Myanmar

Our guide will pick you up from Rangoon International Airport and transfer you to your hotel.

Visit the stunning Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset. This 325ft gilded pagoda and stupa is Myanmar’s most important landmark. The top of the stupa is covered with 1800 carats of gold and studded with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and topaz. A huge emerald sits in the middle to catch the first and last rays of the sun.

After an early breakfast, transfer to Yangon Domestic Airport for the flight to Bagan. Upon Arrival at Bagan, transfer to the jetty for your Irrawaddy Cruise aboard the RV Paukan. Enjoy and early lunch around 11:30 before casting off. After Lunch, visit of a selection of the 2,000 listed pagodas and temples.

The lovely RV Paukan is a boutique hotel on the river, beautifully furnished with a unique combination of modern and traditional motifs. The timber-walled cabins are furnished with colonial style cupboards, dresser and doors while the ceiling is traditional Myanmar. The single or double beds are proper and comfortable ones and not mere bunks, enough room for 55 passengers who will be looked after by a 30-member crew.

Explore some of Bagan's local markets selling wood carvings, fabrics, longyis and rattan products. Visit a workshop to see the ancient technique of lacquerware making. Alternatively you can hire a horse cart or a bicycle and explore the site on your own or have a splendid balloon flight over the Bagan temples (not included).

Return to the ship around noon and cast off. We spend the rest of the day cruising upstream stopping at the village of Shwe Pyi Thar where we are able to walk around and explore rural village life.

Following dinner we have a puppet show either in the village or on the ship’s sun deck.

Arrive at the picturesque village of Yandabo which specialises in pot-making. Here the peace treaty signifying the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War was signed on February 24th 1826. We disembark to walk around some pot-making workshops and visit a local school and monastery.

Return to the ship and continue upstream, mooring for the night at Nyin Mu.

We have an early morning excursion by road to Monywa (approx. 1 ½ hours). Here we visit Hpowindaung and Shwebadaung caves where hundreds of Buddha Statues are placed inside niches decorated with wonderful mural paintings.

After lunch we visit the splendid Sambuddhai Kat Kyaw Pagoda with its more than 500,000 Buddha images. Drive to Sagaing (2 hours) where we will board the ship.

After an early breakfast, visit Mingun - the unfinished pagoda, the largest working bell in the world and the “home for the aged”.

After lunch we explore Ava by horse-cart visiting the beautiful 200 year old teak Bagaya Kyaung Monastery, the 27 metre high Nanmyin Watchtower and Me Nu Ok Kyaung Monastery. We then travel by sampan and coach to Amarapura, the penultimate Burmese Royal Capital to visit U-Bein Bridge at sunset.

Moor overnight at Sagaing where there will be a dance and theatre performance on the ship’s sundeck.

Today we disembark the RV Paukan at Gawein Jetty. From here we drive to Mandalay and check in to our hotel.

The remainder of the day is free to relax.

After breakfast visit the ancient capital of Amarapura – ‘City of Immortality’ followed by the Mahaghandayon Monastery where more than a thousand monks and novices line up to receive their daily offering of alms and food. Later we proceed to Mandalay Royal Palace. This large complex has dozens of buildings including audience halls, throne halls, a monastery, a watch tower, a court building, a tooth relic building and a library where the Buddhist scriptures were kept.

Drive to Shwenandaw Monastery, an ancient wooden building with intricate carvings, once the home of King Mindon. Continue to Kuthodaw Pagoda, home to the `world largest book‘, a collection of 729 white-washed stupas housing marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist Scriptures. Finally, watch the sunset from the top of Mandalay Hill with sweeping views of Mandalay and the surrounding countryside. Return to our hotel early evening.

Drive to Mandalay Airport for the short flight to Heho. Upon arrival in Heho, transfer by road to Nyaung Shwe, the small gateway town to Inle Lake. The final part of the journey is made by long-tail motor boat to our hotel. We take long-tail boats again to explore the charm and beauty of Inle Lake. Our first stop is Nga Phe Kyaung, renowned for its extensive collection of Buddha images made of different materials, and in various styles and sizes.

Visit Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the holiest site in Southern Shan state. It‘s five uniquely shaped, gilded, but relatively small images are carried around the lake by boat during the annual Inle Boat procession (usually in September and October). We continue to Kaylar floating village located in the heart of Inle Lake.

After breakfast, visit Ywama village, one of Inle’s most attractive villages. Here we can observe plenty of floating gardens, where fruit, flowers and mainly vegetables are grown.

Visit some other workshops on the lake including a cheroot (Burmese Cigars) workshop and a boatbuilding workshop. Later we disembark at Indein Temple Complex on the lake shoreline. The site consists of dozens of small ancient stupas overgrown by moss and greens in a jungle-like setting. This gives Indein an enigmatic feel and ambience. We have time to explore the stupa complex which offers some great opportunities to take some exquisite photos of this unique place. Later return to the hotel.

Transfer to Heho airport for the flight to Yangon. Upon arrival, transfer to our hotel where the remainder of the day is free.

Transfer to Yangon International Airport for your onward flight.