Thailand Myanmar Tour 18 days: Overland via Old Border

Upon arrival at Bangkok airport, you will be greeted and transferred to the hotel. The glorious history of the capital of Thailand, Bangkok is closely linked to the Chakri dynasty that still reigns but does rule in Thailand. Check in at the hotel and free time for your relaxation. Overnight in Bangkok.
 

After breakfast at the hotel, take just a short drive from the bustling streets of Bangkok, the high-rise urban landscape dissolves into a lush green rural idyll. This full-day trip to Samut Songkhram Province, only an hour outside the capital, allows guests to experience the traditional charms of the Thai countryside.
The day starts with a trip to Mae Klong Railway market; a country market has sprouted up along the tracks. When a train pulls in or out of the station, the vendors quickly clear their stalls, only to set them up again moments later when the train has passed! From here, the journey continues to very famous touristic Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Although quite touristy today, the market remains the best example to showcase how a floating market originally was like decades ago.

A relaxing paddle boat ride through the labyrinth of canals offers the chance to see the old part of the floating market and local lifestyle along the canal side. Off the boat, it is time to enjoy strolling around the colorful floating marketplace bustling with boats and vendors selling tropical fruits and other delights.

For visits falling on a Saturday or Sunday, the tour offers the option of an exploration choosing between visiting Damnoen Saduak or the smaller and less touristy floating market Tha Kha where a short paddle boat tour in the backwaters offering a visit to an old Thai ho Duse making coconut palm sugar.
Next you transfer to Kanchanaburi for a visit to the World War II memorial including the Cemetery. Lunch served in a floating restaurant next to the Kwai River Bridge. We continue to Wang Pho to feed wild monkeys. Afterwards get on a train ride along the railway from Wang Pho along the river around 30 minutes. Transfer to the city for the night.
Overnight in Kanchanaburi.
 

Moring after breakfast, you depart for Bang Pa-In. After more than 2 hours, we will arrive in Bang Pa-In where we visit will be the Summer Palace, built during the Ayutthaya era. The palace showcases an eclectic collection of buildings that blend European, Khmer, Thai and Chinese architectural styles. It’s the favorite summer palace of the King. After that we will be transferred to Ayutthaya, the ancient city of Thailand. we will catch Kermit tuk tuk. These ‘cute’ tuk tuks are found in only two of Thailand’s provinces: Ayutthaya, and Trang. Along the ride, explore the temple highlights of the city from Wat Yai Chaimongkol, Wat Mahathat (with a Buddha face emerging from a tree), and strolling through a local market en route to Wat Phra Srisanphet.
Check in hotel and overnight in Ayutthaya.
 

Morning after breakfast, departure for Uthai Thani via Lopburi,  we visit The King Narai's Palace built by King Narai the Great, the king who ruled Ayutthaya from 1656 to 1688. The palace was a place for relaxation, hunting, administering the country's affairs, and welcoming official visitors.
Have lunch before continue our journey to Uthai Thani and we will stop to visit the Ban Khok Mo village where traditional weaving remains an important activity. And we will visit the incredible Thasung temple and its "crystal hall". Take a boat ride on the beautiful Sakaekrang River with its many floating houses. Arrival in town and lets have a tour around the colorful night market.
Overnight in Uthai Thani.

Today you will take the road about 45 minutes to get to Hub Patthard. There, you will cross a cave that will lead you to a small hidden valley. You then will visit another major site in Thai history: Kampheang Phet. The archaeological park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Phra Tat and Aranyik Archaeological Site. Through beautiful country road, you will stop at Phitsanulok where you will visit the Cha Tawee Folk Museum and the riverside temple of Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, home to one of the most sacred images of Buddha in all of Thailand. From here we’ll continue on to the city of Sukhothai for overnight.
 

After breakfast, pick up and transfer to visit Sukhothai Historiscal Park, the park contains almost 200 ruined chedis in remarkable condition. At the end of the day, arrival at Mae Sot, the border between Thailand and Burma. Mae Sot can boast a large number of migrants and refugees, as well as a flourishing trade in all sorts of illegal, black market items, particularly teak, gems and narcotics. You have your  own time to visit Rim Moei Market  which is closed to the Friendship Bridge which you will cross to Myanmar tomorrow.
Overnight in Mae Sot
 

Morning after breakfast we transfer to Myawaddy - Mae Sot border where you will meet our tour guide in Myanmar. He will help you with necessary documents as well as represent you the border crossing formalities and procedures at check-point authority’s counters. We then continue our road to Hpaan, a small city with an eclectic culture and intriguing landscape. Get acquainted with the city with a small sightseeing tour to Kyaikalatt, a small rock hill shaped like a wine glass and Lombumni Garden at the base of Mount Zwekabin, which houses 1,000 Buddha images. Continue to Golden Rock. You’ll stop at Kawgun caves, This cave is by far the most interesting. The entrance to the cave is covered with hundreds of small Terracotta votive tablets which are plastered up to the ceiling – some are tiny, some are big. 
Overnight in Golden Rock.
 

