Myanmar in Style

Day 2

Discover Yangon; colonial Rangoon

Packed with pagodas and crammed with colonial relics, Yangon is one of the most enchanting cities in Asia.

Meet your guide for a tour of downtown Yangon. Visit the famous Scott market with a wide array of handicrafts including traditionally woven silk and cotton and take a ride on the circular train with the locals to get a flavour of Burmese life. Return to your hotel to relax during the heat of the day. In the late afternoon visit the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, the holiest stupa in the land. With its hundreds of small temples and prayer niches, and people from all over the country coming to pay their respects here, a wander around Shwedagon is an unforgettable experience.

Stay

Sule Shangri-La, Yangon

Day 3

Fly from Yangon to Heho and drive to ancient Bagan

Fly to the cultural heart of the Burma: the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bagan.

This evening climb up onto a temple platform to watch the sun set behind the forest of stupas.

Stay

Hotel@Tharabar Gate, Bagan

Day 4

Hot-air ballooning over the temples and exploring on foot, by bike, or horse and carriage.

Rise early for your transfer to the launch site for hot drinks and briefing. Then take to the air for dramatic views over the unique and enchanting 11th century ruins as the sun rises from behind distant mountains.

After breakfast, start your tour of some of Bagan's beautiful temples on the ground by pony and trap.  Escape the heat of the day in the tranquil temples and wonder at the intricate architecture of Ananda Temple.

Stay

Hotel@Tharabar Gate, Bagan

Day 5

Irrawaddy river voyage to Salay

After breakfast board a small private boat and cruise down the Irrawaddy river to Salay. Enjoy the scenery from the open-topped deck and relax as you chug downstream. After a couple of hours and a delicious lunch on the boat, you will arrive in the historic town of Salay. This 12th century village is an active religious centre with many wooden monasteries and British colonial buildings. Walk through the sleepy town dotted with rustic temples often missed by tourists. At 130 years old Yokesone Kyaung is the oldest surviving teak monastery, built on 154 teak posts with beautiful carvings decorating the exterior walls. Visit the monastery before heading back to Bagan by vehicle.

Stay

Hotel @ Tharabar Gate, Bagan

Day 6

Fly from Bagan to Heho and drive on to Inle Lake

Fly to Heho and enjoy a drive through the beautiful countryside of Shan State to Inle Lake. Board long-tailed boats for the journey to your hotel built on stilts above the water.

After a relaxing afternoon take a tour by canoe through the peaceful stilt villages bathed in the golden light of dusk watching fishermen row one-legged style using their conical baskets to catch their fish.

Stay

Inle Princess, Inle Lake

Day 7

Inle Lake and Indein

Travel by long-tailed boat to the western bank of the lake to the ancient temple site of Indein. Explore the crumbling and atmospheric groups of pagodas and carvings of mythical creatures, and climb the covered stairway leading up the hill to Shwe Inn Thein Paya for wonderful views across the lake. This mysterious place is at the end of the narrow and winding Indein creek.

Stay

Inle Princess, Inle Lake

Day 8

Inle Lake

Enjoy a morning at leisure or you may like to take a cooking class to learn more about Burmese cuisine, a fusion of south-east Asian flavours.

This afternoon, take a walk into the surrounding hills to visit local villages for wonderful views over the lake. Take in Red Mountain Estate vineyard for an unexpected tasting of some of Burma's best wines.

Stay

Inle Princess, Inle Lake

Day 9

Bagan - Thandwe - Ngapali

Rise early for your flight from Bagan to Thandwe, and transfer to your fabulous hotel on Ngapali beach. Relax and enjoy this wonderful stretch of beach for the next six days. The fishing boats usually leave the beach near the fishing village at around 3/4pm each day, so you can either walk south down the beach, or take a bicycle along the beach road to this area. The restaurant at the hotel is excellent, but you might also like to walk outside to one of the local restaurants on the road behind the beach.

Stay

Sandoway, Ngapali Beach

Day 10

Ngapali

During your stay at Ngapali you might like to take the Sea adventure trip to the the charming fishing village of Maung Shwe Lay, until March 2012 unvisited by foreigners. Enjoy swimming, fishing, snorkeling, and kayaking.

Stay

Sandoway, Ngapali Beach

Day 11

Ngapali

Enjoy at leisure.

Stay

Sandoway,Ngapali Beach

Day 12

Ngapali Beach

Another day of serious relaxation.

Stay

Sandoway, Ngapali Beach

Day 13

Fly from Thandwe to Yangon

Leave the beach to travel to Thandwe airport for your flight back to Yangon. 

Enjoy a final afternoon at leisure to relax before your flight home the next day.

Day 14

Depart Myanmar