Splendour and tradition in Myanmar

YANGON
YANGON is the capital of Myanmar, home to more than 5 million people. Located 30 km from the sea, in the fertile Yangon delta, it enjoys a consistently cool climate and lush, green vegetation year-round. The abundance of shaded parks with magnificent tropical trees and the beautiful lakes scattered throughout make it one of the most pleasant and charming cities in Southeast Asia.
It is also known as the “Garden City of the East”. Its many small open-air markets and food stalls scattered everywhere offer a distinctly local version of “fast food”.
The gleaming Shwedagon Pagoda, whose famous stupa (99 m) covered in gold dominates the city, is renowned the world over.
You will visit Yangon: the colonial district, Kandawgyi Lake to observe the royal barges, a popular relaxation spot for many Burmese.
City discovery: visit to Sule Pagoda, then the reclining Buddha of Chauk Htat Gyi.
You will then head to Shwedagon Pagoda, a site every Burmese dreams of visiting at least once in their lifetime, as it is the country’s most sacred Buddhist shrine. The imposing golden stupa and its gold-covered dome rise to 98 m in height, adorned with 1,065 gold bells and 420 silver bells, 5,448 diamonds, 2,317 rubies, sapphires and topazes. This exceptional monument alone is worth the trip.
Welcome dinner at PADONMAR restaurant.

SITTWE AND MRAUK OO
Transfer to the airport and flight to Sittwe.
On arrival, transfer to the pier and boarding for a 5-hour boat trip to Mrauk Oo.
Picnic lunch on board.
Former capital of a dynasty that remained in power for 352 years, Mrauk Oo spreads along the banks of the Aungdat canal, 72 km from the coast. A Dutch traveller passing through in the 16th century described it as an extremely wealthy city, comparable in size and prosperity to Amsterdam and London. Its ruins (dozens of temples, stupas, remnants of ramparts…) lean against escarpments, on hilly, green terrain crossed by waterways. Visit Shittaung (“sanctuary of 80,000 statues”), built in 1535 by King Minbin, the best preserved of the Mrauk Oo temples, notable for its sikhara (finial), Htokekan Thein, Paya Andaw Thein, Yadana Manaung, etc.
You will go as far as the Lamyo River and cross by boat to the village of Krichaung to explore the Chin villages. The tattooed tribes live more than 70 km from Mrauk U, on the state border, near the forests. The people of this region tattoo their faces with spider, crocodile and other motifs.

2-night stay.

SITTWE / YANGON / HEHO / INLE LAKE
Back in Sittwe, you will take a flight to Yangon followed by a connection to Heho.
Inle Lake is truly an “aquamarine set in an emerald case”, located at 100 m altitude at the foot of Nyaung Shwe village. It covers an area of 158 km².
Lunch.
Departure by motorised canoe: traditional long-tail boats made of teak. Stroll through the markets of Maingthauk, Khaungdaing, Nampan, and the floating market of Ywama, where the Shan, Intha and Pa-O minorities living along the banks gather to trade fish, tea, flowers, spices, traditional remedies, and more.
You will pass the famous Intha fishermen balancing on their canoes, then discover a silk-weaving workshop, a Burmese cheeroot (cigar) workshop, blacksmiths, and, in the village of Inpawkhon, a lotus-stem spinning mill.
You will also visit the local traditional market.
Visit the stilt-house monastery of Nga Phe Chaung, known for its once-famous jumping cats.
Cross the lake village of Ywama to reach Phaungdaw Oo Pagoda, home to 5 gold statues.
Lunch at the In Thar Lay floating restaurant.
Transfer by canoe to the village of Khaung Dine on the eastern shore of the lake, passing along the way the extraordinary floating gardens of the Intha people (“sons of the lake”) in the village of Kela.

2-night stay at Inle Lake.

MANDALAY / AMARAPURA / AVA / SAGAING / MANDALAY
Visit Mahamuni Pagoda, or “Great Paya”, whose centrepiece is a revered statue of Mahamuni brought from Rakhine State in Myanmar in 1784. The Paya was built specifically for this statue, which likely dates back to the 1st century. Originally made of bronze, it has been covered over the years by thousands of Buddhists with gold leaf, forming a layer 15 cm thick. Every day at 4:00 am, a team of monks is tasked with washing the Mahamuni’s face and brushing its teeth. (Photography of the statue is prohibited.)
Continue to Amarapura.
Walk through the local market before witnessing the daily meal of the 1,000 monks at Mahagandayon Monastery. Visit a weaving workshop and other craft activities in town.
Climb Sagaing Hill, the most intense centre of Buddhist worship in all of Myanmar, dotted with pagodas and monasteries.
Then, before the meal, visit Kungmudawka Pagoda, a very large dome-shaped pagoda.
Lunch at a local restaurant during the excursion.
Cross the small river and visit Ava (Inwa) by horse-drawn carriage.
An original discovery of this very pastoral site (remains of the royal palace, the teak monastery of Bagaya-Okkyaung, watchtower, etc.).
During the excursion you will see gold beaters making gold leaf.
On the way back, in the late afternoon, walk along the 1-km-long teak U Bein Bridge, when all the monks come out onto the bridge at sunset — it is the longest teak bridge in the world (1 km), built from teak posts salvaged from a former palace, now submerged in the lake.