After breakfast, walk 4 Km downhill where you continue in an open truck to Kin Pun, and rejoin your car and driver.  Drive to Bago. Here you visit the Shwemawdaw Pagoda, which is over a thousand years old, and whose tip is even taller than that of Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda. Continue to the 55-metre-long reclining Shwe Thalyaung Buddha image, one of the country's most revered objects. Visit the Maha Kalayani Sima (ordination hall) and Mahazedi (Great Stupa), offering panoramic views. Lastly, continue to Yangon, with a brief stop at Kyaik Pun Pagoda, famous for its four giant Buddha figures. Upon arrival in Yangon, transfer to your hotel for overnight.
 

Today, we spend the whole day on visiting some sites of Yangon capital. Start with Chaukhtatkyi Pagoda, built in 1907 with the famous huge reclining Buddha statue. The porcelain face of the statue was separated by large eyes, vermillion lips and light blue eyes. Buddha statues are decorated with 108 sacred Buddhist symbols.  

We continue to visit Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most beautiful and sacred Buddhist constructions in Myanmar. The temple holds four treasures for the followers of the Buddha: the stick of the Buddha, the water filter of the Buddha's Na, the piece of the Buddha's Lettuce, and the eight hair of Shakyamuni Buddha.  

Keep going to visit Bogyoke Market, consisting of more than 1.600 stalls selling everything from handicrafts, food, clothing, jewelry, etc. Bogyoke Market is also the place holding Thingyan festival, usually held on the 11th or 12th of April. 

It seems that no matter which way in the city you go, it still leads to Sule Pagoda. According to legend, this sacred pagoda preserved one of the 8 hairs of the Buddha. Sule Pagoda has an octagonal structure up to the top of the tower and is characterized by the Mon ethnic. The interior details at the temple are sophisticatedly sculptured.

The last destination today is Kalaywa Tawya Monastery. This monastery seems to be the Buddhist University where thousands of Buddhist monks dwell and learn Buddhist Scripture. Orphans from all over Myanmar are also brought here to be cared for.
Return to the hotel and you are free to relax.

Transfer to Yangon Airport for domestic flight to Heho. Upon arrival, transfer from Heho airport down into the valley to Nyaungshwe on the edge of Inle Lake and board your own local boat to take you to your hotel. Continue from your hotel and travel by long-tailed boat across the lake to Indaing, at the western end of Inle, for one of the most scenic trips on the Lake.   Passing through the busy village of Ywama, the largest on the Lake, with many channels and tall teak houses on stilts; enter a long, often tree-lined canal, either side of which farmers  cultivate their land against the backdrop of the Shan Hills. Disembark at the jetty and walk for 15 minutes through Indaing village to reach the 14th - 18th century pagoda ruins of Nyaung Ohak.  Many pagodas here remain charmingly unrenovated, with plants and even small trees growing out of them, making the area very atmospheric. A covered walkway popular with souvenir stallholders leads up to Shwe Inn Thein Paya, a complex of weather-beaten 17th - 18th century zedi; some newly reconstructed. Returning to the river you have the possibility of walking along a lovely shady path for 30 minutes to the Intha village of Sema. From here continue by boat downstream past Yethar village, watching local life on the banks and birds in the trees until rejoining the Lake near Phaung Daw Oo Paya.
Overnight in Inle Lake.
 

Explore a 5-day rotating market (if your visit coincides with the schedule) which offers an insight into the life of the ethnic Pa-O, Danu and Intha people who come to these markets to sell and buy goods. Enjoy a full day boat trip on Inle Lake - a photographer’s dream. Its calm waters are dotted with floating vegetation and fishing canoes, to which scenic hills provide the perfect backdrop. See the lake’s unique ‘leg rowers’ - Intha fishermen who row standing up with one leg wrapped around a single oar, leaving their hands free to manipulate the conical fishing net. Stop at Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the holiest religious site in southern Shan State. Visit a traditional silk-weaving workshop which uses wooden handlooms, and a blacksmith’s forge. Pass endless floating gardens, where Intha lake dwellers grow fruit and vegetables. Continue by boat to visit Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery, one of the oldest on the lake, where you can see exquisite Buddha statues which are more than 200 years old.  Return to your hotel by boat as the sun lowers and the light softens over the lake.
Overnight in Inle Lake.

