MYANMAR (BURMA) CULTURAL ADVENTURE 14 DAYS / 13 NIGHTS

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1 MYANMAR (BURMA) CULTURAL ADVENTURE 14 DAYS / 13 NIGHTS Itinerary as of August 21, 2013 Visit us at

2 The Itinerary Come to Myanmar (Burma) as it begins its transformation to a more open society. From the busy streets of Yangon to the villages along the Ayurwaddy River, the people here are warm and welcoming. Our route takes us to the ancient city of Bagan, a UNESCO site with over 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas, to Mandalay with its lovely palace overlooking the town and vibrant markets, and to Inle Lake where you can float past markets and villages. Hike near Kalaw to visit with some of the many ethnic groups who live in this diverse country. Sip tea in small cafes while watching people walk to their local temple for evening prayers. Burma has an incredible craft culture and here you can observe so many artisans as they weave handbags and blankets, make lacquer, pound gold leaf, and roll cigars. Here you can absorb and learn about the Buddhist philosophy as you visit temples, talk with nuns and monks and experience the daily rituals. DAY 1 YANGON OVERNIGHT HOTEL MEALS HIGHLIGHTS Traders Hotel 2 YANGON Traders Hotel 3 MANDALAY Mandalay Hill Resort (Superior Room) 4 MANDALAY Mandalay Hill Resort 5 MONYWA 6 BAGAN Win Unity Resort Tharabar Gate 7 BAGAN Tharabar Gate 8 BAGAN Tharabar Gate 9 KALAW Amara Mountain Resort D Arrival into Yangon. Evening cultural show with welcome dinner. Morning fish and vegetable markets. Visit temples and Shwedegon Pagoda. Flight to Mandalay. Visit Amarapura, temples and Mandalay Hill. Boat to Mingun. Visit Saggaing and U Bein Bridge. Thanbodday Zedi and other pagdodas. Buddist caves and murals at Po Win Taung Hill. Drive through villages and boat to Bagan. Visit Shwezigon pagoda, ancient temples of Bagan. Bike to nearby villages. Continue touring Bagan s temples. Flight to Heho. Drive to Kalaw. Visit elephant sanctuary and monastery. 10 KALAW Amara Mountain Resort Wander Kalaw market. Hike to Padaung village. 11 INLE LAKE Inle Princess Resort (Lake-Front Chalet) Drive and boat to Inle Lake, stopping at Kakku heritage site. 12 INLE LAKE Inle Princess Resort Full tour of Inle lake with 5-day market, floating gardens, monastery. 13 YANGON Traders Hotel Visit Indein. Lunch with local family. Flight to Yangon. 14 DEPARTURE B Transfer to airport for international flight home. -2-

