Myanmar Highlights 6 Days

Didn’t know what to expect when I got in touch with Asia Travel and Leisure (Burma Travel), but I’m SO glad I did! I worked with Thao Doan to create a 7-day itinerary that would be perfect for my group. She was very flexible and allowed me to add some things to the tour that were personalized (trekking through Pindaya near Inle Lake, for example). When we arrived in Myanmar, we were greeted at the airport by our first guide, who, instead of taking us straight to our hotel (as we got in later in the evening), let us go to a high hill in Mandalay and visit the temple there. We then flew to Bagan, which was amazing. And we had an equally amazing guide there named Jo. Jo was so friendly and knowledgeable, and allowed us to do some birdwatching at the temples. He even knew some of the bird species we were looking at, and was too humble about his knowledge, in my opinion. During our time in Bagan, I had booked us all hot air balloon rides as a surprises, and Jo had no problem with keeping the surprise or with the itinerary change. He was really great to work with.
After Bagan we flew to Inle Lake, where we met our wonderful guide May Su. She was a delight to hang out with, and we miss her already! She was chosen for us because she enjoys the trekking, and introduced us to the sweetest villagers during our trekking trip around Pindaya. She stopped at a shop where I could buy the traditional Thai fishing pants I was interested in, and was understanding when we wanted some slight schedule changes. She also stopped at a protected bird nesting site for us! What a treat!
Our last day was spent in Yangon, which was our least favorite part of the trip (a big, bustling city after the solitude and scenery of Bagan and Inle Lake). Our guide, Aung, didn’t speak English very well, and so asking him questions was a bit frustrating. I was very happy with the agency though, when I requested to visit a birding hotspot instead of a day in the city, and they honored my request at an additional cost.
Overall this was a better trip than I had ever imagined, mostly due to this travel agency and their wonderful guides, itinerary, and flexibility. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them or use them again.