VIETNAM & MYANMAR HIGHLIGHTS 15D

You’ll be picked up on your arrival at Noi Bai airport and transfer to your hotel in Hanoi center. In the evening, you’ll have tickets for a performance of traditional Water Puppetry, an art form unique to northern Vietnam, and a good, light-hearted introduction to its rural culture. You’ll spend the night in Hanoi.

Approached its millennium in 2010, Hanoi ranks among the world’s most attractive and interesting cities. The capital’s placid air gives it a gracious, almost regal flavor, underscored by a rich history that traces back more than a thousand years – a fascinating heritage on display in well-preserved centuries-old architecture.

Meals Included: –
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Hanoi

08:00 AM – Pick up from your hotel, we’ll start the day with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Complex: which includes the Ho Chi Minh Museum, and his modest stilt house which provide valuable insights into the life and times of one of the most successful leaders of the 20th century. After that, an easy walk through Hanoi’s boulevards leads you to the lovely Temple of Literature – Vietnam’s first university, which was established in 1070.

After lunch, a visit to Vietnam Women museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups. We’ll then, of course, spend time for a explorer of the Old Quarter. It is a maze of shopping streets and restaurants with a hotchpotch of architecture – traditional tube houses, religious buildings, artisans’ workshops and cottages, colonial houses and modern concrete edifices. You’ll spend the night in Hanoi.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Hanoi

08:00 AM – Depart from Hanoi for a 3.5 hours drive to Ha long City through the Red River Delta. Upon arrival, get on board of the Treasure Junk. Start cruising and enter the Bai Tu Long bay while lunch with fresh seafood is served (vegetarian menu available).
We reach the perfect spot, remote and scenic, and get ready for serious things. Swimming suits, ok. Kayaks and tender boat, ok. Paddles and gears, ok. Let’s start our closer exploration of the limestone rocks. Dinner and overnight on board.

Meals Included: Breakfast , Lunch and Dinner
Overnight Stay: Treasure Junk – Superior Cabin

Wake up and enjoy breakfast while witnessing the silence of beautiful misty bay. You’ll be free to relax and enjoy the breathtaking scenery on sundeck, take fantastic photos of the bay. We visit a secluded floating village surrounded by the mountains. Lunch will be served while cruising back to the harbor. Finally, to conclude your tour, we provide a minibus transfer back to Hanoi. Trip ends at around 16:00 PM.

Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel, Lunch and Dinner
Overnight Stay: Treasure Junk – Superior Cabin

Time will be on your own until your driver arrives to take you to Noi Bai airport in a good time for your departure flight to Saigon now called Ho Chi Minh City. Upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh city, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel in the city centre. After checking in, you’ll be free for a preliminary wander around District 1. Your overnight will be in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Saigon

After breakfast, your guide will take you to visit the famous Cu Chi tunnels, a Byzantine maze of underground passages, chambers, rooms and booby traps used by both the Vietminh and the Viet Cong to suddenly materialise as if from nowhere, launch a lightning ambush, and vanish equally rapidly. After lunch, you’ll return to Ho Chi Minh City. The remainder of the day will be your own. You’ll spend the night in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the afternoon, you’ll explore the city’s Chinatown district, discover the markets and shops of the area, and also the Cantonese Thien Hau Pagoda – dedicated to the goddess of the Sea and then take a stroll to the major sights of colonial Ho Chi Minh City: the Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Saigon Post Office and the City Hall. Walk to Ho Con Rua area for a cup of Saigon coffee, enjoy the unique way of drinking mobile coffee by Saigon people. You may be crashed in some of the interesting talk with Saigon students who often gather here before or after the lectures. At the end of the afternoon head back to your hotel.

Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Saigon

08:00 – 08:30 AM – Pick up from your hotel then we leave Saigon for My Tho. Upon arrival, board a motorboat and head out on the mighty Mekong to Xuan Dong Islet. In contrast to many of the overly visited Mekong islands, we choose Xuan Dong for its quieter, less crowded, and more authentic slice of Mekong life. Hop on a bike and savor the leisurely time to explore and pedal through this green and unspoiled island. Make frequent stops for photos and glimpses and of the daily lives of local villagers.

We next take a small sampan along Vam Chua canal, gliding peacefully along the hidden waterways surrounded by immense variety of tropical plants. The quiet, rural setting is a welcome and restorative retreat to the frenetic buzz of Saigon which seems far, far away. We then stop for lunch at a local restaurant. At last we’ll reboard the boat to head back to My Tho and start the drive back to Saigon.

Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Saigon

Time will be on your own until your driver arrives to take you to Tan Son Nhat airport in a good time for your departure flight to Yangon. Upon arrival to the Yangon airport, you will be welcomed by your Discovery DMC guide and transferred to your hotel.

Our journey begins with an afternoon tour through the colonial-style city center of Yangon. We visit the golden Sule Paya stupa – built over 2,000 years ago and the focal point of numerous historical events in the city – Chauk Htat Gyi pagoda to view its magnificent reclining Buddha, and Karaweik Hall to marvel at the uniquely decorated “hamsa-bird-shaped” floating barge on Kandawgyi (Royal) Lake. We visit Bogyoke (Scotts) Market, where hundreds of gemstone, handicrafts, art, clothes and food stores are tucked in a maze of color.

