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12 Days Myanmar
(Yangon - Heho - Kalaw - Pane Hne Pin - Kalaw - Pindaya - Nyaung Shwe - Inle Lake - Nyaung Shwe - Heho - Mandalay - Mingun - Mandalay - Sagaing - Monywa - Pho Win Daung - Pakokku - Bagan - Mt. Popa - Sale - Bagan - Yangon)

DAY 1: YANGON
Upon arrival at Yangon International Airport welcome by our local tour guide and transfer to your hotel for check-in. In the afternoon drive to Mawtin Jetty and take a rickshaws for a short trip along the Yangon River, proceed to Botataung Pagoda, where sacred hair relic of Lord Buddha is enshrined in it and at 16:00 P.M board the RV Mahaythi for a sunset cruise on the Yangon River. After arrival at War-tan Jetty at 18:30 P.M. transfer to your hotel for overnight.

DAY 2: YANGON - HEHO - KALAW (1/2 Day Trekking)
Morning flight to Heho in Shan State. Upon arrival drive to Kalaw (appr. 1 hour), a beautiful pine-clad hill station. In Kalaw visit the market and downtown area. In the afternoon drive for 15 minutes to the north-west and stop at the junction A. From here take the footpath to the right. The road and trail goes through beautiful scenery. After 1½ hrs you arrive Pane Hne Pin, a Palaung Tribal Village with a population of 600 people. These people make their living from agriculture and occasionally from hunting, and live in long houses, with 4-5 families sharing the single storied structures. From Pane Hne Pin you have to walk for 2 hours to reach junction B from where the car will bring you back to Kalaw (appr. ½ hr drive). Overnight in Kalaw.

DAY 3: KALAW - PINDAYA - NYAUNG SHWE - INLE LAKE
After breakfast drive to Pindaya (appr. 2 hours drive), a charming village with its paper umbrella cottage industry. Visit the Pindaya cave, famous for its thousands of Buddha images and the paper umbrella cottage industry. In the afternoon continue to Nyaung Shwe (appr. 3 ½ hours) drive, a small town at the northern end of Inle Lake. >From here take a boat for the transfer to your hotel, for check-in and overnight.

DAY 4: INLE LAKE
Full day excursion on Inle Lake (25 km) famous for its unique one-leg rowers, typical floating gardens, local methods of fishing and village life and the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda housing five sacred and almost shapeless Buddha images, contorted because of the quantity of applied gold leaf, gifts from the believers. The Buddha images are purported to have come here in the 12th Century. In the afternoon excursion to Indein (appr. 1 hour drive) to see the ancient Bagan + Shan style pagodas, built during Bagan Period, passing the beautiful scenery with tall grasses and little water steps. The ruin pagodas, hide in the bushes will give you an impression of you were in the 12th - 13th Centuries ago. Overnight at Inle Lake.

DAY 5: INLE LAKE - HEHO - MANDALAY
After breakfast transfer to Heho airport for the flight to Mandalay, the city of the last Myanmar Kings. Sightseeing of Mandalay starts with a visit to the Shwe In Bin Kyaung, one of the most outstanding monasteries and the down town are. In the afternoon visit gold leaf making industry, Mahamuni Pagoda, originally built by King Bodawpaya in 1784, hosting the revered Mahamuni image, cast in the 1st Century and now covered in thick gold leaves and arts and crafts center (bronze casting; stone carving, etc.). Then drive to Amarapura, the "City of Immortals" and enjoy the sunset at U Bein wooden bridge, over 150 years old, which is still in use. Overnight in Mandalay.

DAY 6: MANDALAY - MINGUN - MANDALAY
After breakfast drive to Kywezon jetty to watch the busy riverside activity and take a local riverboat to the ancient capital of Mingun (appr. 1 hour per way). Visit the Settawya Pagoda, with a footprint of the Buddha, walk to the huge Mingun Bell, see the nearby unfinished Mingun Pagoda, built to be the world’s biggest pagoda and visit the Hsinbyume Pagoda, a reproduction of the mythological Mt. Meru. Then come back to Mandalay. In the afternoon visit the Shwenandaw Monastery, noted for its exquisite wood carvings, Atumashi Monastery, the "Incomparable Monastery", the Kuthodaw Pagoda, known as the world's Biggest Book for its stone slabs of Buddhist scriptures and sunset on Mandalay Hill, a vantage-point for panoramic view of the city. Overnight in Mandalay.

DAY 7: MANDALAY - SAGAING - MONYWA
After breakfast drive to Sagaing Hill, a retreat for Buddhist devotees with numerous pagodas and monasteries (including nunnery, Oo Min Thonese and Swan Oo Pon Nya Shin Pagoda), visit Kaunghmudaw Pagoda and proceed to Monywa, a typical Myanmar town located on the bank of the Chindwin River. Upon arrival visit the Hindu Style Than Buddha Temple, unique in all of Myanmar, beautifully decorated with the most beautiful stucco work in the country, dating from the 17th century. In the Afternoon visit the cotton blanket weavers; the traditional lacquer ware workers at Kyauk Kar village and finally go for sunset to the Alantayar Pagoda, sight of the largest reclining Buddha image in all off South East Asia, over 300 feet in length. Overnight in Monywa.

