Mingle with the locals during this energetic tour that makes use of public transportation to see lesser-known parts of this vibrant city – traveling by taxi, train, ferry and trishaw. Your guide will first pick you up by taxi from your hotel, and you will head to the city’s main station, where you climb aboard the Yangon Circular Railway for a fun ride passing through a number of city districts. You then take the ferry across the Yangon River to Dala Township, a still largely rural and undeveloped part of the city on the south side of the river, opposite downtown Yangon. From here you continue on foot passing through lively markets, trying local snacks, chatting with locals and taking in the rural sights of this picturesque township community. From Dala we take the ferry back across the river and return to your hotel by taxi. At the end of the day many people leave their place of work, but instead of heading straight home, they blow off some steam by going shopping, catching up with friends in a local tea shop, visit a pagoda to make merit, or stopping off for a beer. On this evening, you will get to do exactly what the locals do, with a highlight of the tour being a visit to the beautifully illuminated Shwedagon Pagoda. After Shwedagon, you head off to try some snacks, downed with a glass of local draft beer, or a glass of freshly squeezed lime juice. The tour also includes other drinks, a walk through the night market in downtown Yangon, tea and snacks, and a tasty bowl of rice noodles shared with locals. Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Classique Inn

Transfer to the airport in Yangon for domestic flight to Lashio. Your Shan guide will pick you up from the airport for a 1.5 hours drive through Shan state towards Hsipaw. Arrive in this small town in Northern Shan state known for the beautiful scenery which happens to have one of the last remaining residences of a former Shan prince. In the late afternoon your guide will take you for a 2.5 hours walk through a panoramic scenery of paddy fields and other seasonal crops passing small creeks, Shan villages and local schools and monasteries. The guide will explain in detail about Shan life around Hsipaw and show you some home industries like cheroot (cigar) rolling and bamboo weaving. He will explain why each Shan village has a spirit house build at the entrance of the village and make sure you will get to know the spirit of the local people in Northern Shan state. Attention: In case your flight to Lashio is delayed, the guide will arrange to do this trip the next day. Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Tai House Resort

After breakfast, we will start a full day trekking through the mountains surrounding Hsipaw the guide will give you an insight in the life of the Palaung people living in the hills. We have lunch in one of the Palaung villages. A great day out in the nature in an area where you can still find people who have never seen a western foreigner in their life and who live according to century old traditions. Dinner and overnight in a local village (Sleeping bag, mosquito net and mattress provided) Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Local village

Together with the guide we will go trekking the hill tribe villages in Hsipaw. A simple lunch will be served at the local house in the village. In the late afternoon we will head back to the hotel in Hsipaw. Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Tai House Resort

Enjoy a wonderful train journey through the Shan mountains crossing the mighty Gokteik Viaduct which was constructed in 1901 by the Pennsylvania Steel company and was once the second-highest railway bridge in the world. The train departs around 09:30 from Hsipaw station and will pass the Gokteik Viaduct around 13:30. Through spectacular mountain scenery the train will slowly move forward over the old railway track passing small villages and towns where vendors will enter the train to sell drinks and local snacks. Expected arrival time in Pyin Oo Lwin around 16:00, and we then continue by private taxi to Mandalay but be warned: be delays on an historic railway like this one are not unusual. Simple lunch boxes are provided on the way in the train. Overnight at your accommodation.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Yadanarpon Dynasty Hotel

This full-day excursion takes you to explore rural Myanmar and includes a visit to a wildlife sanctuary and a fantastic boat ride down the Irrawaddy River. Your guide will meet you in the morning at your hotel with a private car and take you to Ta Moke Shwe Gu Gyi, an enormous temple complex, west of Kyaukse that is one of the best archaeological sites in the country. It boasts magnificent stucco reliefs that include scenes from the life of Buddha, as well as depictions of animals, plants and mythological beings. You then continue on to the Minzontaung Wildlife Sanctuary to see the endangered star tortoise, indigenous to Myanmar’s dry zone. Here you will go on a walk through the forest with the wildlife sanctuary rangers, seeking out the released tortoises in their natural habit. Following the walk, you visit the sanctuary’s breeding center to see some new-born baby star tortoises. Your visit to the Sanctuary helps to support funding for the project. Lunch is at a nearby restaurant before heading to the city of Pakokku for a leisurely boat cruise to Bagan. If time permits we stop at the rarely visited Kyauk Gu Umin cave temple. Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: VillaBagan Hotel

Today you enjoy some cycling to villages across the Irrawaddy River from Old Bagan. Your first stop after leaving your hotel is the Z-Craft jetty in Old Bagan where a busy morning market can be found selling fresh vegetables brought in boats from farming communities across the river. After perusing this bustling market you clamber on-board a boat with our bikes and ride to Se Lan village on the other side of the river where you spend some time cycling through the vegetable fields observing the rural scenery and people going about their daily business. You then cycle to Myitchay village and visit some cotton-weaving and can/bamboo workshops, before stopping for lunch at a local restaurant. After the lunch break you cycle another 10 km south to Kyaung Chaung Jetty where a boat will be waiting to ferry you back to Old Bagan. Overnight at your accommodation.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: VillaBagan Hotel

