Depart From: Depart from home for your flight to Asia.

In Transit: Overnight flight to Asia.

Note: Transfer time is approximately 30-40 minutes.

Arrive To: Arrival to Yangon International Airport. Check into your program hotel.

Afternoon: In the lat afternoon, join your group leader for a program orientation with a presentation on the do's and don'ts of Myanmar.

Dinner: Welcome dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon

Meals Included: Dinner

Note: There will be some walking in the morning. The evening visit to Shwedagon Paya will require you to take off your shoes and sock to visit the inside of the temples.There are many steps to the top of the Pagoda. There is an elevator as well, but please do not rely solely on this.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Begin your understanding of Burma with a presentation on Burmese History by a retired professor. Afterwards, interact with some university students to learn about higher education in Myanmar. Continue on a field trip to discover the cultural and ethnic diversity of Yangon City. Coach to Pansoedan Street, passing by St. Mary’s Cathedral, old parliament building and the Strand Hotel. Take a stroll to the Sule Pagoda with a view of British colonial buildings. Continue on a walk through Little India. Then end the morning exploring Bogyoke Aung San market (aka Scott's market).

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant in town.

Afternoon: In the late afternoon, explore Shwedagon Paya. Shwedagon is a Burmese icon and a must see while in Yangon. Unlike many great sites around the world, Shwedagon is visited mostly by local Burmese. The giant gold gilded Paya serve as a meeting point for families, friends and teenagers looking to enjoy the cool night air. The bell shaped structure is said to be covered with over 8 tons of pure gold, making it an impressive presence in the night sky.

Dinner: Dinner in town.

Lodging: Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Long transit. Please note that you must be able to get in and out of small boats and travel much of the time on boats while at Inle Lake.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Check out of hotel and transfer to the Yangon airport. Along the way, drive on Univeristy Avenue to see Myanmar Demoocracy Icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Residence. Then take a 1.5 hour flight to Heho. Upon arrival, transfer to the picturesque hills of the Shan State to the small lakeside town of Nyaung Shweunch. Driving time is approximately 1 hour.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant in town.

Afternoon: After lunch, board private motorboats to head out to Inle Lake to check into your hotel. Then head out on your motorboat to explore Inle Lake, one of Myanmar's most spectacular sights. Pass villages on stilts over the lake, inhabited by the local Intha people, explore the floating garden, see the Inntha Leg Rower fisherman at work and the Ngaphechaung Monastery (or Jumping Cat Monastary – note there are no longer any cats in this monastery). Return to hotel just after sunset.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Villa Inle Resort and Spa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Must be flexible and sturdy enough to get in and out of small wooden boats. Must be able to walk across planks with minimum help.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Market is best visited in the morning. Today will begin around between 7-8am (timing will change depending on where the market is located). Set out on private long tail boats to explore the morning village market, held at different locations each day of the week. See the villagers’ produce and their daily activities of buying and selling of produce. Continue through narrow canals to Innthein Village, a hillside village dotted with thousands of small stupas built in the 15th century. Observe the villages and the houses on stilts along the way. Walk in Innthein Village, visit the local school, meet the villagers, and see the thousands of Shan Style stupas on the hill side.

Lunch: Lunch at a centennial family house. By tradition, the historic house is preserved by the oldest daugher for future generations. Enjoy an informal short talk on their family's history.

Afternoon: After lunch, continue to Inle Lake’s famous silk weaving in Inn Paw Khone Village where very difficult but beautiful woven work is done using lotus flower stems. Return to hotel.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Villa Inle Resort and Spa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Must be able to be ok with uneven stairs and walks of at least 1.5 to 2 miles.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: This morning, participate in a presentation on the positive impact of tourism for the Burmese people and their economy presented by your Group Leader. Then transfer back to Heho airport for your flight to Mandalay. Flight time is around noon, but this is all subject to change.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant at or near the aiport in Mandalay also known as Tadaoo Airport.

