13 DAY MYANMAR LAOS ADVENTURE TOUR

Upon arrival at Yangon International Airport, you will be welcomed by your tour guide and transferred to your hotel for check in. You will visit Sule Pagoda (located on a roundabout in downtown Yangon), Yangon City Hall (featuring classic Myanmar architectural design), and the High Court (noted for its British colonial architecture, including its clock tower and its red-bricked exterior). Next, you’ll visit Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda, built in 1966 and famous for its huge image of the Reclining Buddha, which replaced the older image built in 1907 .

In the early evening, you will visit the famous Shwedagone Pagoda. Its massive bell-shaped golden spires are plated with 60 tons of gold, while the tip of the stupa is inset with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and topaz.

After breakfast, you will transfer to the airport for a flight to Bagan. Upon arrival, you will go for a sightseeing drive to Nyaung Oo Market, Shwezigone Pagoda (home to the Frontlet Relic of Buddha), Gubyaukgyi Temple (noted for its wall paintings), Htilominlo Pagoda (one of the largest temples of Bagan and noted for its fine plaster carvings) and Ananda Temple (the finest, largest and best preserved of all the Bagan temples). You will also get to explore Ananda Okkyaung (a brick monastery with 18th Century mural paintings) and Dhammayangyi Pagoda (extending approximately 255 feet on each of its four sides, making it Bagan’s most massive shrine). After lunch, you will visit a local family workshop to watch and learn about the production process of lacquer ware, one of Myanmar’s best-known handicrafts.

You will then continue on to visit Thatbyinnyu Pagoda (Bagan’s tallest temple at almost 217 feet high) and Nanpaya temple (a unique sandstone monument). Then you will enjoy the breathtaking sunset from Shwesandaw Pagoda, the most popular sunset-viewing spot in Bagan, before retiring for the evening in Bagan.

There will be an early morning transfer to Bagan Airport for a flight to Mandalay. Upon arrival, you will take an excursion to Amarapura, which means “City of Immortality” and which was founded in 1783 AD. You’ll then visit Mahaganthayon Monastery, the largest teaching monastery in Myanmar.

Next, you will enjoy the serenity of the U Bein wooden bridge (constructed in 1849 and measuring about three quarters of a mile long) and Taung-Ta-Man Lak (which always enchants visitors). After your hotel check in, you will continue your tour by visiting Mahar Myat Muni Buddha Image (the most ancient bronze cast Buddha image in Myanmar) and the reconstructed Mya Nan San Kyaw Palace.

You will finish the tour by visiting Mandalay Hill, a natural watchtower where visitors can watch the sunrise or sunset over the city plains. You’ll then have an overnight in Mandalay.

After breakfast you will transfer to the airport to fly to Heho.Upon arrival, you will drive to Pindaya. Travelling by car along the hilly and winding road over the Shan Plateau, though taking a few hours, is interesting and well worth it. You’ll visit Pindaya cave, a huge cavern where thousands of Buddha images in various size and shape have been installed since the 11th century. You will dinner and stay overnight at the hotel in Pindaya.

After breakfast, you will drive to Inle Lake and enjoy a boat ride for the whole day. Your sightseeing will start with a visit the Phaungdawoo Pagoda, which houses five small Buddha images.

The temple is also home to an annual festival, usually held during the month of October, and it is the biggest event held at the lake.The next must see stop is Nag Phi Chaung Monastery, an attractive wooden monastery built on stilts over the lake at the end of the 1850s and where you can see the popular jumping cats leap through hoops .You also have an option to see “Padaung” or the “Long-neck Karen hill tribe”. Your tour would be completed with a visit to a local silverware workshop, silk and lotus workshops and a place of traditional iron work. If time allows, ask your guide to go and see the Shan paper making process. Overnight in Inle Lake

After breakfast at the hotel, you will transfer to the airport and fly back to Yangon. Upon arrival, you’ll continue your Yangon city tour with a visit to Lawka Chanthar, the world’s biggest marble Buddha and see the royal white elephant.

