1st day: Arrival in Yangon
Pick up at International airport and transfer to the hotel.

Yangon is the capital of Myanmar since 1885 when Mandalay's short period as the center of the last Burmese Kingdom ended. The city, today with a population of over five million, is lined by the Yangon River on the west and the Bago River on the south. Yangon gives a different impression from other Asian cities of similar size and it seems full of green and trees over which tops the shimmering stupas float.

2 nights stay in Yangon.

2nd day: Yangon
In the morning our tour guide will take you on a full day tour. First through Yangon’s colonial heart, visiting the famous Bogyoke Market (also named Scott Market) and the gilded Sule Pagoda, dating back over 2000 years, as well as the Botataung Pagoda, near Yangon’s bustling waterfront. On the way to the Chaukhtatgyi Reclining Buddha, you will get a first glimpse of Yangon’s most revered monument, the glittering Shwe Dagon Pagoda, reflected in the calm waters of Kandawgyi Lake. You will visit the 2500-year old Shwedagon Pagoda in the early evening to enjoy the sunset from this sacred hill.

3rd day: SALAY – MT.POPA
Early morning flight to Nyaung U, the airport in Bagan. You will be greeted by our local tour guide and directly taken by car to Salay, a colorful and ancient religious center of Central Myanmar, 1 ½ hours southwest of Bagan. Here you will visit a 150-year-old wooden monastery with almost three dimensional wood carved figures and beautiful wood carved ceilings. At the Mogok Vipassana Yeiktha, a meditation center you will be able to look into the hollow 3m Lacquer Buddha (Nan Paya). In between visiting the numerous ancient monasteries, you can enjoy the beauty of this compact city of colonial buildings, monasteries and stupas.

After another 1 ½ hour drive, you will reach Mount Popa, the "flower mountain". 777 steep stairs lead to the summit (737m above sea level) of this extinct volcano clustered with pagodas and small temples, from where you can enjoy fantastic views. After descending the mountain, you will have the chance to view the abode of Myanmar's most powerful nats (sacred spirits) from a distance during sunset while enjoying a drink at the bar of Popa Mountain Resort.

1 night stay at Popa Mountain Resort.

4th day: BAGAN
In the morning you will drive to Bagan, Myanmar’s greatest wonder with over 2000 temples and pagodas covering an area of around 40 square km. You will obviously not be able to visit every Pagoda and Temple of this vast area, but we will guide you to the most important and interesting sights; the Ananda Temple, one of the finest, largest, best preserved and most revered of the Bagan temples; Dhammayangyi with impressive mortar-less brickwork; Dhamma-ya-zi-ka Zedi; Htilo-minlo featuring traces of old murals, original fine plaster carvings and glazed sandstone decorations; Gu-byauk-gyi; Shwe Zi gon Pagoda, whose graceful bell shape became the prototype for Myanmar's pagodas, and many more.

2 nights stay in Bagan.

5th day: BAGAN
On this day you can enjoy the sunrise from the top of one of the pagodas before breakfast and proceeding with your sightseeing in Bagan, which will today include a visit to the Lacquer ware Museum & Institute in Old Bagan, where you can view traditional methods of producing lacquer ware as well as the beautiful end products. You may also visit the Bagan museum, with many ancient religious images and other fine works from temples around Bagan. In the evening our tour guide will be happy to offer you the sunset per boat from the Ayeyarwaddy River.

6th day: MANDALAY
After a morning flight from Nyaung U to Mandalay, the last capital of the Burmese kingdom, we will visit the different sights of Myanmar’s second largest city, such as the famous Mahamuni Pagoda; Shwe Inbin Monastry with its old and exquisite woodcarvings; Shwe Nandaw Kyaung (the Golden Palace Monastery); and Kuthodaw Pagoda, “the world’s biggest book”. Mandalay is the country’s cultural heartland and an important trade center, so your full day excursion will include as well visits to wood carving and marble carving workshops as well as bronze foundries and Gold-leaf makers. For sunset we will mount Mandalay Hill to enjoy the view across the Ayeyarwaddy River.

