Myanmar's Burmese Heritage

Upon arrival in Bangkok, you are met and transferred to your airport hotel.

Board your flight to Yangon for your first taste of Myanmar, a profoundly Buddhist country that has kept many of its ancient traditions. You are greeted at the airport by your Tour Director — a Myanmar native — and enjoy lunch before boarding your flight to Heho. On arrival, you continue to Inle Lake, the second-largest in Myanmar and one of the highest. Travel by private boat to your resort. Tonight, gather for cocktails and dinner.

After breakfast, head out onto the lake (the way the locals do) to explore this unique area, where life remains unchanged and residents still make their living from the land and water. Visit the five-day market, a mobile market that changes location to accommodate different nearby communities. Join hill tribespeople — decked in colorful, traditional outfits — as they barter for goods and produce. Next, watch the masterful skills of local silk weavers at the Mya Set Kyar Ikat silk weaving workshop. Visit a blacksmith before trying your hand at making a cheroot (Burmese cigar) alongside a cigar maker. After lunch, admire the ingenious floating gardens that are typical of Inle Lake en route to Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda and Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery.

Fly via Heho to Mandalay. Board the luxury vessel ‘Road to Mandalay’ in time for lunch. In the afternoon, explore Mandalay’s treasures, including Mandalay Hill, Shwenandaw Monastery and Kuthodaw Pagoda. Later, visit the wooden U Bein Bridge that crosses Taungthaman Lake, and capture photos of this iconic image at sunset.

Visit Sagaing, the living center of the Buddhist faith in Myanmar and home to the majority of the country’s monks and nuns. After lunch onboard, set sail downstream, admiring the natural beauty of the river and life along its banks.

Take in the sunrise as ‘Road to Mandalay’ approaches Bagan, the 11th-century capital of the country and one of Asia’s most extraordinary destinations. More than 2,000 temples, pagodas and stupas (Buddhist memorials) cover the plains of Bagan, a treasure trove of Buddhist art history. Spend a full day exploring these monuments. Highlights include a visit to the 11th-century Ananda Temple, the best-preserved temple in Bagan. Then, catch the sunset at Shwezigon Pagoda.

Take an early morning hot air balloon ride over Bagan, contemplating the scene that unfolds before you: the rising sun illuminating the gold- and sand-colored stupas that stretch into the horizon. After breakfast, disembark and drive to Mount Popa, a dormant volcano with a Buddhist monastery at its summit. The monastery is a popular pilgrimage site for the devout, and you walk among them as you explore this sacred site. Return to Bagan. Enjoy a sunset cruise on the Ayeyarwady River and have a cocktail on the sandbank. Before time was measured, the mighty Ayeyarwady River served as Myanmar’s main artery, its crucial highway. Celebrated in legend, myth, song and history, it is central to the country, sustaining life of every kind. The river-scape offers tiny teak dwellings, cheerful waving youngsters, and statuesque ladies balancing water jugs on their head, vermilion clad monks and placid bullocks pulling heavily laden carts.

Fly to Yangon, where contemporary and colonial Myanmar continue to coexist decades after British departure. Visit the National Museum and Sule Pagoda, and arrive at the Shwedagon Pagoda — a fantasy of golden stupas, serene Buddhas and mythical beasts — just before sunset. Observe as the devout pray before the images, the evocative fragrance of incense enveloping you as you watch the waning sunlight illuminate the main pagoda.

Continue your exploration of Yangon. Visit the colorful Chinatown and shop for Burmese handicrafts at Scott Market. In the evening, gather with fellow guests for cocktails and a multi-course farewell dinner at the elegant restaurant, Le Planteur.

This morning, visit Botataung Pagoda and the Reclining Buddha, one of the largest icons in Myanmar at 230 feet long. After lunch, fly to Bangkok, where the balance of your day is at leisure to relax or enjoy your hotel’s amenities.

Transfer to the airport to your next destination or board your homebound flight.