On the way, you will stop at the Naga Cave monastic school, where you can learn the Myanmar monastic education system.You also have the option to visit Kandawgyi Lake and surrounding areas which offer numerous photo opportunities. In the early evening, you’ll visit the Strand jetty to witness the daily life of the local people and Yangon’s river that offers a remarkable atmosphere with spectacular colors and photo opportunities. Then, you can shopping in the Bogyoke market (formerly “Scott market”), where you can get a wide range of Myanmar handicrafts, jewelry, fabrics and lacquer ware.If you stay have time,go to famous MK gems shop where the quality gems are displayed separately in eight different decorated show rooms. This is no surprise as Myanmar is the world’s number one producer of precious stones

Transfer to the airport for a flight to Laos capital city, Vientiane, arrive and check, rest of the day is at your own exploration. Overnight in Vientiane.

Next day: Your tour will include visits to the major temples of Vat Sisaket, Vat Phrakeo and the impressive That Luang Stupa (the country’s most important monument). You will also see the Arc de Triomphe, the National Museum and the main market. In the evening, following a welcome dinner, you can enjoy an evening stroll along the banks of the Mekong River before an overnight stay in Vientiane

After breakfast, you will visit the Morning Market before leaving Vientiane for Vang Vieng, which takes around 3 hours to reach by car. Vang Vieng was once a key military airfield during the Indochina wars and its central feature is the long abandoned runway along the eastern side of town. On the west side, a small river separates the town from the nearby caves & mountains, which can easily be visited from town. En route, you will enjoy the included lunch at a local restaurant. Then you will have free time before and overnight stay in Vang Vieng

The drive from Vang Vieng to Xieng Khoang is stunning and you will reach your destination at lunch time. After you have checked into your hotel, there will be a tour to the mysterious Plain of Jars. The Plain of Jars is an extensive area around Phonsavan, surrounded by mountains, and where massive stone urns of mysterious origin are scattered about in a least a dozen major groupings. Site , Thoung Hai Hin (or “Stone Jar Plain) is 15 km southwest of Phonsavan, and the largest of the sites, featuring 250 jars, mostl weighing from 600kg to one ton each (but, the biggest of them weighing as much as six tons!). You will continue to visit some nearby hill tribe villages to experience their fascinating culture and colorful history before heading back to the hotel. You will stay overnight in Xieng Khoang

You will leave Xieng Khoang and drive to Luang Prabang, which is the old capital of the Lane Xang Kingdom and which is home to more than 30 gilded Buddhist temples, which results in a town rich in atmosphere and history.

In the afternoon, there will be a tour to discover the World Heritage Site, with visits to Wat Visoun (the 16th Century temple which served as a small museum for religious artifacts), Wat Aham (the early 19th Century temple, whose two guardian figures at the foot of the steps represent two characters from the Ramayana – Hanuman, the Monkey God and the fierce Yaksa), Wat Xiengthong (the 16th Century temple which, more than any temples in Luang Prabang, epitomizes all the elegance and grace of its architecture) and Phousi Hill (whose 328 steps lead to the summit of Phousi Hill, which dominates the sky-line of Luang Prabang). This will give you the finest panoramic view of the whole of Luang Prabang before an overnight stay

An optional early start will give you the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily morning rituals of saffron-clad monks collecting offerings of Alms (often in the form of sticky rice) from the faithful residents. This tradition is very unique to Laos, it being the only Buddhist nation still preserving the ritual.

Following breakfast, you will depart to the boat landing for an excursion upstream on the Mekong to visit Pak Ou Cave, which is in the side of a lime stone cliff and opposite the mouths of the Mekong and Ou rivers. The sanctuaries at Pak Ou consist of two large caves, both repositories for thousands of Buddha images, which range from mere centimeters to two meters in height.

En route, Lao typical villages are barely visible behind a screen of foliage, yet you will see slender canoes bobbing by the shore, as well as bamboo poles and floats marking the location of nets and fish traps. Your first stop will be at Ban Muangkeo, where traditional rice whisky (called “Laoh-Khao”) is distilled, and you are welcome to taste it and also take some away! Lunch will be at a riverside restaurant. You will drive back to Luang Prabang in the late afternoon and continue by car to the outskirts of town to visit Ban Xangkhong, a well-known village for its wood paper making and also Lao silk weavings with natural dyes. Overnight in Luang Prabang

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