Myanmar Heritage | Irrawaddy River – Bagan to Mandalay: 7-Nights

TRANSFER: Transfer from airport or hotel to Jetty can be arranged at supplement upon request. Pls note that it takes approximately 30 minuts drive from Airport and Hotel to ship (Koe Lone Ye Kin). Please note: We are not able to accept early arrival before 11:00 AM.

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EMBARKATION Board the Ship at  Koe Lone Ye Kin Jetty 11:00 am and cast off 11:30 am, welcome cocktail in the saloon.

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AFTERNOON EXCURSION : Salay After Lunch, we walk ashore at Salay, a small town founded in the 13th century with Bagan-era shrines, beautiful 19th century teak monasteries and preserved British colonial buildings. We explore the Salay House, a restored 1906 colonial trading company warehouse on the bank of the Irrawaddy. Our walk takes us along the town’s main Strand Street towards the local market before turning away from the river to visit the beautiful Yoke Soun Kyaung Taw Gyi wooden monastery. This ornately carved teak monastery was designed as a copy of the Crown Prince House of Mandalay, and is now a museum boasting remarkable wood carvings and artifacts. We pass some interesting Bagan-era monuments on our way to visit Mann Paya, a pagoda with a beautiful lacquerware Buddha, before returning to our ship with a stroll past some of Salay’s many beautiful colonial. Dinner and moor overnight mid stream.

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Meals Provided: Lunch, Dinner

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MORNING EXCURSION: Bagan This morning our excursion takes us to one of the most incredible areas of Myanmar: Bagan. Once the center of the Pagan Empire, Bagan today is a tourist, artist, and archeological mecca. We will start the tour with ShweZigon Pagoda construction during the reign of King Anawrahta and a Buddhist religious place, is believed to enshrine a bone and tooth of Gautama Buddha, the massive Htilominlo, built by King Htilominlo on the site where he was chosen from the five sons of King Nadaungmya to be the crown prince of Pagan. While the murals that once decorated much of the inside of this temple have only survived on the ceilings, Htilominlo boasts the finest plaster carvings which still remain undamaged on the arch pediments. Then stop by Thatbyinnyu Pagoda for photo shoot on the way back to ship for Lunch.

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AFTRNOON EXCURSION : Bagan- After lunch, we visit Gubyaukgyi Temple (Great Painted Cave Temple), where the richly-colored paintings are thought to date to the original construction period in the early 12th century and we will also see a sand painting demonstration by a local artist. Next to this temple is the gilded Myazedi Stupa, which offers both a linguistic and a historical significance: an inscription consecrating Gubyaukgyi in four languages (Pyu, Mon, Old Burmese, and Pali), which established Pyu as an important cultural influence in the early Pagan period. Then a visit to Bagan would not be complete without exploring one of the most famous temples of Bagan, Ananda. Built in 1105 CE during King Kyanzittha’s reign, it is one of only four surviving temples from this period. We will explore the cruciform of the temple, with four standing Buddhas facing north, south, east, and west. After that we stop by Dhammayan Gyi Pagoda for photo shoot. For our final stop of the day we proceed to the Bagan Viewing Hill where we will view the sunset over the pagodas and stupas of Bagan before returning to the ship.

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Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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MORNING EXCURSION: Bagan Explore some of Bagan’s local markets selling wood carvings, fabric, longyis and rattan product. Visit a workshop to see the ancient technique of lacquer ware making. Alternatively, guests can hire a horse cart or a bicycle and explore the site on their own (or) have a splendid Balloon Flight over Bagan (surcharge applied – optional). Back to the ship around Noon and cast off.

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AFTERNOON EXCURSION: River Village We cruise upstream all day. Stop at River village for a walk. Dinner followed by a Puppet Show on the sundeck.

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Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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MORNING EXCURSION: Yandabo-

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Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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FULL DAY EXCURSION: Monywa- Early morning drive by coach (approx. 1 ½ hours) to Monywa to visit the Hpowindaung cave where hundreds of Buddha Statues are placed inside niches decorated with wonderful mural paintings dated back .Serve Lunch at local restaurant in Win Unity Hotel in Monywa. After lunch we visit the splendid Sambuddhai Kat Kyaw pagoda with its more than 500,000 Buddha images. Drive back to Myin Mu and Overnight night at River bank.

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Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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.MORNING EXCURSION: Ava Visit Ava by horse-cart visiting the beautiful 200 year old teak Bagaya Kyaung Monastery, Nanmyin watchtower (27mt. high) and the Me Nu Ok Kyaung monastery. Return to ship & sailing to Sagaing.

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AFTERNOON EXCURSION: Sagaing – Amarapura In the afternoon, we visit to Sagaing Hill, a hill studded with many Pagodas and Monasteries rich in wood carving and religious art. Then we travel by coach to Amarapura, the penultimate Burmese Royal Capital (1783) to visit a traditional silk weaving workshop followed by U-Bein Bridge, the world’s longest wooden bridge (1.2 km) and enjoy the sunset there. Dinner and overnight on board near Sagaing Hill.

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Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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MORNING EXCURSION: Mingun After breakfast we will enjoy a leisurely walking tour of the small town of Mingun. Our first stop is King Bodawpaya’s monumental, uncompleted stupa. During construction, an astrologer to the king argued that the king would die upon completion of the temple, and work was immediately halted. Had it been completed, it would have been the largest in the world. The cracks we see are the result of the 23 March 1839 earthquake that shook the area. We continue our walk to the Mingun Bell, which was the heaviest working bell in the world until 2000 when the Bell of Good Luck was unveiled in Henan, China. After having the opportunity to stand inside the bell as it is rung, we have time to shop in the local market, famous for its makeshift galleries that display inexpensive art from both local and internationally known artists. Lunch on board.

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AFTERNOON EXCURSION: Central Mandalay Visit central Mandalay: Mahamuni Pagoda, then visit to the workshops of gold leave making and marble carving. And visit to Kuthodaw Paya, which contains the world's biggest book, near by Mandalay Hill where spiraling staircases lead to sweeping views of the city and its temples and Sunset time at Mandalay Hill. Dinner on board. Overnight at Mandalay.

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Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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  Morning disembark at Gawein Jetty around 9:00 am

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Meals Provided: Breakfast

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