ULTRA LUXE HOLIDAY IN MYANMAR

Mingalabar – welcome to Myanmar. Transfer to your hotel. After a break explore local life and some of the city highlights including the golden Shwedagon Pagoda.

Blessing by a Buddhist monk and candle lighting ceremony. Introduction to local cuisine and one of the best restaurants in Myanmar.

This morning participate with locals to daily almsgiving to monks and novices. Try local breakfast and explore the old town on a private heritage walk lead by colonial history and architecture expert. In the evening dine in Le Planteur Myanmar’s premier restaurant serving French Indochinese fusion cuisine in beautiful setting.

Enjoy breakfast and morning swim at the hotel before transfer to Yangon airport for your (approx. 1hr) flight to Bagan. Today we journey to the Ancient Kingdoms of Bagan by Elephant Coach, a luxury replica of 1930’s colonial era Chevrolet coaches that were still used in Myanmar a few years ago. During the six centuries of reign Bagan became one of the greatest kingdoms in South-east Asia region with trade relations to China, India, Arabia and Europe. Over 3000 thousand pagodas and temples remains are scattered around the arid plains by the Irrawaddy River. Our Bagan visits are adjusted to individual preferences as most people have certain temples on the bucket list to see and visit. Our recommended sights include the Dhamayazeka Zedi is our first visit, providing panoramic views of the temple studded plains of Bagan. We continue to the Archeological Museum and the gold gilded 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 reincarnations. Next, we learn how Bagan’s famous lacquerware crafts are produced in Myingaba Village, and then visit Htilominlo Temple to learn how Burmese sand paintings are created. The day’s temple tour ends with a visit to 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 and a pyramid shaped Dhammayangyi Temple built by cruel king, and famous for its fine brick work. For sunset, a Bullock or Horse Cart Ride around the temples offers unparalleled photo opportunities of one of the richest archeological treasures in Southeast Asia as the sun dips behind the temple ruins (weather permitting). Sunset with refreshments by a quiet temple.
Our guide in Bagan is also talented and professional photographer. He will take photos of you during your visit to Bagan and can teach you some new tricks and tweaks to get those amazing frames Bagan is famous for.

Private hot air balloon flight for your party – Early pick up from your hotel by balloons crew approx. 5.30am and transfer to balloons launch site. Imagine . . . floating over thousand-year-old pagodas and the mighty Ayeyarwaddy River, as the sun rises slowly from the distant horizon. The magic of Bagan has inspired visitors to Myanmar for centuries. One of the most remarkable sights in Asia, ancient temples dot the landscape as far as the eye can see. After 45min to 1hr flight you will be served celebratory glass of champagne and light snack before transfer back to hotel for breakfast. On this day we can arrange your group members customized activities. Below are some suggestions:

Option 1. Bagan off the beaten trails cycling or e-biking
Bagan has many off-the-beaten trails temples connected by small tracks and back roads. Fun way to explore the region and to see local village life is by mountain bike or on electric bike, your guide can adjust the distance and route to your skills and wishes. After lunch return to your hotel for rest, spa treatments and pool time. Continue around 4pm by car visiting some of the highlight temples and sites we did not have time to visit day earlier.

Option 2. Mt Popa half day excursion
Today’s excursion 1.5hrs 50km drive from Bagan will bring you to Mount Popa, the Burmese spiritual epicenter for those who worship the pantheon of nat spirits and martyrs. After paying respects to the Nat’s Shrine at the foot of Mount Popa, we climb nearly 800 steps to the pagoda on top of the gigantic volcanic plug for panoramic views over the surrounding plains and farm lands. On the way back to Bagan we stop en-route in local village and toddy collectors hut to observe the process of making the rich and caramel-like toddy candies from the sap of the toddy palms.

Option 3. Bagan Photographers Dream
Spend the day from sunrise to sunset with a professional photographer guide who knows Bagan’s best spots throughout. Capture those perfect frames that Bagan is known for and work on your photography skills and get personal hands on advice if you wish.

This evening enjoy private candle lit dinner under the stars with traditional music and cultural performance.