DAY 8: MONYWA - PHO WIN DAUNG - PAKOKKU - BAGAN
"Rise early to take the ferry to the other side of the Chindwin River where you board a pick-up to see the seldom visited 15th Phowin Taung temple complex where more than 450,000 sandstone Buddha’s were carved in the hillsides in caves, alcoves, or tiny niches. The cave murals are still intact with indigo blues and soft pastels. Many of the Buddha’s can be seen without entering the caves or niches and footwear is permitted as long as one is not entering the sanctuaries. A stunning Buddha not to be missed is the reclining Buddha resting on a rectangular stone mosaic which shimmers with cut glass." Then continue to Pankangyi, a 19th century town with old city walls and an archaeological museum. Visit to the Pakhan-ngai Kyaung, a 19th century largest wooden monastery with 332 teak pillars. En route stop at some villages to study the daily life of the people in the rural area. After arrival in Pakokku, a bustling tobacco trading centre, take a private boat and cross the mighty Ayeyarwaddy River to Bagan (appr. 2 hours). Overnight in Bagan.

DAY 9: BAGAN
Enjoy the whole day at the most extensive archeological site in Asia. Bagan has over 2000 temples and pagodas of various sizes in varying states of repair and spread across the plain. Shwezigon Pagoda, built by King Anawrahta in the early 11th century as a religious shrine; Gubyaukgyi, a temple with exquisite murals of Jataka scene and Ananda Temple with four huge standing Buddha images and numerous seated figures and niches around the galleried interior. In the afternoon visit lacquer ware home industry, Manuha Temple built in Mon style from 1059 and Nanphaya Temple, said to have once been the residence of King Manuha; Gu Byauk Gyi Temple (Wet Kyi Inn), which has very nice frescoes inside. Enjoy sunset over terraces of the Shwesandaw Pagoda. Overnight in Bagan.

DAY 10: BAGAN - MT. POPA - SALE - BAGAN
After breakfast drive to Mt. Popa (appr. 1½ hrs drive). On the way visit some villages and watch the collection of juice from the palm trees, and its conversion into palm sugar. Visit the great extinct volcano. Rising out of the shimmering heat, the solitary volcanic crag of Mt. Popa is home to Myanmar's most powerful " nats ". Visit the Nat Museum with its life-sized statues of the 37 Nat Gods. Walk up the steps to the stupas and shrines that top the hill above the museum, seeing many pilgrims along the way. In the afternoon drive to Sale (appr. 1 ½ hours), a religious centre with many more working monasteries than found in Bagan today. Visit the Payathonzu, with three shrines containing mural paintings, Nan Paya, the largest lacquer Buddha image in Myanmar, said to date to the 13th century and the Yoke Sone Monastery, the oldest surviving wooden monastery in Bagan area. In the afternoon drive back to Bagan. Overnight in Bagan.

DAY 11: BAGAN - YANGON
After breakfast transfer to the airport for the flight to Yangon. Upon arrival visit the Dragon glass factory, producing exquisite hand-blown glasses and the Mae La Mu Pagoda, popular for all of its Buddha images, and a much more "folk oriented" feeling than other Pagodas. Tourists rarely visit it. Afternoon sightseeing starts with Chaukhtatkyi Pagoda (a huge reclining Buddha), Karaweik Hall, a Royal floating barge on the Royal Lake for a photo stop and late in the afternoon, visit the Shwedagon Pagoda described by Somerset Maugham: "The Shwedagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a sudden hope in the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write, glistening against the fog and smoke of the thriving city." This massive bell-shaped stupa rises nearly 100 meters above its hill-top surroundings. Wander through this magnificent structure and its courtyards, stupas, bells, Temples, and Buddha images, and see religious and secular visitors from all parts of the globe. Shwedagon has become the symbol of Myanmar. Enjoy the sunset over the Pagoda. Overnight in Yangon.

DAY 12: YANGON - Departure day
After breakfast continue sightseeing of Yangon: Sule Pagoda , dating back over 2000 years, the Mahabandoola Park with it's Independence Monument and walk around the downtown area and the sprawling Bogyoke Market. Wide streets, orderly town planning and neglected public buildings revive visions of British rule, while busy streets scenes and shimmering pagodas, bursting through a leafy canopy, hint at the rich local culture. Skyscrapers and glaring neon billboards have yet to overtake the capital. Afternoon free at your own leisure, till transfer to Yangon International Airport for your departure flight.

Services included:
Bed & breakfast in double sharing room, guide & air con car/van/bus throughout the tour (except on day 4 for the sightseeing on Inle Lake), boats on Inle Lake, to Mingun and from Pakokku to Bagan, domestic flights by Air Bagan, Yangon Airways or Air Mandalay, entrance fees as indicated in our itinerary, porter fees at airports and jetties.

© 2005 Myriam Grest Thein