3 Itinerary in Detail DAY 1: ARRIVE IN YANGON On arrival at Yangon International Airport, you will be met and taken to your hotel. Time-permitting, you can visit the National Museum as an introduction to the culture and beauty of Burma. Later enjoy dinner at the Karaweik Palace restaurant where you can dine while watching a performance of traditional Myanmar dance and music. Overnight in Yangon [D] DAY 2: YANGON You have the option to start the day early with a visit to the fish and vegetable markets and enjoy tea at a local shop while you watch the Yangon as it wakes. Southeast Asian cities are vibrant in the morning when monks are out walking the streets to collect their alms (food donated by the citizens) for their daily meal. After breakfast explore Yangon by walking and hopping on the circular train: tour Chauk Htut Gyi Reclining Buddha, nearby monasteries, Botautang Pagoda and Nanthida Jetty. At sunset, visit Shwedegon Pagoda, Burma s most famous Buddhist temple, where you can make an offering and explore the nearby artisan workshops. Overnight in Yangon [] DAY 3: YANGON MANDALAY Transfer to the airport for your short morning flight to Mandalay. Upon arrival, drive to Amarapura, the 18 th -century capital of Myanmar. Here you will visit the Maha Gandayon Monastery to observe the community feel of the monks daily meal. Stop to watch silk-weaving which Amarapura is known for. You have the option to visit the Paleik Monastery known for its live snakes winding around the carved images. In the afternoon visit some of Mandalay best historical and cultural sites including Mahi Muni Image, a sacred Pagoda, Shwenandaw Monastery and Kuthodaw Pagoda with its 729 stone slabs know as the world s biggest book and the. At dusk visit Mandalay Hill to view the city and sunset from above. Options for the evening include a visit to night market or a marionette performance. Overnight in Mandalay [] DAY 4: MINGUN SAGGAING Start the morning with a boat ride on the Ayurwaddy River to Mingun village. Mingun is famous for the Mya Thein Dan Zedi temple, built by the King of Saggaing as a memorial for his beloved wife and late queen. The views from the top of this temple are among the best in the region. You will also see the Mingun Bell, which weighs 90 tons and is the world s largest ringing bell. Enjoy lunch on the boat and disembark in Mandalay. Drive to nearby Saggaing, knows as the religious center of Myanmar with many monasteries. Visit a home for nuns to discuss Buddhism with them. On the drive back, stop to walk across the U Bein Bridge, a 158-year-old teak wood bridge, the longest in the world. Take a Sam Pan wooden boat on the lake to watch sunset behind the bridge. Overnight in Mandalay [] DAY 5: MONYWA After breakfast, drive to Monywa (85 miles / 3 hours), located on the eastern bank of Chindwin River, stopping at Thanbodday Zedi (Pagoda) which was built by monks in 1939 without any help of engineers, and took 14 years to complete. Next, stop at the Boditataung Pagoda where you can admire the thousand Buddha images built under a thousand Bo trees over the wide landscape. Visit Shwe Thar Lyaung Reclining Buddha Image on the hill of Pho Khaung, the largest reclining Buddha image in Burma at 110 meters long by 20 meters high. Overnight in Monywa [] -3-

4 DAY 6: MONYWA PAKKOKU BAGAN Start early today and cross the Chidwin River (1 hour) to Po Win Taung Hill. This place name has eight different meanings one being the Hill of the Alchemists. Po Win Taung is 300 meters tall with Buddhist caves created from the 1600s to late 1700s. Many murals are painted in the caves as well as carvings and are known as the best murals in Southeast Asia. Also visit the unusual monasteries and Buddhist images carved on a rocky cliff at Shwe Ba Taung. Travel through the rural countryside stopping at villages to watch palm sugar extraction and hand-made blanket-weaving. Enjoy lunch in the market town of Pakkoku before boarding a boat for the 2-hour journey down the Ayurwaddy to Bagan. From the boat you can enjoy watching everyday life as you slowly pass by. Disembark in Bagan and transfer to your hotel. Overnight in Bagan [] DAY 7: BAGAN Bagan is an UNESCO heritage landscape dotted with redstoned temples where 2200 remain of the original temples built from the 9 th to 13 th centuries. Spend the day touring the finest examples of this town, mostly by bike. Visit Shwezigon pagoda, an extraordinary example of the early style of the Myanmar stupa and enjoy the nearby Nyanung Oo Market. Visit the unique, centuries old Nat Htaunt Monastery made from teakwood and situated on the Ayerwaddy riverbanks in a fishing village. After lunch, continue touring some of the ancient temples including Htilo Minlo, Dhamayangyi temple, Ananda temple, Wetgyi-In Gubyaukgyi and Thatbyinnyu temples, finishing at a high temple for sunset view. Overnight in Bagan [] * We highly recommend the optional early morning hot-air balloon ride for a sunriseview of Bagan. * DAY 8: BAGAN BIKE LOCAL VILLAGES In the morning continue touring Bagan s temples. Then go by bicycle to visit nearby villages. You can enjoy tea and lunch in one of the villages as well as observe local handicraft production. Bagan is especially known for lacquerware, a painstaking process which starts with shaping of bamboo then covering of the object with a fine resin for 7 or more layers, drying, sanding and polishing. The more layers, the finer the product. Overnight in Bagan [] DAY 9: KALAW Board an early morning flight to Heho. Upon arrival, you will be welcomed and driven 2 hours to Kalaw, once a favorite hill station for the British. Kalaw is a peaceful town surrounded by pine forests. Here you will find people from the Palaung, Pa-O, Taung-Yo, and Dha Nu Hill tribes who come down to buy and sell at the Kalaw market. From Kalaw, hike for 1 hour to the Green Hill Elephant camp, a private conservation area which protects elephants in their natural habitat. You can bathe and feed the elephants as well as observe them in their natural habitat. On return visit a 500-year-old Buddha image made of thin lacquered bamboo strips. Sip tea and enjoy refreshments prepared by the nuns and young novices. Overnight in Kalaw [] -4-

