The Colors of Myanmar – 10 Days

Take an early flight to Bagan, about an hour from Yangon. Begin at Nyaung U Market, where locals shop for vegetables, thanaka bark and longyi cloth, then visit the gleaming Shwezigon Pagoda, believed to hold a bone and a tooth of the Buddha. A short drive brings you to a temple viewpoint, where the plain spreads out before you, dotted with spires in every direction.

After checking in, spend the afternoon among Bagan’s great temples: the graceful Ananda, the elegant Htilominlo, Thatbyinnyu, the tallest on the plain, and the massive Dhammayangyi, with its mysterious bricked-up passages, as well as Sulamani and a few smaller hidden temples your guide loves.

Visit a traditional lacquerware workshop, where artisans build up layer after layer of lacquer over bamboo to make the bowls and boxes Bagan is famous for.

Drive out to Mount Popa, an extinct volcano rising from the plain and believed to be the home of the nats, the spirits honoured across Myanmar alongside Buddhism. At the foot of the mountain, a shrine houses figures of the 37 great nats, and pilgrims come here from all over the country to make offerings.

On the way back, stop at a palm plantation to see how toddy palm sap is turned into sugar and local spirit, then visit a village to see everyday life in the countryside.

Back in Bagan, board a boat on the Irrawaddy and cruise past riverside villages and temples as the sun sets over the plain, one of the most memorable sights in Myanmar.

After the short flight, drive to Amarapura, whose name means City of Immortality. At Mahagandayon Monastery, see the daily life of the hundreds of monks who study here. Then walk across U Bein Bridge, which stretches over Taungthaman Lake on more than a thousand teak posts, the longest teak bridge in the world.

Continue to Sagaing, Myanmar’s great centre of Buddhist learning, where more than 600 monasteries and nunneries are scattered over hills dotted with white and gold stupas. Visit the Soon U Ponya Shin and U Min Thonze pagodas, and stop along the way at a local market, a silversmith’s workshop, a clay pot workshop and a nunnery, where you learn about the lives of Myanmar’s Buddhist nuns.

Return to Mandalay to see the Mahamuni Buddha, one of the most revered images in the country. Legend says it was cast in the Buddha’s lifetime, and devotees have pressed so much gold leaf onto it that its body is now thick and lumpy with gold.

Cruise upriver for about an hour to Mingun. Here stand the colossal ruins of the Mingun Pagoda, a king’s dream of the world’s largest stupa, never finished and split by an earthquake. Nearby are the white, wave-like terraces of Hsinbyume Pagoda and the Mingun Bell, one of the largest working bells in the world.

Back in Mandalay, visit the Royal Palace, home of the last Burmese kings, and Shwenandaw Monastery, a former palace building famous for its intricate teak carvings. Watch craftsmen pound gold into paper-thin leaf at a gold leaf workshop, then visit Kuthodaw Pagoda, where 729 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist scripture form what is known as the world’s largest book.

End the day on Mandalay Hill, watching the sun set over the city and the river.

Take an early flight from Mandalay to Heho, then set off by road for Loikaw, around 225 kilometres away. The road winds through hills and valleys of rice fields, with village life unfolding along the way.

Stop for lunch at a local restaurant in Pinlaung.

Continue south and arrive in Loikaw in the late afternoon.

Start at Loikaw’s colourful market, where people from different tribes come to trade in traditional dress. Then drive to Pan Pet Village, home to the Kayan people, where some women still wear the brass coils that lengthen the neck. With a local guide, take a short walk around the village and its surroundings to the Kay Htoe Boh pole and a hunting shrine, which reveal the animist beliefs that shape local life.

Experience everyday Kayah life up close: visit a local musician’s home and a traditional house, try on a Kayah costume and browse handicrafts made in the villages.

Return to Loikaw and watch the sunset from Taung Kwe Pagoda, built on a cluster of rocky peaks above the town.

Visit Pohperyone, a Buddhist teaching monastery where around 500 monks study, then drive to Phekhon and board a boat on Phekhon Lake. The ride along Bilu Creek passes through wide, quiet landscapes of water, reeds and hills.

Stop at Sagar Village to see its 108 stupas, built in the 16th and 17th centuries and partly submerged for several months each year, leaning out of the water like a forgotten city. Spend time in the village to learn about the traditional life of its people, then continue by boat to Inle Lake and transfer to your hotel in the evening.

Head out early to a morning market on the lake, where people from the surrounding hill tribes come to trade.

Glide across the water by boat and watch the Intha fishermen balance on one leg at the stern, rowing with the other to keep their hands free for their conical nets. Visit the lake’s workshops, from silversmiths and weavers to cheroot makers, and see the floating gardens where tomatoes grow on beds of reeds.

Visit Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the most sacred site on the lake, and Nga Phe Chaung Monastery, with its collection of old Shan-style Buddha images.

Transfer to Heho Airport for your flight to Yangon.

With your car and guide at hand, spend the morning exploring the city at your own pace, from the colonial buildings of the downtown to a last browse in the markets.

Transfer to Yangon International Airport for your flight home.