14-day Myanmar Trekking and Hiking Tour

• On your arrival at Yangon International Airport, we will transfer you to your hotel where check in is at 14.00 hrs. We begin your Myanmar trekking and hiking tour with a short walk around the city to introduce you to this treasure trove of colonial architecture. Our guide will show you the royal floating barge at Karaweik Hall and a 2000-year-old gilded pagoda. After a short stop at Bogyoke (Scott) Market (closed on Mondays and all public holidays), you will be able to spend time exploring one of the most beautiful religious monuments in the world. The glittering gold dome of the Shwedagon Pagoda is covered with 60 tons of pure gold and is imposing at 98 metres above the base.
• You are transferred back to your hotel where your accommodation for the night is a superior room at Ibis Style Yangon Stadium Hotel or a similar hotel in the city.
• Meals: None

• From the city, you will head inwards to the historic hotspot of Mrauk U. To get here, we transfer you to Yangon airport for a domestic flight to Sittwe, where we will take you aboard a private boat (transfer included) down the peaceful Kaledan River to Mrauk U. The journey lasts between 4-5 hours.
• Your accommodation for the night is a deluxe room at Mrauk U Hotel or a similar hotel in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided.

• Rediscover the past glory of what was once one of Asia’s wealthiest cities before two catastrophic earthquakes and war-ravaged it. Earlier known as Myo Haung, Mrauk U was a commercial port and the capital of the Arakan Kingdom - today’s Rakhine State. Significant ruins still remain within the town and continue to add a historic charm and majestic aura to today’s bustling local markets, pretty wooden homes and friendly residents.
• You can walk to the various sites around town, although some might need transport to get to by way of bullock cart or vehicle. Don’t miss the colourful plate-like tiles on the front wall of Laungbankpyauk Pagoda and colours of Mrauk U’s main market. It is certainly breathtaking to take in the 90,000 Buddha images at Koe Thaung Pagoda nearby, the largest shrine in the city. You will find the images in a tunnel carved from rock under a large octagonal tower.
• Enjoy a hearty lunch at the Royal City Guest House before continuing on to the Shittaung Pagoda, one of the best preserved sites in the city. Here, there are around 80,000 Buddha images, the layout reminiscent of Borobudur in Indonesia, with its platform-like structure around the central stupa. A walk through the pagoda unravels interior passages featuring reliefs and images hidden in niches.
• You can compare the layout with the linear design of the octagonal Andaw Pagoda nearby. Dukkanthein ordination hall is also an interesting stop, architecture-wise, as the laterite and sandstone construction appears almost like a huge bunker on the outside. Bask in the rays of the setting sun on the hill at Haridaung Pagoda.
• Your accommodation is the deluxe room at Mrauk U Hotel or a similar property in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Learn more about local culture with a visit to the Chin area in Rakhine State. For this, we will take you to the Lay Myo river for a 2.5-hour boat trip into the three rustic villages that are also known as ‘tattoo villages’. Here, you will observe the intricate facial tattoos of the Chin women, and visit a weaver to see stunning Chin textile patterns. Enjoy a packed lunch at the village before heading back to Mrauk U by boat.
• Your accommodation is the deluxe room at Mrauk U Hotel or a similar property on in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• We take your seaward on the Kaladan River on your journey back to Yangon. Soak in the scenery as it changes downriver to the sea on your 4-5 hour trip by private boat (transfer to jetty included). You will enjoy lunch on the boat before stopping at the fish market and Cultural Museum (if open) at Sittwe. We will drive you to the airport for your flight to Yangon.
• Your accommodation is the superior room at Ibis Style Yangon Stadium Hotel or a similar property in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Today, our Myanmar trekking and hiking tour will hit the country’s Buddhist epicentre. We save time with a short domestic flight from Yangon to Mandalay airport (transfers included), from where you will head to Amarapura’s famous U Bein Bridge. Built of beautiful Burmese wood, this kilometre-long structure is said to be the world’s longest teak bridge. We will then head to Sagaing, a scenic town of rolling hills where the gold and white tips of a number of pagodas and monasteries peek through the foliage. Daung Lann Gyi restaurant will serve you a delicious traditional lunch.
• The afternoon brings you back in touch with nature and local culture as we drive you along the banks of the Ayeyarwady River where women do laundry the traditional way and riverine commerce sails back and forth. A sparkling treasure awaits at the other end in the form of a gold Buddha image at the Mahamuni Pagoda. Our guide will also take you to watch traditional crafts coming to life at local workshops making Kalaga tapestries of razor-thin gold leaf as well as stone carving and bronze casting.
• See the ‘world’s largest book’ at Kuthodaw Pagoda, a volume of 729 marble slabs engraved with Theravada Buddhist scriptures. In a spectacular end to the day, we stop at the famous Shwenandaw Monastery, a splendid structure carved in teak and the only structure of the Royal Palace that survived the bombings of the Second World War. Climb up Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset caught in the sparkling glass-studded walls of the temple. 
• Your accommodation for the night is at a superior room at Shwe Inn Gyinn Hotel or a similar property in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided 

