7-Day Myanmar Essence Tour: A Glance That Lingers

One of the two largest cities in Myanmar, Mandalay welcomes you with an undemonstrative smile. Meet with your private tour guide and driver upon arrival. Transfer to hotel and take a short break.
In the afternoon, get on a dirt road to Amarapura Ancient Town. Amarapura was founded by King Bodawpaya of the Konbaung Dynasty as the capital in 1783 and became the worship and academic center for Buddhism. Glory was long gone yet evidence can still be traced here, by a visit to Amarapura Palace.
The biggest draw for travelers to Amarapura is the beautifully-structed U Bein Bridge. You will take a small boat to get around the bridge while your tour guide offers tales. Row to the center of the river to wait for sunset over the water surface.
Get back to Mandalay after sunset.

Be an early bird today! We will make our first visit of the day at Mahamuni Pagoda. This site is known for the daily Face-Washing Ceremony that takes place at 0400am. Fresh towels, flowers, food and other offerings are brought by the local devotees. When the drumming kicks in, the presiding abbot will firstly wash the face of the Buddha image, brush its teeth, smear with sandalwood paste and finally springkle with scented water to complete the entire ritual. Only male visitors are allowed to enter the main chamber and females should wait and watch the video in the adjunct foyer.
Used to be part of the royal palace, Shwenandaw Monastery survived from the earthquake as well as the British bomming targeted the Japanese during the World War II. The edifice holds a rich collection of wood carvings and important Buddhist scripts. Afterwards, proceed to Kuthodaw Pagoda and the World's Largest Book, just not far from the Shwenandaw Monastery. The workmanship of this massive complex of Buddhism chambers and pagoda is just staggering and it will be a good photography opportunity for professional photograhpers or shutterbugs alike.
Take an elevator up to the top of Mandalay Hill, where you will get a supberb view of the city at sunset.

Take a morning flight to Bagan. Transfer to West Pwa-Saw Village, where you will have so much fun at a cooking class with the locals.
Travelers who have no gastronomy expectation for their Myanmar trips are often delightfully surprised by the traditional Burmese culinery, which is distinguishly characterised by extensive use of fish prodcuts (fish oil, fish sauce and etc) and raw veggatables. West Pwa-Saw Village, located close to the main road to enter Nyuang U, is part of the JICA Bagan Tourism Development Project and the funds of the cooking class will be spent on supporting the community for schooling and housing.
Take a look at the busy scene at Nyuang U Market before getting to Bagan. Stop for a brief visit at Shwezigon Pagoda, which is the first Burmese-style pagoda and all pagodas across Myanmar are built based on its grandiose pattern. Constructed in 1060, it is still the most worshiped shrine in Nyuang U of Bagan.

In comparison with Mandalay, Bagan is more like a dizzy day dream that you find it hard not to be hypnotized by the psychedelic site of thousands of pagodas in the morning mist. Today you will visit the World Heritage Site, Bagan Archaeological Zone. Given some pagodas are only a hallow shell, your tour guide will pick some textbook examples, such as Ananda Pagoda, Dhammayangyi Pagoda, Maha Bodhi Pagoda and Dhammayangyi Temple for your visit.
You will return to hotel for a break after lunch and return back to the site in late afternoon. Ride on an ox cart to watch as the sun slowly sets down.

Leaving Upper Burma,an early morning flight takes you to the country's former capital Yangon. Check in upon arrival.
Start an afternoon visit to Yangon's Colonial District where historic buidlings tell a lot of fascinating stories. Wander down to Bogyoke Aung San Market, one of the busiest markets in Yangon with a wind range of local specialties such as gems, wood carvings and trinkets. Here comes the best time to visit Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset, when the glittering pagoda merges in the darkening night sky and you will watch local people doing their end-of-the-day rituals or prayers.

Usually people don't see Yangon as a metropolise as the city is rather laid-back compared to Bangkok, Singapore or Ho Chi Minh City. Today take a train ride around the city to observe the cityscape.
Yangon Circular Train is 45km in length but it takes about 3 hours to complete the loop, which means it is rather slow and you will be granted a great opportunity to watch the local commuters on their ways to school, workplaces or markets. You will start the ride at about 09am from the Main Station. The train stops every 5 minutes and the locals only have a couple of minutes to hop on or hop off. Get off at a local market in the outskirt of Yangon and wander around the market.
Your private driver is waiting for you outside the market and later take you to Thadama Myintzu Nunnery, which is home to 200-some young girls who were saved from sex trade or home abuse. Laughter and chatter fill the compound, and some girls were brought here at the age of 3 and now they have become teachers and sitters for younger girls.
Get back to downtown Yangon and you will visit Chaukhtatyi Paya, enshrining a large reclining Buddha image. Wrap up today's visit with a leg to Aung San Suu Kyi's House where she was held arrest for over 15 years.

The head nun head nun Daw Aye Theingi started the project in 2011 with her pervious experience in Shan State (where human trafficking is extremely rampant due to poverty and the continuous fighting between ethnic minorities and the Burmese Army) and along Bago River. There are girls from Shan State and some remote border towns as well as from nearby villages, at the age of 5 to 20. Through a generous donation they now have a decent place to live, get medical care and education. They can choose to stay or move to the city when they reach the age of 18 but most of them decide to stay and help others.

Good time flies fast. Say goodbye to Yangon and fly back home.