VIETLAND HOLIDAYS

You will arrive in Yangon and our guide will pick you up, transfer to hotel in the center of Yangon. Stay in Yangon

After breakfast at hotel, our guide and driver will meet you at the hotel and drive together to Kyaiktiyo.

Kyaiktiyo is one of the most interesting and sacred Buddhist sites of Myanmar. The “Golden Rock”, a boulder covered in gold, is balanced precariously on the very edge of a cliff. According to legend, it is kept from rolling down the hill by a strand of Buddha’s hair, precisely placed in the 730 m (24 ft.) stupa that crowns the rock.

This incredible balancing boulder stupa is about 20 km from the little town of Kyaiktiyo, which is midway between Bago and Thaton. The delicately placed gold leaf covered boulder right atop of the Kyaiktiyo Mountain is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Myanmar.

Upon arrival of Kinpun base camp, we will take a mountain hill truck to get to the Pagoda. This one hour drive to mountain offers fascinating view along the path and surrounding.

Visit the pagoda and there are amazing sunsets and sunrises to see and the huge rock shows its most beautiful color at dawn and dusk, while the pilgrims light candles and meditate all through the night.

Stay overnight in Kyaikhtiyo.

Today, we will drive from Kyaiktiyo to Hpa-An along the scenic route. The driving time will be approximately four hours.

Hpa-An is the capital of the Kayin State, located on the banks of the tranquil Thanlwin River. Although it is indeed a small town, it is also a bustling commercial center. Hpa-An was only recently discovered as a tourist destination. The surroundings are famous for its large, bizarre cave labyrinths which are decorated with Buddha images.

On the way, we may visit Kadoe Village where we can see the most beautiful teak wood carvings on the single teak planks and colorful little figures explaining the Buddhist stories.

Upon arrival at HpaAn, start our first visit to KyaukKalat Pagoda, a pagoda which is built on layers of natural rock formations right beside by a lake and it’s a great opportunity for photo stop.

We will also visit to the foot hill of Mt. ZweKabin, the landmark of Kayin State. On the top is the pagoda with the Buddha’s hair relic and this sacred mountain has several thousand identical Buddha statues lined up at its base.

A two miles distance from Hpa An, continue further sightseeing to explore the Kaw Gun Cave features with different kinds of votive tablets, clay Buddha Images and Mon inscriptions.A visit to Kaw Gun Cave should not be missed where we can see the terra-cottas on the walls of the natural limestone cave. 

Then we will escort you to the hotel in the city and free time leisure at your own to explore this little town. Stay overnight in Hpa-An.

Today our driver and guide will pick you up from the hotel and we will start our excursion to Mawlamyine.

Mawlamyine (or Moulmein) is the historical capital of the Mon State and with about 250,000 inhabitants one of the largest cities in Myanmar and Mawlamyine was the first capital of British Burma between 1826 and 1852.

The atmosphere of post-colonial decay is more palpable here than in the fast-developing Yangon or Mandalay; it’s also an attractive, tropical town with hills on one side and the sea on the other. George Orwell (author of “Burmese Days”) was stationed here for a time in the 1,920s during his service with the Indian Imperial Police.

Upon arrival, transfer to hotel in the city and we will have some free time for leisure or further sightseeing around the city.

Stay overnight in Mawlamyine.

Today, our guide will accompany you to have full day sightseeing around Mawlamyine.

For the first stop, we are going to explore the Mawlamyine’s central market. This market specializes in dry goods, from inexpensive ‘bale’ clothes to house wares. We will see a lot of seasonal fruits and vegetables and also foreign products mostly from Thailand. As the city lies on the trading trail to Thai Border, Thai products can be seen.

Visit to the Judson Baptist Church, Myanmar's first Baptist church, located on the corner of Dawei Jetty Road.

Take 60 kilometres drive south of Mawlamyine to the town of Thanbyuzayat, we will visit The Allied War Memorial Cemetery and The Death Railway built by Japan (using POWs) to carry troops and supplies into Myanmar during WWII, passes close to the city - one of the POW cemeteries, paradoxically beautiful, is also near.

On the way back to Mawlamyine, we will head to the largest reclining Buddha image in the world, Win Sein Taw Ya, situated about 20 km south of Mawlamyine on the main road to Mudon. The reclining Buddha is 180 meters in length, and 30 meters in height. It can be clearly seen for miles as we leave Mudon for Mawlamyine on the right side of the road.

End of the tour, visit KyauktaloneTaung, it is an interesting flat rock formation 300 feet in height with a Buddhist shrine situated on top.

Back to Mawlamyine and stay overnight in Mawlamyine.

After breakfast, we will drive back to Yangon and on the way, visit to the city of Bago. The city is located 80 km northeast of Yangon and famous for its huge reclining Buddha.

Start our sightseeing to Bago’s highlight pagoda, ShwemawdawPaya. It is 114 meters high and can be seen even from far away. We will spend a few hours to explore the former Mon Palace, Kanbawzathadi Palace & Museum, walled in the Mon style and the entire compound has been surrounded by a teak stockade.

Today sightseeing also includes HinthaGonPaya that offers a brilliant view over Bago and the region. Visit the town market and local textiles woven workshops in the city’s local sites. Continue our excursion to Shwethalyaung Buddha, a huge reclining Buddha and it is reported to be one of the most lifelike of all reclining Buddhas.

End of Bago excursion, explore the Kyaik Pun Paya which was built in 1,476 and it consists of four 30 meters high seated Buddhas placed back to back in the four heavens directions.

This late afternoon, we will drive directly back to Yangon. If time permits, we may visit the Allied War Cemetery in HtaukKyant. This memorial cemetery was built in 1,951 and the final resting place for over 27,000 allied soldiers who died in the Myanmar Campaign during World War II.

Then we will drive together back to the hotel in the city. End of the trip!