• We take you into the hinterland to discover more about Myanmar’s culture, handicrafts and life in the villages. You will have some time to relax before we transfer you to the airport for a domestic flight to Kyaing Tong. After you settle into your hotel, we will drive you to Lake Tong where you can take a leisurely stroll around this beautiful water body. You can stop for memorable photographs at a huge standing Buddha.
• Your accommodation for the night is a deluxe room at Amazing Kyaing Tong Resort or a similar property in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• As we drive north west to the villages of Kattauk and Pin Tauk, you can soak in the beauty of the countryside. You will first stop at Pin Tauk, where the main feature is a Baptist church as its Akha and Lahu inhabitants converted to Christianity many years ago. The colourful Akha people make up the largest minority in this region.
• Your hike begins in Wan Ping with a steep walk to Naung Seng, inhabited mostly by Catholics. You will notice stunning views of lush greenergy from this vantage point. The route continues up and downhill to Panlor’s Ann village perched on a plateau which offers commanding panoramas of the surrounding areas. The inhabitants here follow animism and hold the belief that a pure heart is above external beauty. In deep symbolism, they wear clothes that are traditionally black and colour their teeth black too. A shrine in the centre of the village is dedicated to the guardian spirits.
• Another Akha village is further down the route, and this is where our Myanmar trekking and hiking tour brings you face-to-face with the impressive traditional headdresses of the tribe women that are reminiscent of helmets made of silver. A bamboo cap forms its base on which silver baubles and beads are affixed. You will notice the delicate and complicated geometric designs on embroidery. There are not many houses in this village but the residents are very friendly.
• Walk further to reach the Wan Lar Akha village where you can observe the villagers - many of whom have converted to Catholicism or Baptism - making unique traps to hunt birds. The last village on this leg of the Myanmar trekking and hiking tour is Nam Lin Kaung. Like the Ann villagers, these too are animists, but here, each home builds a shrine for its own guardian spirit or ‘nat’. You can ask questions or learn more about their way of life by chatting with the village shaman and his wife.
• To return to your car, we walk back through crops dancing in the breeze in the rice and vegetable fields.
• Your accommodation for the night is a deluxe room at Amazing Kyaing Tong Resort or a similar property in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Today, we uncover more about the villages in the area on our Myanmar trekking and hiking tour as we head into the hill to Hokyin Mountain. If road conditions are favourable, we might be able to drive you to the top. If not, you can opt to take the two-hour walk up to 1300 metres which offers you sweeping views of the area, including four Ankha villages.
• Your spirits will be raised at a local rice whisky brewery in the village, and you can engage with elderly Akha women who will tell you about their headdresses fashioned from century-old silver rupee coins.
• You can trek through the villages before returning to your car, and if you still have the energy, you can continue on for an hour to Pangkwai village through the farms. For today, we will send you a packed lunch.
• We drive back to Kyaing Tong to stop at a lacquerware workshop which reveals the difference between Shan work and others from the Bagan region. Shan lacquer work is black and the reliefs are stuck to the items instead of being engraved. Later, we drive you to the summit of Lone Tree Hill where you can enjoy beautiful views of the area before returning to your hotel.
• Today’s trek consists of four hours walking time in total, but this can be adjusted to your preference.
• Your accommodation for the night is a deluxe room at Amazing Kyaing Tong Resort or a similar property in the city.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Markets are the best places to get a real feel of local life, so we take you to the one in Kyaing Tong where vegetables, rice, fruit, meat and fish are sold, alongside goods made by people from minority communities. Many Akha villagers come to this market to buy silver coins that go into their intricate headdresses.
• You will enjoy a traditional Shan breakfast here or noodles and tea, before spending any leftover time at the Maha Myat Muni temple of the Khun-style Wat In temple. You might want to watch the potters and blacksmiths at work in their shops. We take you to a simple local restaurant for lunch before heading to the airport for your domestic flight to Heho.
• On arrival, we drive you to Pindaya through scenic hills and fields of mountain rice across the Shan plateau.
• Your accommodation for the night is a bamboo hut at Pindaya Inle Inn Hotel or a similar property in the vicinity.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Today, our Myanmar trekking and hiking tour brings you in close contact with the Danu tribe and their interesting way of life. First, however, we take you the stunning Pindaya Caves from where you can see a beautiful lake. The cave chambers are home to thousands of Buddha images of varying types. A local workshop nearby will give you an insight into how paper and parasols are made here.
• You will now set off on a short trek through charming hills to visit the Danu tribe who also farm the area, growing cheroot, tea, damsons and mangoes along the hill faces. You can take a leisurely walk through the village and also stop at a tea plantation where you can watch how the famous Shan green tea is produced. The locals will chat with you while you sip on green tea and taste the local snacks. Your lunch for today is at the Green Tea Restaurant.
• After lunch, you will head into the valley by car to Nyaung Shwe, perched on the banks of the famous Lake Inle. Our private boat will take you to your hotel. Soak in the surroundings of Lake Inle, where the elevation keeps the temperatures cool and traditional Intha stilt houses dot the waters as the Shan hills loom in the background. You will observe small fishing boats and floating vegetable gardens, and the centuries-old flat-bottomed boats uniquely rowed by the Intha people using one leg.
• Your accommodation for the night is a superior room at Golden Island Cottages, Nampan or a similar property in the vicinity.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Today, we go further into the tranquil areas of Myanmar, off the beaten track to Thakong. If your visit coincides with it, you can visit the unique five-day rotating market before heading to Kyauk Taing which produces beautiful mud-based pottery.
• To see how lotus stems are turned into fabric for monk’s robes, we head to Kyainkhan, and then on to Thakong which makes alcohol from bran rice the way they’ve been doing for centuries.
• Our Myanmar trekking and hiking tour offers a way into the lives of the ethnic Pa O and Intha tribes who continue to stay true to their culture and traditions. You can enjoy a sumptuous lunch at Little Lodge in Samkar.
• Soak in the local flora and fauna and the gorgeous landscape with settlements peeking through here and there as you sail down the canal. You will be brought back to your hotel in the early evening.
• Please bring sun cream and a hat as it will be quite sunny on this leg of the tour.
• Your accommodation for the night is a superior room at Golden Island Cottages, Nampan or a similar property in the vicinity.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• Connect with heritage with a visit (if it coincides with the schedule) to the five-day rotating m arket where ethnic Pa O, Danu and Intha people conduct their trade. Close by is Lake Inle with lush hills in the distance, a glassy surface through which vegetation peeks and the peculiar skill of Intha fishermen who row with one leg. Lunch is served at Mr Toe’s Restaurant after a visit to the holiest pagoda in the region - Phaung Daw Oo.
• The boat trip continues after a stop a silk-weaving workshop and a blacksmith’s forge that take you back to simpler times. Back on the boat, you will see how the Intha grow fruit and vegetables on floating gardens and stop by the oldest monastery on the lake with statues that are hundreds of years old.
• Your accommodation is the superior room at Golden Island Cottages, Nampan or a similar property on Lake Inle.
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided

