RUNNING HOLIDAY IN MYANMAR

Arrival to Mandalay Airport in the afternoon followed by transfer to Mandalay 40km/1hr. This afternoon take a stroll through the lively Zegyo Market in the heart of the city to experience authentic local life. Continue to the Golden Palace Monastery, the only surviving Royal Palace building in Mandalay, offering a glimpse of the original style and architecture of the Myanmar royals. Short drive will bring you the root of Mandalay Hill from where you can walk or run up long stairway climbing to the top of the Mandalay Hill. End the day with panoramic sunset views over city skyline on the highest point of the city.

After breakfast, pick up from your hotel & drive towards Yae Tagun Hill. You can start running outside Mandalay when traffic get lighter and the tree shaded flat road is crossing paddy fields. After a while to road starts to climb steeply up to jungle covered limestone mountains. You can adjust your desired challenge here. The road ends to a monastery in green mountain valley where you will 270degrees mountain range views around. From here two beautiful trails leading to limestone caves (1hr hike) up the mountain. The views from high up are stunning and you can see all the way to Mandalay from here. If you are up for more trails you guide will show you a couple hours jungle trail where very few travelers have ventured to. You will come out back to main road again 2hrs later to meet your driver or to run down from the mountain.

Return to Mandalay for a swim and a foot massage after a great day in the nature.

After breakfast, transfer to Mandalay airport for flight to Heho, a quiet transit town with one of the few airport links in the beautiful hills of Shan State. In Heho stop at a local craftsmans house to see how Shan umbrellas and paper are made by traditional methods using the fibres of the mulberry tree. Then drive to along rural Aung Ban Indein road which travels through beautiful country side with rolling landscape. As you will reach closer to Inle Lake the hills grow to small mountains and long down hill will lead down to Indein also know as Inn Thein Pagoda Complex, a site that makes us feel as if we’ve stepped through a forgotten portal in time. Walk through verdant bamboo groves that open up to a field covered with the ancient pagodas constructed over 1,000 years ago.
At Inn Thein your luggage will loaded on a boat which will travel along small and scenic creek running to the Inle Lake. There is beautiful tree shaded trail along the creek to Sae Ma village, where you can visit local school if you wish to run or walk before taking rest of the journey by boat. Rest of the day is for lake explorations. Enjoy sights of leg rowers, floating gardens and villages built on stilts and observe how Burmese cigars are rolled.

After breakfast, morning at leisure. You could take a morning run along lake’s eastern shore to Main Thauk village direction. Around noon you will be taken out to the lake for a home cooked lunch at a local house. Enjoy afternoon sightseeing on the lake by boat. Visit boat builders house and Inn Phawkone weaving village. End the day with sunset canoe ride propelled by Inn Thar minority leg rower .

After breakfast, transfer to scenic rural road with very little traffic leading to Pindaya. This region is known as the Tuscany of Myanmar with rolling landscape and patches of yellow and purple fields of seasonal crops (in October and November).
When getting closer to Pindaya you will pass through scenic villages, their blossoming orchards and vegetable farms.
In Pindaya no visit is complete without seeing the famous Pindaya Cave housing thousands of Buddha images donated by Buddhist devotees alongside caverns filled with numerous stalactite formations. After the cave visit drive 45min to Kalaw, a former British colonial hill station where colonial ambassadors spent the summers enjoying the crisp mountain air and sipping on gin tonics and playing golf.

By Bus (From 1 to 6 pax)
Breakfast at hotel transfer to bus station and take a shuttle bus to Bagan (6hrs).
OR
By Private Car (7 & above)
After breakfast, your driver will pick you up from the hotel & drive to Bagan. Upon arrival to Bagan, rest of the day is free for relaxing and preparing for the Marathon. Spot the sunset from a terrace of a temple.

Today’s the Bagan Temple Marathon day! After an early breakfast at the hotel, we hop on a coach to Hti Lo Min Lo Temple where the marathon, half marathon and 10K race start and end. Running amid the pagoda-studded landscape, we’ll experience Bagan in all its glory and pass by small picturesque villages and farmland. After the race, we’ll enjoy some snacks on the steps of the iconic Hti Lo Min Lo Temple. Shuttle busses will take all participants (runners and spectators) back to the hotel where the rest of the day and evening can be enjoyed as you prefer.

Today visit Bagan archeological zone at more leisurely pace on E-bikes. Some of the must see sights to visit are the Swezigon Stupa, purported to contain a holy tooth relic of the Buddha. Not far from the stupa, the Myingaba Gu Byaukgyi Temple is a sight to behold, housing Bagan’s best preserved mural paintings of the Buddha’s Jataka re-incarnations. Next, we learn how Bagan’s famous lacquerware crafts are produced in Myingaba Village, and then visit the beautifully symmetric and majestic Ananda Temple with its four standing Buddha images that seem to gaze at the viewer with fixed serenity wherever the viewer stands. End the day with a private cruise on the Irrawaddy river to a sand bank island where you will enjoy local sundowner cocktails and snack, viewing to Bagan temples on shore and sun setting behind distant mountains in the horizon.

After breakfast transfer to airport and flight to Yangon. Upon arrival to the Yangon airport, you will be welcomed by your Discovery DMC Yangon guide and transferred to your hotel. Your Yangon exploration begins with an afternoon tour through the colonial-style city center. Visit the quaint Yangon Old Quarter, built during the British colonial era. Many charming historical buildings are still located here. During your stroll through buzzing market streets full of merchants and food stalls, we visit a local pharmacy and learn about Myanmar traditional medicine, stop for a tea and snack in the fashion of locals, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Yangon. Then, continue to Bogyoke (Scotts) Market, where hundreds of gemstone, handicrafts, art, clothes and food stores are tucked in a maze of color. (Please note that the market is closed on Mondays and on public holidays. Complete the day with a visit to one of the world’s most spectacular monuments, the Shwedagon Pagoda, a gleaming bell dome structure that dominates the city’s skyline. Legends state that the sacred hairs of the Buddha are enshrined here. The Shwedagon is an iconic symbol of the country, a sight not to be missed.

After breakfast, transfer to Yangon international airport for your international departure.