Dinner at Myanandar restaurant and 2-night stay.

MANDALAY / MINGUN / MANDALAY
Transfer for boarding a local boat and departure for a 45-minute sail on the Irrawaddy to MINGUN, where you will visit:
– Mingun Pagoda: Mingun boasts the largest zedi in the world.
– Hsinbyume Pagoda
– the Mingun Bell: at 4 metres high and 5 metres in diameter, it is considered the largest uncracked bell in the world.
Lunch at a local restaurant, then return to Mandalay.
Discover Shwenandaw Monastery: a fine example of traditional wooden monastic architecture, once part of the royal palace complex and used as a residence by Queen and King Mindon. After their deaths, it was converted into a monastery. Inside, the carved panels, in excellent condition, depict jataka tales, or episodes from the life of Buddha. Then visit Kuthodaw Pagoda, or “the world’s largest book”, a central stupa surrounded by 729 marble slabs on which the entire Buddhist canon, or “Tripitaka”, is engraved. Each slab is housed in its own individual stupa.
Visit the craft workshops that have made the city’s reputation and once supplied the royal court: wood and marble carvers, gold leaf beaters, Kalaga tapestry makers, puppet makers…
You will end the day with a sunset from Mandalay Hill, with a superb panorama over the city and the river.

MANDALAY / MONYWA
Breakfast, early in the morning.
Departure towards Monywa and the carved caves of Po Win Daung.
Ferry crossing (30 minutes) over the Chindwin River to Nyangbingyl, then a 2-hour jeep ride to the caves, home to 400,000 painted statues depicting Buddha.
Lunch during the visit.
Visit Monywa.

MONYWA / PAKOKKU / BAGAN
Stroll through Monywa’s local market.
You will visit Thanbode Temple, Bodhithtaung Pagoda, then head to PAKOKKU, known for its tobacco trade and weaving shops.
Lunch during the visit.
Continue on to Bagan.

BAGAN
Discover the exceptional spectacle of this city (10th and 12th centuries).
Visit Bagan, including the famous Ananda Temple, a jewel of Burmese architecture with its 4 enormous Buddha statues, Ananda Okkyaung Monastery, one of the last remaining brick monasteries, and Thatbyinnyu Temple, the tallest in Bagan at 61 metres.
Visit the Bagan site along the east bank of the Irrawaddy (note: legs and shoulders must be covered and shoes removed when entering pagodas).
This site is the most astonishing in the country, if not in all of South Asia, surrounded on every side by ruins of every architectural style: temples, pagodas and stupas forming a ghost city across the plain, inhabited by the spirit of countless Buddhas.
Lunch during the visit at a local restaurant.
Then visit the only lacquerware workshop on the site.
A highlight of the journey. Stroll through the colourful Nyaung-U market, and continue the visit of Bagan along the east bank of the Irrawaddy: Lawkananda Pagoda with its beautiful view over the river, Nagayon Temple (11th century) and Apyeyadanar Temple with its mural paintings.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Excursion to the village of MINNANTHU, where you can discover the way of life of the local people.
Boat ride on the Irrawaddy to Kyau U Gyi Temple for tea with the monks.
Return by boat along the river at sunset.
Dinner at NANDAR restaurant with a puppet show on the first evening and at Sunset Garden on the second, with a 2-night stay at the hotel.

BAGAN / YANGON
Transfer to the airport for a flight to Yangon.
Arrival in Yangon, then lunch at a local restaurant.
Stroll through Bogyoke Aung San Market (closed on Mondays) and China Town, a bazaar and market in downtown Yangon.
Built by the British in 1926, it is known for its colonial architecture and paved inner lanes. The market houses many shops. There are also antique dealers selling old coins, postage stamps and medals; these shops are located on the ground and first floors. At the centre of the market are jewellery vendors (jade, rubies, and other precious stones). Elsewhere, you will find art galleries, craft shops, restaurants and clothing stores.
An extension of the market was built opposite, on the other side of Bogyoke Market Street. It houses shops catering to the local population, selling medicine, food, cheap clothing and imported goods.
Transfer to the airport and check-in formalities.

Summary:
– 1 night in Yangon, 4-star hotel
– 3 nights in Mrauk Oo, 3/4-star hotel
– 1 night in Sittwe, 3-star hotel
– 1 night in Yangon, 4-star hotel
– 1 night at Inle Lake, 3/4-star hotel
– 2 nights in Mandalay, 4-star hotel
– 1 night in Monywa, 4-star hotel
– 3 nights in Bagan, 4-star hotel