Photography Tour 2023 P5

DAY 1: YANGON ARRIVAL – SIGHTSEEING

You will meet at Yangon international airport and Transfer to your hotel ,at around 4 pm we leave for the Swedagon Pagoda by private a/c minibus and stay until after sunset – return to hotel. We will take the circular train around Yangon which is a fantastic opportunity for photographs of local people. Sellers along the tracks, passengers and local life, just fantastic. We will then go to the downtown area, visit the beautiful colonial architecture including a visit to the superb Strand Hotel. We will walk along busy streets with their bustling cafés and markets. For sunset we will go to the banks of the Ayrewady where we will take some super photos of local people crossing over in dozens of boats to the other side of the river. NB: The schedule maybe reversed and we may begin in the Colonial quarter and do the circular train could be in afternoon.

Meal: Dinner.
Accommodation: Hotel in Yangon

DAY 2: YANGON – MANDALAY – PYIN OO LWIN(MAY MYO) SIGHTSEEING

Early flight to Mandalay. Arrive at Mandalay proceed drive to the former British hill station of PyinOoLwin with its cooler climate. Enjoy a horse cart ride through town and visit the Botanical Gardens with its 432 acres of leafy gardens.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in PyinOoLwin

DAY 3: PYIN OO LWIN(MAY MYO) – GOKE HTEIK BRIDGE – HSIPAW BY TRAIN

Depart this morning and transfer to the railway station for the 6-hour scenic journey across the GokeHteik Viaduct. Enjoy a picnic lunch on board while the elevated scenery passes by. ArriveHsipaw on the banks of the Dokhtawady River and overnight.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Hsipaw

DAY 4: HSIPAW SIGHTSEEING BY BOAT

Walk to the SHAN villages with Boat Trip - 7hrs

Take an easy trek for a couple of hours through Shan Farming villages, with panoramic scenery of rice paddy, fields with seasonal crops and see local handicraft work – hand fans, bamboo baskets.Get in the boat and travel upstream with the mountains, valleys, and fruit plantations along the river. Make a visit to a SHAN village which has typical houses with charming gardens Walk uphill to a 150 year old monastery set on its own in the forest. Return to Hsipaw by boat.

Meal: Breakfast
Hotel in Hsipaw

DAY 5: HSIPAW – MANDALAY BY PRIVATE CAR – SIGHTSEEING

Enjoy breakfast at a local tea shop this morning before enjoying a short walk around town. Depart and drive to Mandalay and en-route stop at Amarapura, the 'City of Immortality'. Visit Mahagandayon monastery, home to over 1,000 monks, and take a stroll across the iconic U Bein Bridge.

Meal: Breakfast
Hotel in Mandalay

DAY 6: SUNRISE – INWA(AVA) – SAGAING SIGHTSEEING

Sunrise at UBein Bridge! It’s worth it! Quite different from the hoards of people in the evening. We may be lucky and see some monks crossing the bridge in the pink light of dawn. From there going to the local tea shop for breakfast, before leaving for Ava, where we visit this magnificent site by horse and cart. A definite stop amongst others is the BagayaKyaung which is superb wooden monastery where young monks take their lessons. We then go on to Sagaing where we visit the SetkyarThida Nunnery and the Monastic Education School, both offering great photo opportunities. Sunset photos at Sagaing hill before returning to the hotel.

Meal: Breakfast
Hotel in Mandalay

DAY 7: MANDALAY TO BAGAN BY CRUISE

Early morning departure by boat down the Irrawaddy River to Bagan ; bucolic river scenes, mountain views and a great way to arrive in the historic, ancient city. Late afternoon orientation visit to the site of the ruined 11th to 13th century capital – still containing over 2,000 chedis, stupas, pagodas scattered across a riverside plain and certainly one of the most incredible sites of South East Asia. Photography. Around about evening time arrive at Bagan. transfer to the hotel for a relaxing evening and early night!

Meal: Breakfast
Hotel in Bagan

DAY 8: SUNRISE – BAGAN SIGHTSEEING

Up early for sunrise, an experience not to be missed by any photographer! I like the ShwesandawPaya for this although so do many others! Back to the hotel for breakfast and then a leisurely full day in Bagan.E bikes or a/c car with all day for sightseeing. Any main pagodas we may have missed yesterday we will see today and enjoy a picnic lunch at one them. We will visit a couple of local workshops including where the delicate lacquer ware is made. Sunset at another pagoda.

Meal: Breakfast
Hotel in Bagan

DAY 9: BAGAN – MOUNT POPA – KALAW BY PRIVATE CAR

After the breakfast Drive to Popa visit after by a/c car to Kalaw where we will stay 2 nights. Kalaw is a base for exploring the surrounding countryside. Arriving in Kalaw after checking in to our hotel we will have a photo class and look at the work so far.After that sightseeing and photography around Kalaw.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Kalaw

DAY 10: TREKKING AT KALAW

After breakfast depart from our hotel to the trekking point by car. The trek will take approximately 6 hours.

During the day we will see local tribes people working in the fields, tending bean tobacco, garlic, rice, etc. We will arrive in a village where we will stop for lunch in a local home. After lunch we will trek to another village and monastery before returning home via another route. This is an opportunity to take some different photos of local tribes’ people.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Kalaw

DAY 11: KALAW – PINDAYA – TRANSFER TO NYAUNG SHWE

Day trip through the picturesque countryside of the Shan Plateau taking in, firstly, one of the local farmers’ markets before heading to the town of Pindaya to visit the spectacular ShweUmincave temples. Lunch by the lake and a chance to check out the traditional umbrella making which Pindaya is also famous for. Afternoon transfer to Nyaungshwe – gateway town to the famous Inle Lake - and some free time to explore the lively market town.

(The markets rotate to different locations every 5 days so it is rather difficult in advance to know where they will be)

Also trains to and from Kalaw are unreliable time wise so our schedule for all of Inle Lake could be on different days from those above.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake

DAY 12: INLE LAKE BOAT TRIP

Today we are going to get up VERY early for a sunrise shot of the fishermen as the lights is different in the mornings to the evenings. Also, there almost no tourists which is wonderful! We will going to have breakfast at one of the local restaurant for local food. Hopefully we will visit a market (see below) before visiting all the attractions on the lake, the fishermen, the floating gardens, monastery, and many local workshops, producing cheroots, umbrella, boat, silk and silver workshops. These can make for very attractive and interesting photographs where all you have learnt can be applied! Lunch will be taken overlooking a canal which also offers some interesting shots.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake

DAY 13: INLE LAKE – INDEIN BOAT TRIP

Today we are going to visit Indein by boat. Indein is full of ruined pagodas covered by vegetation, a sort of “pagoda forest” We will take a trek up and along the nearby mountain top and see the panoramic view of the lake and Indein Pagoda complex. Then we will trek for a couple of hours through rural farmlands to a Pa O tribal village, passing rural farmland producing various crops. We will also visit some traditional local handicrafts before returning to our boat and heading back to NyaungShwe.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake

DAY 14: INLE LAKE – HEHO – FLY BACK TO YANGON

We will be collected by a/c car and taken to Heho for our flight back to Yangon. We will get together on arrival at my hotel for a final critique and appraisal before having lunch together (included) which signifies the end of the tour although I will be available in the afternoon for anyone wishing to continue visiting Yangon.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Yangon

DAY 15: FLY BACK HOME

After breakfast, free time at leisure. You can be relaxing at the hotel or discover Yangon on your own until the departure time to the airport for the flight home

Meal: Breakfast