Myanmar Great Legends

Upon arrival, you will be met outside the baggage claim area by your guide who will escort you to a waiting vehicle for your transfer to downtown with a brief introduction en route. Your guide will be holding a welcome signboard with the ASIA TOUR ADVISOR LOGO & your name. During the drive your guide will provide an introduction to Yagon.

Then start visit city tour in Yangon, with drive through the colonial style buildings downtown, the Chinatown area and the Indian quarter. Visit center's useful landmark, Sule Zedi with its golden octagonal pagoda. Continue to Temple of Chaukhtatgyi reclining Buddha. Stop alongside Kandawgyi (Royal) Lake to take photographs over the lake towards Shwedagon. Enjoy the sunset at Shwedagon pagoda

Breakfast at hotel. Morning drive for 4 hours, through seemingly endless paddy fields to the small town of Kyaikto and on to the "base camp" of Kinpun, where take a truck up a bumpy track about half way up the mountain. Check into hotel. From here, walk up the path which climbs to the legendary "Golden Rock". (The climb takes around 1 hour and those unwilling, or not fit enough, to walk can hire four porters to carry them in a sedan chair). The climb offers magnificent views over the surrounding countryside and the opportunity to make friends with many local people who make the pilgrimage to Kyaikhtiyo. The incredible "Golden Rock" sits precariously on top of the mountain, and is said to balance thanks to a precisely placed hair relics of Buddha. Weather permitting, sunset views from Mount Kyaikhtiyo are amazing.

Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is also known as Golden Rock is a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mon State, Myanmar. It is a small pagoda (7.3 metres (24 ft)) built on the top of a granite boulder covered with gold leaves pasted on by devotees. According to legend, the Golden Rock itself is precariously perched on a strand of the Buddha's hair. The balancing rock seems to defy gravity, as it perpetually appears to be on the verge of rolling down the hill. The rock and the pagoda are at the top of Mt. Kyaiktiyo. It is the third most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Burma after the Shwedagon Pagoda and the Mahamuni Pagoda. A glimpse of the "gravity defying" Golden Rock is believed to be enough of an inspiration for any person to turn to Buddhism.

Breakfast at hotel. Walk down the mountain and return by truck to your car. Drive back to Yangon via Bago, bustling commercial town located nearest from Yangon (80 km) where visit Shwemawdaw pagoda which has a stupa inlaid with diamonds and is Bago's golden landmark. See Shwetharlyaung Buddha, which dates from 994 and is revered throughout Myanmar as the most beautiful Reclining Buddha. An optional tour is included on the way back to Yangon at the British War Cemetery near Htauk Kyan. Check into hotel.

Breakfast at hotel. Morning transfer to airport for flight to Bagan. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel and then visit
“Golden stupa of Shwezigon pagoda, which is Pagan's most important reliquary shrine – look out for images of 37 "Nats" housed in a small hall. See 12th century frescoes adorning the corridors of Kyansitta "Cave" temple. Continue to Gubyaukgyi, another "cave" temple with fine frescoes of "jataka tales". Next stoop is Htilominlo, the last Bamar style temple built in Bagan, with old murals and friezes. Pass through Tharabar Gateway into Old Bagan. In the afternoon, visit Ananda temple, a whitewashed masterpiece of Mon architecture with four standing Buddhas, and the adjacent brick monastery from the early Bagan era with well-preserved murals. Make a photo stop at the tallest temple measuring 61 meters – Thatbuinnyu known as ": temple of omniscience" and dating from 1091. Next, visit Dhamayangyi, a massive-looking temple dating from end of 12th century which is famous for its interlocking mortar less brickwork. Continue to Mingalarzedi, the last of the large pagodas built in the 13th century, representing the pinnacle of Bamar pagoda architecture”
Then, visit local lacquer workshop to watch craftsmen skillfully making this most famous of Bagan handicrafts. Short ride by horse carts at the sunset time, and climb to the top of Shwesandaw stupa to enjoy, magnificent views over Pagan's temples and the Ayeyarwady River. Return to hotel after sunset.

The ancient city of Bagan was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan from the 9th to 13th centuries and built over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries on the Bagan plains alone. Today around 2,200 of the original temples and pagodas remaining standing.