After breakfast transfer to the airport for your early morning flight to Mandalay. On your arrival, visit the Mahamuni Pagoda, to admire the perhaps most venerated image in Myanmar, which is covered in over 15 cm thick gold leaves. Every day at 4:00 AM, many worshippers come here to observe the unique face-washing ceremony. On your way, make a stop to contemplate the laborious process of Gold-Leaf Beating, where gold is painstakingly hammered into tissue-thin squares.
After lunch and a short rest, you continue your trip to the Mandalay Palace & Fort, which contains the best portrays of the old golden days of Mandalay Kingdom. In this afternoon, your excursion in Mandalay brings you to the Kuthodaw Pagoda, which 729 marble stone slabs of Buddhist scriptures received the title ‘World’s Biggest Book’. Your next destination will be the Shwenandaw Monastery, the only remaining building from the Royal Palace of the 19th century, known for its exquisite woodcarving. Overnight in Mandalay.

After breakfast, transfer to the jetty to take a ferry boat up the Ayeyarwaddy River to Mingun. After taking one hour boat ride, start our exploration with a visit to the huge but unfinished Mingun Pagoda which was said to be the biggest pile of brick in the world. Continue to the beautiful Hsinbyume pagoda, Settawya pagoda and Myatheindan pagoda with seven concentric terraces at the base. Then stream down to Mandalay by downstream river and transfer to the hotel in Mandalay. In the evening, go to Mandalay Hill, a vantage point for panoramic view of the city. Overnight in Mandalay.
 

After breakfast we will cross the bridge over the Irrawaddy River to Sagaing. And then visit Ywahtaung village, Kaungmudaw Pagoda; an enormous solid dome-shaped Pagoda and picturesque Sagaing Hills, the religious center of Myanmar. Continue to Amarapura, an ancient capital of Myanmar, where we can observe the life of over 1000 monks at Mahagandayon. Later visit the traditional handicraft workshops such as, marble carving, gold leaves beating. To round off the day, enjoy the beautiful sunset over the 200 years-old U Bein Wooden Bridge, which the shallow Taungthman Lake is crossed by a long and rickety teak bridge, curved to withstand the wind and waves. During the dry season, the bridge crosses mostly dry land. Overnight in Mandalay.
 

Transfer to Mandalay airport for flight to Bagan. Upon arrival at Nyaung U Airport, start your tour at the busy local market and continue to a diverse selection of the most important pagodas and temples in Bagan. These include Shwezigon Pagoda, a huge gilded zedi built by King Anawrahta in the early 11th century, Gu ByaukGyi, a 13th century temple with exquisite murals of Jataka scenes, and the immediately recognizable Ananda Temple; one of the finest and largest temples with its 170 ft shimmering gold spire and four huge standing-Buddha images and numerous seated figures arranged around the interior gallery. We then proceed to a lacquer craftsman's workshop in nearby Myingaba village. Sightseeing continues with visits to Manuha Temple, built in Mon style in 1059, Nanbaya Temple, a unique sandstone monument that is said to have been the palace of King Manuha and Myingaba Gu Byuk Kyi Temple (under the protection of UNESCO), noted for its ancient mural paintings. Enjoy sunset at one of the monuments along Ayeyarwady River. Overnight in Bagan.

After breakfast, today, drive out of Bagan to visit Mt.Popa (46km- 1hour), home to Myanmar's intriguing 'nats' (spirits). The 777 steps and path climb steeply up Mount Popa – an energetic climb rewarded by fabulous views from the top. On the way back to Bagan, we stop to see the local people producing sugar from the toddy palm trees. This afternoon back to Bagan, rent a bicycle or hire a horse cart and lose yourself amidst the crumbling spires in this fabulous place. Overnight in Bagan.
 

Today experience the unrivalled majesty of thousands of ancient temples drifting below you in your style, comfort and safety by “Balloons Over Bagan” (optional tour) and return to your hotel for breakfast. There are over 2000 religious monuments in Bagan. Obviously, one can’t finish seeing all. You may see more/less temples at your own pace. Feel free to adjust with your guide/driver as today is reserved all for you. And you then may wish to relax by the pool at the hotel or visit more famous temples among the lot. This afternoon, we will visit Phwarsaw village to learn the simple life style of people. There you will see traditional ways of hand loom weaving and daily life of the people. In the evening we transfer to Nyaung U airport and fly back to Yangon. Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel and overnight in Yangon.

You have free time at your own pleasure to explore the town before transferring to the airport for your flight home. End of Asia King Travel’s services.