3 nights stay in Mandalay.

7th day: ANCIENT CITIES
We will leave from Mandalay by car and stop at Shwe Kyet Yet Village for a beautiful view across the Ayeyarwaddy River on to the Sagaing Hill, bathed in the morning sun. In Ava we will visit ancient sights including the Baga Yar Monastery, which is made entirely of teakwood and supported by 267 teak posts and Nanmyin, a 27m-high masonry watchtower, the only remains of the ancient palace. Transportation is in Ava is by horse and cart. From Ava we will cross the Ava Bridge a British-engineered 16 span bridge from 1934 to reach Sagaing Hill with the Umin Thounzeh (30 caves pagoda) and Soon U Ponya Shin Paya, both of which offers outstanding views over the Sagaing Hill, dotted with pagodas. On the way back to Mandalay we will stop for another beautiful sunset in Amarapura and stroll over U Bein's Bridge, the longest teak span bridge in the world (1.2km).

8th day: MINGUN

In the morning you will take a short but fascinating boat ride across the Ayeyarwaddy River to Mingun, home to the worlds' largest bell and the earthquake ravaged base of an unfinished pagoda, which would have been the tallest in the world. In the afternoon we will be back in Mandalay. The rest of the day is at your leisure.

9th day: PINDAYA After a morning flight from Mandalay to Heho you will be picked up by our local tour guide and drive 3 to 3 ½ hours to Pindaya to visit the sacred cave complex featuring a labyrinth with over 8000 Buddha images made from alabaster, teak, marble, brick, lacquer and cement.

The local Umbrella Factory allows a detailed look at the crafting of the famous Shan paper and beautiful Burmese umbrellas.

In the afternoon you will be taken by car on a scenic route to Kalaw, a former popular British hill station on the western edge of the Shan plateau. It is a quiet town at 1320m above sea level with an atmosphere reminiscent of the colonial era.

1 night stay in Kalaw.

10th day: KALAW
In the morning we will visit the local market, a good place for watching hill tribe people and the other varied inhabitants of Kalaw: Nepali, Indians, Gurkhas, Bamar and Shan. The surrounding mountains are home to different hill tribes such as Palaung, Pa-O, Taungthu, Taungyo and Danu, to mention but a few. The market also features a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. After a drive through the magnificent Shan plateau we will reach Nyaung Shwe at Inle Lake, where you will board a boat and be ferried to your hotel on Inle Lake. The trip offers already a taste of the charms this famous lake has in store.

Inle Lake is a very shallow lake, only 2 to 3 m deep, surrounded by high plateaus and overlooked by the misty Shan mountains. It is home to the Intha people, among others, who have adapted to their watery environment by building whole villages rising in stilts from the shallow waters. Lake dwellers have become famed for their unique leg rowing technique, and grow an array of flowers and vegetables in picturesque floating gardens and fields, tended by workers in canoes. Inle Lake is 22 km long, about 11 km wide and lies a comfortable 875m above sea level.

2 nights stay at Inle Lake.

11st day: INLE LAKE
In the morning start the sightseeing on the lake by boat with a visit to the floating village Ywama, where a floating market is held every five days. You will visit silk weaving workshops, Cheroot (famous Burmese cigars) makers, gold and silver smiths.

The village of Indaing is very interesting due to its 1094 stupas surrounding the main Pagoda, Indaing Pagoda. This Pagoda is the original home of the five famous Buddha images of Inle Lake, which are hosted in the Phaung Daw U Pagoda, the holiest religious site in the southern area of the Shan State. A visit at the Nga Phe Monastery ("Monastery of the jumping cats") is a nice break in the day.

12nd day: Inle Lake - Yangon
After a visit to the famous Five-day-market in one of the villages on the lake you will have time to visit a few more sights before we will bring you in the afternoon to Heho for your flight back to Yangon, where we transfer you to your designated hotel in the capital.

1 night stay in Yangon.

13th day: Departure from Myanmar
In the morning or afternoon, depending on your international flight time, transfer to Yangon International airport for the departure from Myanmar.