Early morning visit to Nyaung-U local market, and then continue to Sulamani, one of Pagan's great two-storied Bamar style temples which have 4 seated Buddha images. And visit Lemethna temple, topped by an Indian-style spire similar to Ananda. Then, the three shrines of Payathonzu which are connected by passages adorned with Mahayanist or Tantric mural paintings. Visit Nandamanya temple with fine frescoes and an unexpectedly erotic mural. Take a break from temples and wander through the village of Minnanthu to see how the local people live. In the afternoon, visit Abeyardanar, temple with frescoes representing Bodhisattvas and the gods of Indian mythology. Continue to Nanpaya temple, built in the Mon style with intricate stone carvings, and said once to have been Manuha's residence. See the four Buddha images in Manuha's pagoda and then, stop at Myazedi stupa to see Myanmar's "Rosetta Stone", bearing inscriptions written in four languages”

Breakfast at hotel. Morning transfer to Mandalay airport for flight to Heho. Upon arrival, drive journey towards Pindaya, visit Shwe Umin Cave pagoda and Shan umbrella making cottage. And then journey towards Inle Lake through hilly landscape. Arrival at hotel in the late afternoon.

The trishaw was invented in 1930 in Mandalay and became the most popular form of public transportation. Burmese trishaws are unique in that they have two passenger seats on one side of the paddler and are the ideal vehicle for travelling along the narrow laneways of Burmese towns.

Breakfast at hotel. Full day excursion to the environs of Mandalay- the former capital of Amarapura and Mandalay's famous places for handicrafts such as gold-leaf making, tapestries and marionette making. In the afternoon, cross the small river by ferry boat to make joyful excursion by horse cart at Ava (Innwa); it was one of ancient Myanmar capitals before British annexation in 1885. Remarkable old brick monument of Menue & uniquely located wooden monastery of Bagaya and more than 600 monastic complexes on the hills at Sagaing are tour highlights. Return back for sunset over U Bein Bridge.

At an altitude of 880 metres (2,900 feet) the freshwater lake of Inle is not only one of the highest lakes in the country but is one of the biggest. The lake is home to the Intha people who have lived, worked and survived off the lake for generations. They live in wooden and woven bamboo stilt houses surrounded by floating gardens. Inle’s constant source of moisture and its climate permits the Inthas to grow crops throughout the year. The most distinctive part of the Intha culture is the unique way they row their small wooden boats using their legs.

Breakfast at hotel. Morning transfer to Mandalay airport for flight to Heho. Upon arrival, drive journey towards Pindaya, visit Shwe Umin Cave pagoda and Shan umbrella making cottage. And then journey towards Inle Lake through hilly landscape. Arrival at hotel in the late afternoon.

Breakfast at hotel. Enjoy the boat excursion on Inle Lake – “Photographer’s dream, its calm waters are dotted with floating vegetation and fishing canoes, to which scenic high hills provide the perfect backdrop”. See the lake's unique "leg rowers" –Intha people row standing up with one leg wrapped around an oar. Visit Phaung Daw Oo pagoda, the holiest religious site in Shan State. See traditional handicrafts-silk weaving on wooden handlooms and a blacksmith shop. Pass endless floating gardens, where fruits and vegetations are grown. Stop at Ngaphe Kyaung monastery which is famous for its "jumping cats". Return to hotel on the moment of beautiful sunset.

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer by boat to the village of Mine Thauk on the Eastern Shore of Inle Lake. (If on market day - visit the market in Mine Thauk). Start trekking to Mine Thauk Monastery. Walk through this very scenic village. Magnificent overview on the Inle can be enjoyed. Continue by boat excursion to rarely- known site of Indein where certain hundreds of ancient brick stupas and pagodas dated back to 17 centaury. At the end of day sunset over the lake from hotel's terrace.

Breakfast at hotel. Morning transfer to Heho for fly back to Yangon. Check-in at hotel. Visit to Kaba Aye (World Peace) Pagoda and Mahapasana Guha Cave, where the Sixth Buddhist Council took place, and unique Glass Factory with skilled craftsmen hand-blowing glass and creating original glassware. Proceed to National Museum with an 8-meter-high Golden Lion Throne and Mandalay Royal Regalia. Continue to Yangon's oldest Chinese temple and the riverside Botataung Pagoda. Return to hotel.

Breakfast at hotel. Visit Bogyoke (Scott) market to see Myanmar's wide range of handicrafts. Leisure time in the afternoon till transfer to the international airport.

Finish unforgettable Myanmar Great Legends Tour with Asia Tour Advisor Co.,. Good bye & see you in the next time! Asia Tour Advisor can arrange additional customized trips for you if the above itinerary does not match your expectations.