Highlights of Myanmar I My Way Travel USA - Absolute Asia Tours

On arrival in Myanmar, you'll be met by your private guide, who will accompany you to your Yangon hotel. Your day will be at leisure until your early evening tour of downtown Yangon. Head to Little India, where lively eateries tempt you in with delicious scents. Visit the Tamil-built Shri Kali Hindu temple, and wander through Chinatown to the Cantonese Kwan Yin (or Guanyin) temple, before finally reaching 19th Street, lined with restaurants and street food stalls. Settle here with a cold beer and a selection of street food while you watch life go by, or choose from an array of restaurants for dinner.

Explore the lively India Town market before hopping aboard the ‘circular railway’ commuter train as it weaves its way through waking neighbourhoods. Disembark at Hledan to visit the huge reclining Buddha at nearby Chaukhtatgyi Paya and, after lunch, go downtown to the ancient Sule Pagoda, where you can see fortune-tellers in the small rooms surrounding this highly significant site. Continue to Mahabandoola Park and Burma’s Independence Monument, then walk along the river bank, past the Custom House, the British Embassy, the General Post Office and evocative The Strand Hotel, once home to the likes of Orwell, Kipling and Somerset Maugham. Mingle with the locals over a cup of sweet chai in a traditional tea shop, before visiting Myanmar’s most iconic site: the majestic Shwedagon Pagoda. Try local flavours at the surrounding makeshift food markets, and see the pagoda magically illuminated as night falls.

Fly to Bagan for a full day of temple sightseeing. Whichever of the breathtaking temples you choose to see, in true Selective Asia style we have a secret gem or two up our sleeve that’s truly off the traditional temple trail. Learn about the age-old regional process of lacquerware at a local shop, then take a break for lunch, following your guide’s eatery recommendations and your nose… In the afternoon, you could visit the iconic temples of Ananda with its 1424 Buddhas mounted in the walls, and the Shwezigon Pagoda with its golden stupa. Enjoy sunset at the temples, or return to your hotel for a dip in the pool and a well earned sundowner.

Cruise down the Ayeyarwady River to the colonial port of Pakokku, which still trades timber and toddy palm sugar from its crucial position between the Yaw and Chindwin rivers, and is a useful transit point for travelling through north-central Myanmar. Visit the open-air market, where vegetables, fruit, handicrafts and textiles are traded; continue to the ornate Thiho Shin pagoda; and pause at a thanaka market, where local women buy this distinctive cosmetic paste made from ground thanaka bark. Tour a cheroot factory in the town, and observe wood carving and slipper-making workshops, then continue on to the unique Kyaukgu Umin cave tunnel, carved into a sandstone cliff, to see the huge statue and unfinished murals depicting scenes from Buddha’s life. Return to the river to cruise back to Bagan.

Fly from Nyaung U Airport to Heho and transfer on to Nyaung Shwe, the main town in the region, on the shore of Inle Lake. Drive through picturesque rural Myanmar, watching the comings and goings of farming life, taking in the refreshing difference in climate at the higher altitude. After exploring Nyaung Shwe, head out onto the water for a tour of Inle Lake, visiting several villages and a floating vegetable garden, and learning about the traditional fishing methods used by Intha communities. Later, visit the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, to see the five golden statues that are paraded around the lake during the festival of Hpaung Daw U, and the old teak Ngaphechaung monastery. Settle into your resort, where the remainder of your day will be at leisure to relax by the water and watch the stunning sunset.

Spend a day immersing yourself in the rhythms of Inle Lake. Get up early to see over 1000 ancient stupas at Dein pagoda before the crowds, cycle to a local vineyard to sample the region’s thriving wine culture, or trek through the surrounding hills. If this all sounds a little energetic, simply relax and soak up your surroundings.

Fly from Heho to Thandwe, and take a shared transfer to Ngapali Beach where you can unwind with a few days at leisure exploring, relaxing and laying back on those golden sands...

Take time to relax and make the most of the beach and the hotel facilities.

Take a morning shared transfer to Thandwe for your flight to Yangon, and your onward departure.