Afternoon: This afternoon, explore the royal capital of Amarpura. Coach to famous Maha Ganda Kyaung Monastery in Amarapura, home to 1500 monks who live and study Dhamma (Buddha teaching) there. Then walk on U Bein Bridge, the world’s longest teak bridge, constructed with over 1000 teak posts and is over one kilometer long. From there transfer to Golden Palace Monastery, Kuthodaw Pagoda, known as the world's largest book and featuring more than 700 engraved stone slabs and walk up to Mandalay Hill to view the sunset over the city.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Shwe Pyi Tha Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: In Myanmar if you want to learn what is happening in their daily life, it is better to start the exploration as early as possible. In Mingun, you will be required to walk about 2 hours to explore the village. It will be a leisurely walk, exploring the sites of the village.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Participate in a presentation on the “Chronology of the royal capitals of the Mandalay Division” presented by a local expert. Transfer by coach toe the Irrawaddy River Bank, observing local community’s morning life on the river before embarking on that a local long tail boat up the Irrawaddy River to Mingun. Enjoy the river and scenery in the morning light. (Note: Boat ride is approximately 1 hour upstream). Upon arrival, explore Mingun, an ancient site home to what would have been the world's largest pagoda had King Bodawpaya not met an early demise.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Free afternoon to explore on your own. For those interested, join your group leader to learn about needle work and embroidery work and design. Optional visit to Mahamuni Pagoda, Gold Leaf making workshop and Sein Myint's embrodiery and painting workshop, a nationally renowned artist.

Dinner: Dinner on your own to explore the local fare.

Lodging: Shwe Pyi Tha Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Drive time to Pyin Oo Lwin is approximately 2 hours one way.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Spend the day exploring Pyin U Lwin, the former British Hill Station that colonial officers called Maytown, where they came to enjoy the cool climate. Along the way, stop at the National Kandawgyi Park and explore this place with a Park Warden. Continue to explore Pyin U Lwin.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Free time in Pyin U Lwin to explore this town on your own. Then return to Mandalay.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel with a traditional performance from students at the Mandalay Fine Art School.

Lodging: Shwe Pyi Tha Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Driving time is approximately 3 hours. Please note that Win Unity Hotel is the best hotel in this town. It is a basic hotel with basic amenities. NOTE: Visits to the caves in the afternoon will be difficult as the caves are carved in hillside. Also the trip to the caves, including the exploration and return will be approximately 3 hours. You will be crossing on a ferry and taking local jeeps to to the caves.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: This morning depart for Monywa. Along the way, make a stop at Sagaing Hill for a photo sto. Continue your drive to Monywa with a visit to Thanboddhay Pagoda, a huge Buddhist temple covered with more than 500,000 Buddha images. Then continue to Boditahtaung Pagoda which houses the largest reclining Buddha image in Myanmar, at 100m long and 27m high. Then check into your hotel.

Lunch: Lunch at the hotel.

Afternoon: This afternoon continue your exploration of the Burmese countryside with a visit to the Hop Win Daung Caves. With a unique landscape more like the Serengeti than Southeast Asia, the caves date back to the 15th century and are dotted with hundreds of sandstone carved temples.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Win Unity Resort

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: The total drive to Bagan is about 7 hours with rest and lunch stops.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: This morning, depart for Bagan. Begin with a visit the old market of Monywa. Monywa is known as a place for trade, so this market is one of the livelier ones in this area. Then resume your journey to Pakokku and have lunch at arrival.

Lunch: Lunch at a restaurant in Pakokku.

