We start our Mandalay tour with a visit to the Mahamuni Pagoda with one of the country’s most venerated Buddha images. Continue to a gold leaf and tapestry work shop and walk along the marble & stone carver’s street. Visit a silk and cotton weaving work shop. Travel by bus to the famous “U Bein” bridge, it is about 1.2 km long and is said to be the world’s longest teak wood bridge. It has been built in 1784. With small boats we sail over the Taungthaman Lake and enjoy the sunset.

Meals: Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Morning cruising. Afternoon visit the spectacular potteries near Kyauk-myoung where the famous 50 gallon water pots are handmade. We see all stages of manufacture from the throwing of the pots to the weeklong firing in huge kilns. We then third defile of the Irrawaddy.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Stop at Khan-nyat village with its many Buddhist monasteries and visit the former head teacher's house, which also includes his small museum collections. Later we go ashore and climb the Pagoda Hill at Tigyang with its stunning views of the Irrawaddy.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Arrive at the enchanting colonial town of Katha, setting for George Orwell’s Burmese Days. Little has changed since then. Of interested are the fire station’s collections of Irrawaddy Flotilla Company ship’s bells taken from sunken ships in the Second War. Katha was the final resting place of the old flotilla and here over a hundred ships were scuppered in 1942 in an Act of Denial before the advancing Japanese. We continue to an elephant logging camp at Katha in the hardwood forests of the hills that surround the town and further upstream.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Transfer by local boat to visit Kyun Daw village where we visit countless small Pagodas.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Cruise through the 2nd Defile, the most dramatic of the three gorges with cliffs towering over the narrow channel. Sail downstream.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

We explore by foot the ancient city of Tagaung viewing the fortifications, a famous nat or spirit shrine and the archaeological area.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

We cast off early in the morning and stop at Mingun to see the largest working bell in the world and the unfinished pagoda that is the largest single mass of brick building in the world. We also visit the Mingun Old People’s Home originally established with the assistance of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in the 1930s. Drive through the beautiful Sagaing Hill to the hilltop to enjoy an amazing view over the region and Irrawaddy.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Morning visit to Ava and explore the ruins, visiting Bagaya Kyaung, a 200-year-old royal monastery made of teak with elaborate woodcarvings. In the afternoon arrive at Yandabo village, famous for its production of terracotta pottery from the riverbank clay.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Full day’s exploration of the 3000 plus Pagan monuments by coach

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Disembark after breakfast.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: N/A