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.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Yangon

After breakfast, transfer to Yangon domestic airport for a 1hr flight to NYAUNG U/ BAGAN. Where, we start our journey to Ancient Kingdoms of Bagan with a visit to one of the elevated mounts for a panoramic view of the temple studded plains of Bagan. Continue to magnificent gold gilded SWEZIGON STUPA purported to contain a holy tooth relic of the Buddha. For a deeper historical insight visit the ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. We enjoy the most well preserved mural paintings in Bagan at MYINGABA GU BYAUKGYI TEMPLE and learn how Bagan’s famous sand paintings and lacquerware crafts are produced during our visits to HTILOMINLO temple and MYINGABA VILLAGE. We conclude the day’s sightseeing with a visit to beautifully symmetric ANANDA TEMPLE with its four standing Buddha images inside and continue by horse or bullock cart to witness a magical sunset behind the temples (weather permitting).

Meals Included: Breakfast
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Bagan

After breakfast drive to MANDALAY (approximately 4 hrs) and transfer to your hotel. After check-in, enjoy a morning stroll through the lively Zegyo Market in the heart of the city to experience more authentic local life in Mandalay.

We continue to the Artisan Quarters, where some of the oldest craftsmanship is showcased dating back to last kingdom of Myanmar. We observe the process of pounding gold leaf, detailing teakwood carvings and embroidering Myanmar tapestry. We also see how bronze and marble Buddha statues are carved, cast and molded.

Next, we proceed to the highlights of Mandalay: the sacred Mahamuni Pagoda, housing one of the most significant Buddha images in the country, covered in several tons of gold leaf and the crown prize in long past wars between competing Myanmar kingdoms. Near the Mahamuni we visit the Jade Market for an insight to this trade 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; and lastly, the Kuthodaw Pagoda, a compound housing Buddha’s teachings carved in the sacred Pali script on stone slabs and regarded as the world’s largest book in terms of surface area.

We end our day with sunset panoramic views over city skyline on Mandalay Hill, the highest point of the city.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Mandalay

Enjoy breakfast and then transfer to the airport for the FLIGHT TO HEHO, a quiet transit town with one of the few airport links in the beautiful hills of Shan State. Visit the bustling main HEHO MARKET, the meeting point for different ethnic minority groups of the surrounding areas to trade handmade goods and locally grown produce (on market days only). Enroute to Inle Lake, we stop at a LOCAL FAMILY WORK SHOP to learn how Shan umbrellas and paper are made by traditional methods using the fibres of the mulberry tree. 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. After checking into the hotel, we embark on 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.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight stay: Hotel built on stilts over the lake or on the shore
Inle Lake markets

After breakfast at your hotel, visit the RED MOUNTAIN ESTATE to tour of the lush vineyard situated on the side of mountain, taste some of Myanmar’s premiere wines, and observe the different aging methods completed in their cellar cave. Then, we continue 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.

Meals included: Breakfast at Hotel
Overnight stay: Hotel built on stilts over the lake or on the shore

After breakfast we journey out by boat, following the currents of a small river to reach the INN THEIN PAGODA COMPLEX, a site that makes us feel as if we’ve stepped through a forgotten portal in time. To access the complex, we walk through verdant bamboo groves that open up to a field covered with the ancient pagodas constructed over 1,000 years ago. We boat back to the lake and visit PHAUNGDAW OO PAGODA, the home of some of the country’s most sacred Buddha statues covered in gold leaf by devout followers. We also make a visit to the INPAWKHON WEAVING VILLAGE to learn how local silks, linens and lotus fabrics are handmade and crafted. As an extra treat, we stop at a house for BURMESE CATS built over the lake, where we see the preservation efforts and reintroduction of this rare pure breed of felines to Myanmar. At NAMPAN VILLAGE, local craftsmen show us how Burmese cigars, or “cheroots,” are traditionally packed and rolled. We end our day with magnificent sunset canoe ride with boatmen who gracefully navigate and row perched on one leg.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight stay: Hotel built on stilts over the lake or on the shore

After breakfast at hotel, transfer to Heho airport for flight to Yangon.Upon arrival to Yangon, you will be welcomed by our DMC local guide and trasnfer to hotel. After check in, we visit the quaint YANGON OLD QUARTER, built during the British colonial era. Many charming historical buildings are still located here. During our stroll through bustling 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. We continue to one of Asia’s architectural landmarks, the elegant STRAND HOTEL built by the Sarkies brothers. Inside, we visit the RIVER ART GALLERY, where the works of some of the most famous and skilled Burmese artists are on display fitting of the grand surroundings. In the afternoon, we visit BOTATAUNG PAGODA located beside the Yangon River.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Overnight Stay: Hotel in Yangon

Breakfast at your hotel and free time until transfer to Yangon airport for your onward flight.

Meals Included: Breakfast
Overnight Stay: –