Narathihapate, or Sithu IV of Pagan, was the last king of the Pagan Empire, who supposedly had a gluttonous appetite – demanding 300 varieties of dishes at each of his banquets. Meet our guide at your hotel in the morning for a culinary journey to discover the traditional cuisine of Myanmar – handed down over many generations. First you visit Myinkaba village market where you will learn about the different types of herbs and vegetables used in Burmese food. You then go to see a number of cottage industries where products like tamarind paste, local sweets and other foodstuffs are prepared, before heading to Mingalazedi Pagoda, a stupa built by the last king, just before the Pagan Kingdom was invaded by Mongols. Our expedition ends with a lunch served at a local monastery, spanning the whole spectrum of Burmese tastes from sweet to bitter. Imagine eating as the royals did, with 30 different dishes to try, all home-cooked by a local family. The rest of the day the car and guide are available for additional visits to temples, if required. Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: VillaBagan Hotel

On this adventurous tour your guide will take you for a rewarding day into the forests surrounding Kalaw, where you will encounter elephants, their mahouts, and people living in the region. Young tourism professionals from Kalaw town decided to set up Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp, a project that is focused on protecting nature, providing care for elephants no longer fit to work, and preserving the traditions of local people living in and around Kalaw – a former hill station that today is popular for trekking. In a large part of this privately protected forest, a natural habitat has been set aside for animals that would otherwise be vulnerable to hunting and poaching. The tour begins with a private car ride to the main camp where the specialized staff will explain the project and the camp's daily activities. A delicious lunch of Nepalese food will then be served to you. In the afternoon, it's time to help the mahouts wash and feed the elephants. You will also be invited to plant a tree, before driving back in the late afternoon to Kalaw town. Overnight at your accommodation.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Kalaw Heritage Hotel since 1903

The Danu Trails is part of an extensive trekking area in the Danu administered zone, an area with communities from the Danu tribe who is known to be smart farmers especially in tea and coffee and are famous for their traditional Danu folk songs and dancing. The area near the town Pindaya has been unknown to tourists and offers excellent opportunities for off the beaten track community walks passing colourful fields, forest, plantations and most of all a wonderful Danu welcome with overnights and meals at monastery stays. It’s not luxury but certainly and unforgettable experience in an area very few tourists have been before. As you’re at an altitude above 1200 meters the weather is pleasant for trekking the whole year round. The winters can be a bit chilly in the evening We drive by private car to Pindaya about 1 hour for 2 days/1 night overnight trekking. We start with an hour walk through the hills to Htut Ni, the village of the Danu tribe. You will pass through the farming where the Danu cultivates cheroot, tea plantations, damsons and mangoes on the hillsides. The track crosses the valley floor before climbing very steeply again to another Danu village of See Kyat Inn stop for simple lunch. After lunch continue to Shaw Pin Village about 30 mins by jungle path and down to another Danu village Taung Paw Gyi about 30 minutes. We keep walking to Pin Sein Pin village about 45 mins. Then, take another 1 hour to Kan Hla Kone for nightspot. Overnight at your accommodation.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Kan Hla Kone Monastery

After breakfast, enjoy continue walking through the hills. The path leads through several villages, producing Shan Tea in the traditional way. You will see the drying of the tea leaves and pass through the tea plantations. From the hills are great views of the surrounding Shan plateau. Then continue by private car to Inle Lake. Overnight at your accommodation.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Thanakha Hotel 3*

Real adventure is waiting as we bring you this morning to the starting point of a fascinating trip by kayak to rural villages on Inle Lake. Depending on the location of your hotel, a short transfer by motorboat over the lake will bring you to In Phaw Khone, the famous weaving village on stilts belonging to the Intha people. Light-weight kayaks are ready for you to start paddling on the lake (2 persons per kayak) for a trip to rural areas few outsiders have had the opportunity to visit. After about an hour of paddling you stop in a village to learn more about the Intha people and their local food production. You then continue your journey by kayak, before stopping to have lunch at the home of a local Intha family, who welcome you for a delicious home-cooked meal. You leave the kayaks behind and return to your hotel by motorboat. There is an option to continue visiting other places on the lake with the motorboat and guide. Overnight at your accommodation.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Thanakha Hotel 3*

On this Inle Lake biking tour, you will spend an energetic day biking and boating around this beautiful body of water – home to the ethnic Shan and also the Intha people, who live in wooden houses, built entirely on stilts. You start your journey with a boat ride to Indein village, home of the Indein Pagoda, a temple with an impressive collection of stupas, southwest of Inle Lake. You then take a 1.5-hour bike ride to Than Htaung village and walk to a local monastery where you can stop to chat with the temple monks. Afterwards you continue, either by boat or bike – depending on the season and the water levels – to Yay Mae Pin village where you visit an areca nut plantation. For the last part of the tour, you head by boat to Khaung Daing, a little village on the northwest edge of the lake that is well off the regular tourist trail, and features some fascinating cottage industries. Here you stop for a delicious lunch in a local restaurant and then ride to Nyaungshwe town. Depending on where you are staying, you th return by bike or boat to your hotel. Overnight at your accommodation.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Mid-Range Accommodation: Thanakha Hotel 3*