Encounters and other new Myanmar products

Pindaya Caves with Home Cooked Lunch Explore caves set deep in a hillside, lunch with a local family, and visit artisan workshops in rural villages. Drive from Inle Lake to Pindaya passing through scenic fields and villages where the locals make limestone bricks. Set on a lakeside, Pindaya is a small town inhabited by the Danu tribe, an ethnic group of the Shan people. Enter into the caves and explore the various chambers that contain thousands of Buddha images made from teakwood, marble, lacquer and plaster. Visit an artisan family in their workshop to watch them making the famous Shan paper and crafting it into umbrellas, fans and other handicrafts. Continue to the charming and beautiful village of Thayetpyar, also known as Flat-Mango Village. Home to many Danu families, here you can observe their rural way of life up close. Stroll around the cheroot leaf plantations and see how the cheroots are made by hand. Visit the village school and the monastery where you have the opportunity to receive a blessing by the head monk. From there drive to Thit Ae Pin, where the villagers still use the traditional weaving techniques. Meet a family to see how they live and join them for a home-cooked lunch before the drive back to your hotel. Destination/City: Inle Lake Capacity: max. 15 pax Price per person: $35 Duration: FD

Visit the Amazing Railway Market by Train Get up early morning for the lively local market activities at Danyingone Market, practically known as Railway Market. The Market is situated in Danyingone, outskirt of Yangon City. Transfer to the Yangon Railway Station first, wait for the daily circular train heading to Danyingone Market and may encounter vendors and hawkers carrying vast amount of vegetables to sell them at the local markets. Enjoy the circular train ride about nearly one and a half hour, after passing through Insein station, you will discover the green fields, small wooden houses and some factories as a signal that you are out of Yangon city. Then the busy Danyingone market station awaits you with full of locals, vendors and hawkers selling & buying colorful vegetables, meats, local snacks and flowers. Some of the vendors and hawkers are selling on the railway, every time a train approaches, they carry the goods they are selling and move away from the railway. And once the train leaves the station, they come back and sell again on the railway. This lively scenery is one of the best local encounters and very lively for photo-shooting. Destination/City: Yangon Capacity: max. 30 pax Price per person: $15 Duration: HD

Explore Ancient Bagan by Ebike Enjoy the freedom of a regular bicycle, but without the effort, on this fun tour of the ancient city of Bagan. Hop on your eco-friendly electric bike and take a relaxing ride through Bagan stopping every now and then to explore the temples, take pictures, and hear the relevant history and stories behind the ancient ruins. Pass through the magnificent Tharabar Gate and visit the 201-foot-tall Thet Bi Nyu Temple; and Dhamayangyi Pahto, the largest temple in Bagan. Cycle to the beautifully preserved Ananda Temple. Stop at a teashop to refresh yourselves with some Myanmar tea and snacks. Then continue to the sleepy village of Myinkaba where you can watch local artisans creating beautiful lacquerware in the many workshops. Destination/City: Bagan Capacity: up to 30 Pax Price per person: $20 Duration: 4 hours Note: The routing can be varied depending on hotels where clients stay

Dazzling Mandalay – Temples, Markets, Food and Comedy Combine the sights and smells of local markets with an evening of slapstick comedy performed by the comedic but controversial Moustache Brothers. The tour starts with a visit to several Mandalay markets to soak up the atmosphere and interact with the locals. Make your way to the Ayerawaddy River just in time to see the local fish market coming to life. Customers haggle for the best prices and best catch from the slippery piles of fresh catfish, grouper, snakehead fish and many other varieties found in the river. A visit to the colourful and fragrant flower market reveals a myriad of exquisite exotic flowers used as offerings for the pagodas and shrines. The next stop is at the vegetable market to see the locally grown produce, along with a visit to a nearby monastery to hear the entrancing sounds of monks chanting evening prayers. After sunset, head to a local restaurant and beer garden to relax over a glass of chilled Mandalay beer and a delicious BBQ dinner. The evening’s entertainment is provided by the Moustache Brothers, three Burmese men who perform old-style vaudeville consisting of humour and satire mixed with Burmese dance. The slapstick trio became famous in the 1990s when their jokes and rants against the Myanmar government brought them a string of prison sentences involving hard labour. Destination/City: Mandalay Capacity: Up to 30 pax Price per person: TBA Duration: 6 hours (ET)

A Day to Remember in Sagaing and Amarapura Destination/City: Mandalay Capacity: Up to 30 pax Price per person: $35 Duration: (FD) Explore Sagaing and Amarapura, two of the ancient capitals of Myanmar, and discover hundreds of beautiful temples and artisanal workshops. On the way to Sagaing, stop at Shankalay Kyun, a small village home to talented artisans. Take a stroll through the plantations and the village and visit some of the workshops to see the craftsmen practicing furniture making, wood carving and bronze casting. Cross the Irrawaddy River via Yadanapon Bridgethat leads you into Sagaing, the spiritual centre of Myanmar where hundreds of white, silver and gold pagodas and monasteries dot the hilly landscape. Visit U Min Thoe Se Pagodas containing 45 Buddha images; and the 17th century Kaung Hmu Daw Pagoda which boasts a number of Buddhist relics. Carry on up Sagaing Hill to see Sun U Pon Nya Shin Pagoda and to admire the sweeping views over the city and the Irrawaddy River. Stop in one of the small villages to discover the unique craft of making paper dolls. See how the dolls are moulded, and then decorated with gold paper and paint. Keep a look out for the paper dolls in the shape of owls as these are believed to bring good luck and fortune to the owner. Then head to the famous U Bein Bridge, built from teak and stretching for over one kilometre across Taung Thaman Lake. Linger here for a while to take photos of the breathtaking sunset, before returning to Mandalay.

Dandaree Show Dandaree, a visual masterpiece, features striking presentation styles, unmatched light and sound production, and multimedia techniques synchronized with stage performances by more than a hundred talented dancers, actors and performers who come together to tell the story of Myanmar’s arts and cultural treasure. Destination/City: Bagan Price per person: $35 (Premium seat) Duration: 2 hours Note: The show starts daily at 19h30.

RV Panorama (Day Cruise between Bagan and Mandalay) Destination/City: Bagan - Mandalay v.v. Capacity: Up to 40 pax Price per person: $50 Duration: FD Alliance Myanmar River Cruise is a 2 deck day cruise vessel which specialises in day cruises between Bagan and Mandalay in addition to the Irrawaddy Delta. Full meal service is included in 1 day trip with a maximum of 40 passengers. Facilities on board will comfort you throughout your journey and there is a short break for visiting a Myanmar village will be offered.