trip. The Mahamuni Temple is especially interesting. Before returning to Yangon you can enjoy the spectacular scenery of Inle Lake and relax in the quiet countryside.
Flight from Beijing / Shanghai to Yangon via Kunming. After your arrival in Yangon, transfer for sightseeing in the city.
Starting with the Sule Pagoda, visit beautiful and intriguing sites including Kandawgyi (Royal) Lake, Bogyoke Aung San Market (also known as Scott Market; closed on Mondays) and Shewedagon Pagoda.
Overnight in Yangon
After breakfast, transfer to the airport and fly from Yangon to Bagan.
Upon arrival, enjoy sightseeing in Bagan, a spectacular plain stretching away from the Ayeyarwaddy River, dotted with thousands of 800-year old temple ruins. Although human habitation dates back almost 2,000 years, Bagan only entered its golden period with the conquest of Thaton in 1057 AD.
SHWEZIGON PAYA: King Anawrahta started the construction of the Schwezigon Pagoda to enshrine some relicts of Buddha. It was finished by his successor, King Kyansittha between 1086 and 1090. Originally the Shwezigon Pagoda marked the northern end of the city of Bagan. The stupa's graceful bell shape became a prototype for virtually all later stupas in Myanmar.
GUBYAUKHYI TEMPLE at Wetkyi-Inn (not to be confused with the Gubyaukgyi Temple in Myinkabe) was built in the early 13th Century and repaired in 1468. The great colorful painting about the previous life of Buddha and the distinct architecture make this temple especially interesting.
ANANDA PAHTO is one of the finest, largest, best preserved and most revered of the Bagan temples. Thought to have been built around 1105 by King Kyanzittha, this perfectly proportioned temple heralds the stylistic end of the Early Bagan period and the beginning of the Middle period.
GUBYAUKGYI TEMPLE at Myinkaba: Built in 1113 by Kyanzittha's son Rajakumar, this temple is famous for its well-preserved Stuccos from the 12th century on the outside walls. The magnificent paintings date from the original construction of the temple and are considered to be the oldest original paintings in Bagan.
MANUHA TEMPLE was built in 1059 by King Manuha, the King of Thaton, who was brought captive to Bagan by King Anawrahta. It enshrines the unusual combination of 3 seated and one reclining Buddha. It is said that this temple was built by Manuha to express his displeasure about his captivity in Bagan.
SHWESANDAW PAYA: In 1057 King Anawrahta built this Pagoda following his conquest of Thaton. This is the first monument in Bagan which features stairways leading up from the square bottom terraces to the round base of the Stupa, an ideal spot to watch Bagan's magnificent sunsets.
The LACQUERWARE WORKSHOP will be the final stop of the day. The villages around Bagan are known for producing the finest lacquerware in Myanmar and we take the opportunity to learn about the painstaking process of making and decorating these artistic objects.
Overnight in Bagan
After breakfast, transfer to the airport and fly from Bagan to Mandalay. Upon arrival, enjoy the sights of Mandalay, the last capital of royal Burma. Mandalay is still one of the largest cities in Myanmar, and a cultural and spiritual center. Neighboring Sagaing is home to over sixty percent of the country's monks, while the artisans of Mandalay continue to produce the finest crafts in Myanmar.
In the morning, head to Mahamuni Paya which enshrines perhaps the most venerated image in Myanmar, covered in over 15 cm of gold leaf. Worshippers gather here daily at four in the morning to observe the unique face-washing ceremony.
Enroute to the pagoda, stop to observe the laborious process of gold-leaf beating, where gold is painstakingly hammered into tissue-thin squares.
Before breaking for lunch, visit a craft workshop specializing in one of the arts for which the city is famous: bronze-casting, marble-carving, wood-carving, or puppetry.
The afternoon's tour includes some of the city's most interesting temples and palaces. Begin at Shwenandaw Kyaung, or the Golden Teak Monastery, an intricately carved wooden monastery once part of the Mandalay Palace and used as private apartments by King Mindon and his chief queen.
Continue to Kyaukawgyi Paya, famous for its monumental seated Buddha, carved from a single block of marble, and the elegant Sandamani Paya.
Finally, visit Kuthodaw Paya, known also as the world's biggest book. Around the central stupa are miniature pavilions, each housing a slab of marble. These 729 slabs are inscribed with the entire Tripitkata (Buddhist scriptures).
Overnight in Mandalay
In the morning, head to Amarapura, a former royal capital and the Mahagandayon Monastery to observe monks and novices as they line up to receive their daily offering of alms and food from faithful Buddhists.
Afterwards, visit the nineteenth century Pahtodawgyi Paya and the reconstructed Bagaya Kyaung, a close cousin to the monastery of the same name in Inwa. Pause to enjoy the atmosphere of U Bein's Bridge, a picturesque teak bridge which extends over one kilometer across Taungthaman Lake, and the highlight of any visit to Amarapura.
Enjoy a ferry crossing to Inwa, situated on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. Also a former royal capital, Inwa is now a quiet rural oasis. Enjoy a leisurely horsecart ride around the peaceful countryside, briefly visiting Bagaya Kyaung, a beautiful teak wood monastery, Maha Aungme Bozan Kyang, and Nan Myint Tower. On the way, stop and observe how local artisans make the famous alms bowls out of iron.
Overnight in Mandalay
Transfer to the airport for the flight from Mandalay to Heho.
Then continue by vehicle from Heho to Pindaya to visit the Pindaya Caves, ensconced in a limestone ridge overlooking a lake. Inside the cavern there are more than 8,000 Buddha images made from alabaster, teak, marble, brick, lacquer and cement, arranged in a labyrinth throughout the various cave chambers. Shwe U Min Paya is a cluster of low stupas just below the ridge near the Pindaya Caves. Beginning at full moon of Tabaung (February/March), Pindaya hosts a colorful pagoda festival at Shwe U Min.
Travel by vehicle from Pindaya to Inle Lake, followed by a boat transfer.
Overnight in Inle Lake
Travel by boat to the western shore of the lake to a stairway leading to the hidden Indein Temple complex. Located on the shore of the lake, this site consists of hundreds of small stupas overgrown by moss and greenery.
Continue on foot past rice fields to the village of Sae Ma, stopping to explore the village and the local school.
In the afternoon meet the people in the villages on the lake and travel to one of the monasteries to observe the monks' activities.
Return by boat to your hotel.
Overnight in Inle Lake
Transfer by boat, then by vehicle from Inle Lake to Heho airport for the flight from Heho to Yangon.
Upon arrival in Yangon, free time for shopping activities or leisure.
Overnight in Yangon
Time at leisure until check-out and transfer to the airport for departure flight.
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