Transfer to Bagan airport for the 30min flight to Heho, a quiet transit town with one of the few airport links in the beautiful hills of Shan State. Next, we take a 1-hour drive to Inle Lake that descends through the valley with views of the Shan mountains and rice paddy fields. By Inle Lake Indewi boat, luxury version of typical Inle boats, will be waiting for you. We journey out to a surprise lunch location on the lake. We will arrange catering from the best restaurant on the lake and will have a selection of wines at hand (drinks will be to your own account). This surprise lunch is on a rice barge boat converted to dining venue. One boat will have the dining table, another boat has the cooking team and third boat that will arrive bit later will have a toilet, just in time.
After lunch continue with afternoon explorations of Inle Lake, populated with floating islands and gardens made from the naturally tangled roots of water hyacinth plants and reeds. Delight in the picturesque sights of fishermen who balance and row with one leg, a technique indigenous to the Inn Thar minority group who do this only on Inle Lake. This evening dinner will be at the wine cellar cave of Inle Princess Resort. Start with canapes and tasting Myanmar’s premier wines, followed by multi-course dinner. Hotel owner and daughter of Tourism Minister Yin Myo Su will join you for a drink or dinner. (providing she is available)

Fun and active day at Inle Lake with some optional activities. Visit the morning market by boat. Cycle along the lake shores exploring local villages. Explore Pao tribe villages up mountain range with motorcycles. (if you wish to do this please inform us well in advance). Late afternoon, a sunset canoe ride propelled by Inn Thar minority villagers who are known for their leg rowing technique. We will arrange a surprise stop in the middle of floating farms for some champagne. Then transfer to a local village on shore where you will be welcomed by a local family to their house for a home cooked meal. Enjoy a cocktail and relax or join for the cooking. A delicious Inn Tha and Shan dinner will be served in the house. After the meal and dusk – we will join the local villagers for bonfire celebration accompanied by local shan music and dance performance. Transfer back to your hotel in the evening. We should ideally have at least 3-4 travelers to arrange this as it will be a festival for the whole village as well. We will sponsor them meal and beverage and some contributions. Depending on budget we have made furniture from Burmese cigars for the house and arranged some other specials to have totally unique concept and experience.

Breakfast at hotel and transfer to Heho airport for your private flight to Kawthaung. As it is quite far to travel approx. 3hrs flight time we may need to refuel on the way. On arrival to Kawthaung transfer to Victoria point southern-most point of Myanmar where your amazing sea voyage will begin. After immigration clearance we set sail off to 800 islands Mergui Archipelago on Dunia Baru – “best luxury sailing super yacht in Asia”. The crew will look after you like royal family. This boat is equipped with plenty of water toys – wake board, water skis, jetskis, 4 tenders, 14 sets of diving equipment and fishing gear and of course comes with all modern comforts, yet it looks like a boat from pirates of the Caribbean. After a boat orientation and safety briefing relax on deck with a welcome drink as we set sail into the Mergui Archipelago.We will spend the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful beaches of Palu Beda a group of many nameless small islands and an idyllic anchorage. These jungle -laden and mountainous islands that make up this group have over 50 white sand beaches and beautiful fringing coral reef. This is a great pla ce for kayaking, snorkeling, fishing or just relaxing and enjoying the birdsong from the jungle. Guests are free to explore the beauties of the virgin island at leisure.

ABOUT – the Mergui Islands

There are very few places in this world that feel truly undiscovered; completely isolated and peaceful. Mergui Archipelago, in southern Myanmar, is one of those places. There are more than 800 rugged islands in this isolated archipelago. Most of them are completely unspoilt: the diversity of flora and fauna on the islands is staggering, and marine life is prolific. Many islands are covered in thick tropical rainforests, while the coral systems here are thriving. The only people who live in the area are the Moken, fishing and free-diving sea gypsies who spend most of their life on water. Underwater, the best conditions in the archipelago for diving are from November until April; whale sharks and manta rays are usually in the area from February until May. Other marine life includes frogfish, grey reef sharks, ribbon eels, cowries, mobula rays, lobsters, ghost pipefish and nurse sharks. For the longest time Mergui, which is in the Andaman Sea off the western shore of the Malay Peninsula, has been closed to tourists. It was opened up in 1997 but even now there are very restricted (and unreliable) flights to the area, so the archipelago is still a beautiful, well-kept secret.

Visit Moken Village, Watch Sea Gypsies & Hornbills Taking Flight. Early the next morning we will arrive at Lampi Island, the largest in the region. Lampi is an island of outstanding natural beauty and has been made designated as a National Park by the government. There are endless white sandy beaches along its coast, some of which stretch for two kilometers or more. Some of the Moken or Salon people, commonly known as Sea Gypsies have settled down here. Rib exploration in the morning to see Sea gypsies collecting fresh water from condensation on the rocks on shore. The islands interior is a carpet of thick rainforest and to all intents and purposes is impenetrable. There are two tidal rivers on the west coast that are accessible by a small boat or sea canoe and can only be navigated at high tide. The southern of the two rivers is worth exploring as it has some of the oldest mangrove on the face of the planet. Some of the trees stand between twenty-five to thirty meters tall. Mangrove: Nice beach time on the white sand beach at the entrance of the mangrove very nice rib ride inside the mangrove stretching over 1km in the land Paddle board, kayaking. The wildlife and fauna is plentiful here. Many kinds of birds can be seen including various types of Kingfisher, Hornbill, Pacific Reef Egret, White Breasted Sea Eagle and Heron. To take advantage of this, we will enjoy Sunset at Hornbill Bay to watch the Hornbills take off from one island to the next.