Afternoon: After lunch, drive towards Bagan while enjoying the scenery. On arrival at Bagan, check-in to the hotel and take some refreshment.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Bagan Thande Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Please note if you really want to experience the temples, then you will need to be able to walk bare feet for at least 2 miles in and around the temples.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Begin the morning with a presentation about Architectural Evolution of Bagan: Early, Transition, Middle and Late periods- led by your Group Leader. Then begin exploring the temples that represent the early Bagan period. First temple is Temple of Gubyaukgyi of Myingaba Village, with its well preserved colored paintings inside that date back to its construction in 1113. The temple is typical of the Mon style in that the interior is dimly lit by perforated rather than open windows. Next continue to Manuha Paya, known as the Mon King Temple, which is said to represent his view of being imprisoned. Then lastly, visit Nan Paya, a rare early period Sandstone temple with the best examples of the early Bagan carvings.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Take a short rest from the heat. Then later in the afternoon, continue your discovery of the temples of the Early Period and explore the Shwezigon Pagoda. Shwezigon was built as the most important reliquary shrine in Bagan, a centre of prayer and reflection for the new Theravada faith King Anawarahta had established in Bagan. While there, learn about the Burmese Belief in Nats (Spirit world), which was officially replaced by Buddhism in the 12th century, but continues even to this day. Then transfer to a temple terrace to view the sunset over Bagan. End your day with a horse cart ride back to the hotel.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Bagan Thande Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Please note if you really want to experience the temples, then you will need to be able to walk bare feet for at least 1 1/2 miles in and around the temples.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Begin the morning by attending a presentation on temples of the Transition and the Middle Period led by a local expert. Then head to the Shwe San Saw Pagoda. Climb to the top to get a view of the Bagan complex and see how the architecture evolved in height and style during this period. Continue with a visit to Ananda Temple and Ananda Ok Kyaung, and explore the architectural area of the Anada temple.

Lunch: Lunch at a restaurant in town.

Afternoon: This afternoon learn about Lacquerware and the work involved in creating masterpieces. Meet the owner of this 4th generation lacquerware factory, who shows you the difference between the various quality levels and the complete process involved. In the late afternoon continue to see Htilominlo Temple, the late period temple. Then visit a local village to learn about village life there, where you can also walk through the ruins of the late period temple, Phayathonzu, where your discovery of Bagan ends for the day.

Dinner: Dinner on own.

Lodging: Bagan Thande Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Bagan: Monk Initiation Ceremony / Sunset Cruise on the Ayeyarwady River

Note: The Monk initiation Ceremony is a Road Scholar Sponsored event and you are welcome to participate in anyway that you feel comfortable. Your group leader will advise you of what is appropriate to do there. This is a very traditional ceremony and not a tourist spectacle. This is sponsored by RS because a ceremony can be quite expensive for a family and this is very much a part of the Burmese culture and a right of passage for the young boys.

Breakfast: Breakfast at hotel.

Morning: Participate in a Buddhist novice initiation ceremony in a village monastery. There everyone will have the opportunity to participate in the ceremony that is one of the most important days of a young child’s life – the initiation to become a novice monk, and the start of his learning about the Dhamma (Buddhist teachings). This is a great ceremony that includes the involvement of the local community. The ceremony begins with a colorful procession of folk musicians, dancing girls and of course, the prospective novices dressed like fairytale princes. The procession ends on the crowded steps of the lovely Monastery, where the village will be out in force, singing and clapping, and dressed in their finest traditional costumes. The young lads, honored by their initiation into becoming novices, are hoisted on shoulders and triumphantly carried into the monastery. There, they are stripped of their finery, and subjected to the first part of their initiation when their heads are shaved.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: In the late afternoon, head to the Ayeyar Jetty where you will board a private local boat for a slow cruise down the Irrawaddy River. As you cruise the on the river, observe the lifestyle of the fishermen and riverside villages. Then participate in a presentation on Buddhism with a Buddhist Monk.

Dinner: Dinner at hotel.

Lodging: Bagan Thande Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Fly to Yangon / Free Afternoon / Presentation on Political Change in Burma

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Early morning transfer to the airport for your flight to Yangon. Upon arrival, transfer to the National Museum and explore the museum.

Lunch: Lunch on own.

Afternoon: After lunch, transfer to your hotel and check in. Free time this afternoon to explore Yangon. In the late afternoon, participate in a presentation on the "the Changing Political Climate in Burma" given my a local expert.

Dinner: Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Kandawgyi Palace Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Transfer to the airport for your return flight home.

Meals Included: Breakfast