Transfer to ship for lunch followed by exploration of a selection of the 3000 plus Pagan monuments by bicycle or coach.

Meals: Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Further explorations of Pagan and visits to a lacquer workshop.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Set sail early morning to Salay, a small town which was once a bustling trading port, now a sleepy village filled with colonial architectural treasures and timeless teak monasteries.

Walk to Yoke-Sone Kyaung, the best-known teak carved monastery in Burma, stopping at Salay House on return.

Sail upriver to the Ayardaw charity clinic supported by Pandaw then drive up the winding road of the Tant-Chi-Taung mountain to visit the hill-top stupa.

Late afternoon, watch the traditional paper-mache elephant dance performed by the villagers from Tant-Chi.

Moor overnight near Nyaung U.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Explore Pakokku, experiencing the local market and town centre by Tuk Tuk.

Pakkoku is a city of about 100,000 inhabitants located 30 km from Pagan. Main produce are tobacco, cotton, peanuts, Thanatkha (traditional make-up and sun lotion) and textiles. Visit Pakokku’s main market by Tuk Tuk.

Stop at a cheroot workshop and discover how traditional cheroot cigars are made.

Moor overnight at Aung Pan Chaung near the Chindwin confluence.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Explore Yandabo village, famous for its production of terracotta pottery from the river bank clay.

This village is well-known as the place where the first Anglo-Burmese war ended by the peace treaty signed in 1826. Morning walking tour and a visit to a pottery workshop to see first-hand the production process. This is a hands-on experience which you are welcome to try.

Visit the Pandaw supported Yandabo School (if no school holidays).

Afternoon sailing and moor overnight at Pauk-taw Pauk-myaing village near Ava.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Morning visit to the ancient city of Ava, which served as the capital of the Burmese kingdom for nearly 400 years, longer than any other ancient capital. Morning tour by coach to Ava jetty and across the Myit Nge(Dokehtawady) river by small ferry boat, followed by horse carts to Menu Oak Kyaung monastery built by the chief queen in 1822. End the morning with a visit to the splendid Bagaya Kyaung monastery built entirely of teak in 1834.

Afternoon excursion to Sagaing where there are 1000 hermitages and sanctuaries rich in woodcarving and religious art. From Sagaing Hill admire the bird’s eye view over the Irrawaddy river curving around Sagaing from Soon U Ponnya Shin hill top-pagoda. Later an introduction to the Buddhist nuns’ way of life at a nunnery.

Drive to Amarapura, a former capital (initially from 1783 to 1819 and subsequently from 1839 to 1852). Visit a silk and cotton weaving workshop, Amarapura’s major business.

At sunset take a local boat on Taungthaman lake at U Bein Bridge, the world’s longest teak bridge.

Moor overnight at Sagaing.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

Set sail to Mingun for a morning walking tour around the unfinished stupa built by Amarapura’s King Bodawpaya in 1790 which was intended to be the world’s largest stupa but remained unfinished since 1808 and also visit the world’s largest ringing bell. Drive to Mandalay in the afternoon. Mandalay is not only the country’s second largest city but also the religious centre of Burmese culture.

The excursion starts with a visit to Mahamuni Buddha Image, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Myanmar. The statue was brought here in 1785 by King Bodawapaya after the invasion of the Arakan Kingdom in 1784. To pay respect to the Buddha image, male devotees apply gold leaf to the image. As a result, the Mahamuni Buddha Image has been covered with a thick layer of gold leaf (about 15 cm). The walk continues along the street renowned for its marble carvers.

Continue to Shwe Kyaung (Golden Palace Monastery) which was built in 1857 and was originally part of the royal palace before it was moved to the present site in 1879.

Explore UNESCO listed Kuthodaw Pagoda, with the world’s biggest book. It accommodates 729 marble slabs engraved with the Buddha’s Parli Scriptures housed in shrines.

After the gold leaf hammering workshop, stop by the moat surrounding the Royal Palace for a great photo opportunity with a backdrop of Mandalay Hill.

Moor overnight at Sagaing.

Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Accommodation: Pandaw II Cruise

By 0900am disembarkation in Mandalay.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: N/A