After hoisting the anchor again in the early morning we are heading for “Selat Galet”, a hidden passage between two islands. This narrow channel between Lampi island and Wa Ale Kyunn forms a perfectly protected anchorage surrounded by pristine jungle. Guests often encounter the nomadic “Moken” tribe in this area who still live a hunter – gatherer existence in this remote wilderness. Early am visit to fishing village. This is a great area for jungle walks, kayaking and wildlife viewing. For the energetic,one can trek to hill (West Peak – 385 meter high) with enjoy the natural view of the Island. Enjoy water sports, swimming, and Snorkeling near the island. Do some snorkeling and soak up the sun on one of the many great beaches before we set sail again in the afternoon to relocate to special place for a bonfire and beach BBQ in the evening.

Great Swinton Island provides another idyllic anchorage with a sparkling white beach with plush rainforest in the background. It’s rumoured that people have seen lizards here that are so large they first thought they were alligators! Beach walk / snorkeling / relaxing time on the beach In the early afternoon, we will move to Three Islets for diving and snorkeling. One of the most extraordinary dive sites, these three rocks that rise out of the sea from depths of 40 meters or more harbors some of the best marine life in the archipelago. Huge schools of fusilier and silversides surround you upon entering the water. The sandy base of the islands reveals unusual anemones and starfish, while the walls are covered with orange cup corals, whip corals, and green tubastrea coral. It is one of the better areas to see harlequin shrimp and harlequin ghost pipe fish. For the thrill seekers there is a huge canyon to the north of the middle island and leads to a cave at around 16 meters, the entrance is usually guarded by several grey reef sharks that may lose their shyness and swim up to you if you stay quiet and motionless. The tunnel is around 20 meters long and has many cup corals and sponges along its walls. Later in the afternoon we set sails again to reach Macleod Island before night fall, which is home to the only bungalow resort in the entire Archipelago.

The Andaman Resort is beautiful Burmese classic style building resort which is built on this island. currently the only accommodation in the Mergui Archipelago. The resort, which is an Eco-lodge is based on a large bay in the south of the island where beautiful coral life, white sandy beaches, thick tropical rain forest and a lot of number of birds and wild life are found. Its sheltered bay presents opportunity for a variety of water-based activities; in addition, walking tracks are formed on the island and it is possible to hike to the top of the hills behind the bay to a 300-meter high panoramic view of the surrounding area – a great spot for group photos! Also – the lodge offers traditional Burmese massages – a must try!

We start early for a day of island hopping and exploring. As the boat gets under way, divers will depart for diving at Western Rock, one of the diving highlight in the region – rock with underwater caves going from side to the other. It is the one of the best dive site in Mergui archipelago. This limestone island features beautiful underwater terrain, including a tunnel often full of large tawny nurse sharks which traverses the island about 20-meters down. The island is more like a series of pinnacles rather than one big rock and the soft limestone makes for crevices offering shelter for a wide variety of sea creatures. Some of the marine lives you will see here include mantas, gray reef and spinner sharks, and eagle rays in the open water next to the island, while leopard sharks and spotted rays lie on the bottom. On and around the rocks, spiny lobster, cowries shells, feather stars, anemones and an assortment of crabs abound. Reef fish include blue-ringed angelfish, moray eels, snappers, frogfish, and ghost pipefish. Divers will later catch up with the boat at Cock Comb Island – a small rugged island, in the middle of which is a large heart-shaped lagoon only assessable through a small opening on its eastern side. You enter the lagoon by snorkeling inflatable or kayak – inside, which is the size of a football field – teems of fish life and has an abundance of colorful corals. Cocks Comb island is one of the “must-do” excursions in the Archipelago! Visit the lagoon at low tide to enter with small rib otherwise entering with kayak, paddle board and snorkeling – snorkeling or diving along the wall outside Next on our Mergui Cruise itinerary is Horseshoe Island, which is small limestone archipelago with steep limestone rocks sticking out of the water. We will visit several of these islands Big tour with big rib around the islands and end up with the boat at small island with beautiful lagoon Also present is a very nice beach to spend time on with small settlement for bird nest chaser.

Early morning passage to Kawthaung. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast aboard as we travel toward the harbor and say goodbye before our crew brings you to the airport for your onward journey.