• In the morning, we will take you by boat to Heho airport for your domestic flight to Yangon. You will have a guide and car at your disposal until your international flight leaves that day.
• Meals: Breakfast is provided

Points to note

• December 15 - January 15, and April 13-17 is peak season. There may be additional charges during Christmas, New Year and the Water Festival
• You will be notified of compulsory gala dinner charges when booking
• Hotel prices can be adjusted for higher or lower categories on request. Featured hotels are subject to availability during booking, and you will be notified of any deposits when booking
• Domestic airfares quoted based on averages and are subject to change. The most convenient flight is booked and final price confirmed once tickets are issued based on class of seat and availability

For Mrauk U

• This is a soft adventure tour with erratic electricity even in hotels for cost-saving. While we try to ensure our standard package cars, the Mrauk U tour might use older models without air-conditioning. Itineraries are subject to change on account of transport issues, weather, etc.
• Carry insect repellent and wear long comfortable cotton clothing to protect yourself as Mrauk U is located near forested zones. These conditions mean few tourists visit the area, leaving it quite pristine.
• May to October attracts heavy monsoon storms so travel to Rakhine State is advisable only from November to April when it’s drier.

For Kyaing Tong

• Kyaing Tong is off-the-beaten path. While we try to ensure our standard package cars, the Mrauk U tour might use older models without air-conditioning. Itineraries are subject to change on account of transport issues, weather, etc.
• Weather conditions between June and September can close off some villages so we might choose appropriate alternatives. From March to April, the weather is hazy, and during the winter, it is sunny in the mornings and cold and nights.
• Please carry a day pack, torch and sunscreen