Best of Yangon – 4 Days

Mingalabar! Arrival at Yangon International Airport, you are greeted by our tour guide and driver.

Welcome to Myanmar, the country has just opened its doors to the world after 60 years of isolation and now waiting people to explore its unique heritage and culture.

Yangon is the former capital and remains the most developed city of Myanmar. The bustling city of Yangon is the best place to witness the country in transition, where century-old buildings from the British colonial period vie for space with the emerging modern skyline. Head to the hotel to check-in and freshen up.

Now you have a trip downtown with a walking tour through the historic quarter. Along the way you visit the former City Hall and various other examples of 1940’s colonial British architecture. The hidden art galleries inside the small alley could also be the next stop on your tour. Continue to Kyaukhtatgyi Pagoda, which houses the sacred reclining Buddhas as well as the country’s largest one. Spend time at Bogyoke Market, formerly Scott Market (closed on Mondays and public holidays). Built in the 1920s under British rule, the side is listed a heritage of Yangon. It has more than 2,000 stalls dominated by large selections of antique Burmese handicraft, clothing and jewelry… Last but not least, you go to Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist site of Myanmar and the oldest one in the world. The Pagoda contains a 99m high golden stupa and spires, adorned with 7,000 diamonds, sapphires and rubies and allegedly, hairs belonging to the Gautama Buddha. If you are fortunate, you will have a chance to join a special oil lamp lighting ceremony with thousand oil lamps are lit around the gilded pagoda. This ancient and symbolic Buddhist ritual will be the truly awe-inspiring spiritual experience.

End of the day, you enjoy the welcome dinner with amazing cultural puppet show.

Meals: Welcome dinner

Accommodation: Hotel in Yangon

After breakfast at hotel, you are leaving Yangon; enjoy a scenic journey to Kyaiktiyo, 190km to the east. One of Myanmar’s great pilgrimage sites is the Golden Rock, a huge boulder covered by gold leaf and delicately balanced on the edge of a cliff. The pagoda at the Golden Rock is said to hold a hair of the Buddha. Late morning, arrive at Kyaiktiyo base camp and transfer to the transit junction with one of the small open trucks in one-hour ride, followed by up to an hour challenging walk up to the hill top.

Here, you visit Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, built on the top of a huge gilded boulder and enjoy sunset from this unforgettable site.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodations: Hotel in Kyaikhtiyo

After breakfast, return to the base-camp by open truck and head back to Yangon. Have a stop to explore Bago, an ancient capital dating back to the 6th century. Sightseeing in Bago includes the beautiful 55m long reclining Buddha called Shwethalyaung, the Mon style Shwemawdaw Pagoda – one of the most venerated in Myanmar (its spire stands 114m high and is taller even than the Shwedagon Pagoda); the old Palace of Kambozathadi and the huge four sitting Buddhas.

Finally, drive back to Yangon by late afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast.

Accommodations: Hotel in Yangon

Breakfast at hotel and free at leisure until transfer to Yangon international airport for your onward flight. End services.

Meals: Breakfast.

Accommodations: N/A