Pindaya Trekking & Inle Lake Excursion – 6 Days

Day 1: Heho arrival – Pindaya cave
Mingalabar! Arrive at Heho Airport, Burma Travel guide and driver will welcome you.
Enjoy a scenic drive to Pindaya with opportunities to stop and photograph the colourful farms and rolling hills of the Shan Plateau. Upon arrival, you visit the limestone caves that house more than 8,000 Buddha well preserved statues of various sizes. Afterward, you proceed to the handicraft village and see how the locals make the Shan parasols and paper.
Late afternoon, transfer to hotel, rest of the time is at leisure.
Meal: N/A
Accommodations: Hotel in Pindaya
Day 2: Pindaya – Yasakyi (4-5 trekking hours)
Early morning, walk to the market and buy all the provision for your forthcoming 2-day trekking. This morning, enjoy a walk through the hills, 1 hour, to Htwe Ni, village of the Danu tribe. You will pass through the farming where the Danu cultivates cheroot, tea plantations, damsons and mangoes on the hillsides. The track crosses the valley floor before climbing very steeply again to another Danu village of See Kyat Inn stop for simple lunch. Continue to walk about 2 hours to Yasakyi. In the afternoon, observe tribal village life and how the Palaung people dry cheroot in a specially designed oven. Simple dinner and accommodation at Yasakyi Monastery.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Monastery in Yasakyi
Day 3: Yasakyi – Pindaya (3-4 trekking hours) – Inle Lake
Simple breakfast. This morning you continue walking through the hills, 40 minutes to the village of Danu tribe. The Danu cultivate peanut, corn, potatoes on the hillside. After 40 minutes arrive at Danu village of Lin Lai Inn and continue to Taung Paw Gyi, 1 hours and 30 minutes by trekking mixed this route up and down hills. The path leads through villages, producing Shan Tea in the traditional way. You will see the drying of the tealeaves and pass through the tea plantations. From Taung Paw Gyi descending to Pindaya through the Banyan Trees.
Transfer to hotel in Inle Lake. Rest of the day is your own leisure.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodations: Hotel in Inle Lake.
Day 4: Nyaung Shwe town – Inle Lake boat trip
Enjoy the breathtaking drive to Nyaung Shwe town with the peaceful villages, Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery (an interesting teak monastery famous for its oval windows and richly decorated mosaics walls) and Red Mountain Estate Vineyards & Winery. This is the place you learn about the varieties of grapes and how the soil and vines are maintained in a tropical environment. Taste the premiere white and red wines while soaking in the scenic view.
Journey by boat to the most outstanding sites, including: Phaungdawoo Pagoda, the holiest one of Inle Lake with five 800-year-old golden Buddha images. In the afternoon, you continue to Ngaphechaung monastery, the biggest and oldest one over Inle Lake. Here you observe the unique architecture, remarkable collection of Buddha images (But it’s best known for the ‘jumping cats’. In the past, they were trained to jump through hoops in the air). From here, you proceed to Nam Pan village; cigar house, cotton and lotus weaving factory of Intha people. Wrap up the fruitful day trip with fantastic sunset over the lake.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake
Day 5: 5-day market – Indein boat trip
Boarding on boat again and sail toward Indein. En-route, you visit local 5-day market which is rotating between 5 different lakeside villages over 5-day period. The market is a unique culture; people all around the lake and mountains come here to exchange not only their daily products but also the indigenous cultures.
Finally, you reach Indein village. Take an easy walk through verdant bamboo groves to the hilltop of more than 1000 ruined stupas embracing the Shwe Indein pagoda in the middle. All were constructed during the 17th and 18th centuries. You then visit small communities that live along the lake.
If time permits, stop for some moments at Inthar Heritage House on the way back. The restaurant reflects the style and elegance of the Inthar. It’s also a hotel and catering school, a gallery and a Cat Sanctuary for nearly extinct Burmese cats.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake
Day 6: Departure
Breakfast at hotel and free at leisure until transfer to Heho airport. Get ready for your onward flight. Thanks for traveling time with us.
Meals: Breakfast.
Accommodations: N/A