5 DAY 10: KALAW MARKET PALAUNG VILLAGE HIKE In the morning, wander the Kalaw market where you can see a variety of vendors selling beautiful flowers, vegetables and medicinal herbs. Then hike to a Paloung village and see their traditional longhouses when you stop in a village home and the primary school (if open). Enjoy lunch at a Nepalese restaurant with stunning views of the area which will help you rejuvenate before trekking back to Kalaw. Overnight in Kalaw. [] DAY 11: KAKKU INLE LAKE Depart for Nyaung Shwe, and continue to Kakku (3 hours) stopping at a Pa-O village on the way. Kakku is an ancient site recently opened to foreigners with2548 pagodas built during the 11 th Century in a very small area. Return to Nyaung Shwe, stopping at Ayethaya vineyard for wine tasting. At the Nyaung Shwe jetty, board a boat for a 30-minute ride to your hotel. Overnight in Inle Lake [] DAY 12: INLE LAKE MARKETS Inle Lake is heart of rural culture in Burma with 64 villages who reside on the lake in homes which rise above the water on stilts. Today by boat you will visit the colorful Five Day market where hill tribes trade vegetables, fruits, sun-dried tea leaves, and wooden sculptures. Visit Ywama village and the floating gardens, with the option to visit a traditional weaving mill. Stop at the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda to view its 5 holy Buddha images and the Nga Phe Chaung Monastery, considered the nicest on the lake. Overnight in Inle Lake [] DAY 13: INDEIN - YANGON By boat, visit Indein Village, where hundreds of pagodas are clustered - perhaps built by one of the kings of the Bagan era. Walk through the stairways originally made of 403 wooden pillars to reach the hill top. On the way back to the boat, walk through temple ruins and pagodas. Stop for lunch with a local family in a village then transfer to the Heho airport to board your flight to Yangon. You will be met at the airport and taken to your hotel. Overnight in Yangon [] DAY 14: DEPARTURE The day is free to shop at the local Bogyoke Aung San Market or continue sight-seeing on your own before transferring to the hotel for your international flight home. [B] END OF SERVICES Actual routes and activities may vary. Local trip coordinators reserve the right to change accommodations to similar quality alternatives. -5-

6 PRICING, DOUE OCCUPANCY: GROUP SIZE Land Cost per person $4450 $4250 $3950 $3550 Balloon over Bagan, per person $300 $300 $300 $300 Single Supplement: $1300. Groups of 2 are led by local guides in each location, groups of 3 or more are escorted throughout. INCLUDED SERVICES Arrival assistance and airport transfers Land and boat transportation as noted Private, air-conditioned vehicles with driver Accommodations on double-occupancy basis, inclusive of taxes Pre-approved Myanmar Visa Approval Letter Local tours and excursions with local, English-speaking guides Entrance fees to sites as noted Flights in economy-class inclusive of taxes (Yangon to Mandalay; Bagan to Heho to Yangon) Meals as indicated [B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner] Complimentary water during all transfers, drives and sightseeing Wildland Adventures travel consultation and pre-departure services SERVICES NOT INCLUDED Airport taxes Tips and gratuities Drinks, alcoholic beverages, and meals other than listed above Personal expenses for extra services, optional activities, or changes beyond our control Travel insurance for trip cancellation, medical services, or evacuation Any other items not mentioned above -6-

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