Category: Asia & Pacific

Myanmar is entirely unique. Not only can the country be identified as two different names but it also has some of the oldest and best-preserved sites in all of Asia. Not to mention they are extraordinary.

This incredible country is known as Myanmar officially but it is often referred to informally as Burma, it’s former name. The reason for the change was both to rid the country of its colonial British influence as well as to distance itself from some of its unsavory historical moments. Names of the cities were changed as well, Rangoon became Yangon, Maymyo became Pyin Oo Lwin, Ayeyarwady became Irrawaddy and Moulmein became Mawlamyine. People now typically use the names interchangeably with Myanmar being slightly more formal than Burma, the colloquial version.

After arriving, you may start asking yourself, “Where are all the travelers?” Myanmar may not be as popular as some of its neighbors like Thailand, China and India, but that is part of the beauty and draw to this country; The travelers have not discovered its enchanting beauty yet. Modern Myanmar is a melting pot of over 100 ethnic groups including British, Burmese, Chinese and Indian. It is sure to impress you right from the start with a friendly and helpful culture, incredibly beautiful sites to explore and plenty of charm. Come explore Myanmar with Discovery Tours today.

First, fly to the incredible melting pot that is Yangon and discover the mix of cultures and astonishing panoramas as you transfer to your hotel. Yangon is the most populous city in the country and was the capital until 2006 before it was moved to Naypyidaw in the center of Myanmar. Shwedagon Pagoda is the true highlight of this city with its spiritual atmosphere, array of golden accents, serene Buddhas and mythical creature statues. This gilded gem truly shines in a city full of incredible sites. Bogyoke Aung San Museum is the former home of the father of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a fascinating look into the history of the country. In the downtown area of Yangon, view the octagon-shaped Sule Pagoda that is 2500 years old and the Independent Monument in Mahabandoola Gardens with its striking obelisk honoring freedom of Burma from Great Britain in 1948. In the Bogyoke Aung San Market take a stroll through this shopping area with its colonial architecture and cobblestone streets. Find handicrafts, jewelry, clothing stores and other shops while weaving through the aisles of this covered market.

Next, visit Amarapura, a former capital of the country and now township of Mandalay city. An exclusive bronze casting lesson allows you to learn about a traditional art form that has been used for hundreds of years in this country. The 200-year-old U-Pein Bridge is the oldest and longest teak bridge in the entire world and a massive part of the community with hundreds of locals walking across it daily. Take a glimpse into the monastic way of life at the massive Mahagandayone Monastery where more than 1,000 monks study and live together.

Your next stop is Mandalay, Myanmar’s center of culture and the last Royal capital. A morning cruise on the Ayeyarwaddy River introduces you first to the ancient city of Mingun where you will visit the Mingun Temple, Mingun Bell and Myatheindan Pagoda. Mandalay Hill introduces you to the golden Kuthodaw Pagoda, or the “world’s largest book,” because of its 729 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist teachings. The nearby town of Pyin Oo Lwin, founded by the British, offers an escape from the Mandalay summer heat and is famous for its local fruits, jams and wines. Be sure to wander through the Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens that include beautiful views of 480 species of flowers, plants and trees. The Kandawgyi’s bridges, gilded pagodas or a leisurely cart ride are all excellent options for exploring this area.  

Travel to Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the country’s spiritual center with over 2,000 pagodas, stupas and temples dotting the city. Shwezigon Pagoda, built by King Anawrahta, is one of the oldest and most impressive monuments in the city and is plated in gold and glimmers in the sunlight. The cave temple of Gubyaukgyi is covered in religious murals while the Ananda Temple houses 4 standing Buddhas. The buzzing shops of Nyaung-U Morning Market allow you to immerse yourself completely in the life of the local people where you can shop, bargain and sample the wares. An exclusive Discovery Tours experience brings you to the home of a local family where you will have a home-hosted lunch and learn about the country’s customs, traditions and history. A remarkable Sunset Cruise on the Irrawaddy River closes out this amazing day full of new experiences and unforgettable travel memories.

Next, traveling East, arrive in the Inle Lake area to Pindaya, famous for its limestone caves containing over 8,000 images of Buddha dating back to as far as 1750. The stunning Shan mountains loom in the background of this area while the placid lake intensifies the landscape. Board a ship that takes you on a cruise of the serene Inle Lake with its stilt-house villages and floating gardens. Make note of the legendary leg rowers here because this is the only place to see them in the world. Native Burmese fisherman grip a single bamboo oar with one leg and paddle long flat-bottomed boats around the lake dressed in their traditional Shan attire. Paung-Daw-oo Pagoda is the lake’s main building and the Nga-Phe-Chaung Monastery decorates the surrounding area. Participate in an exclusive Discovery Tours cooking class with a chef at the Thahara Inle Heritage. You will prepare local Burmese specialties before a delicious lunch.

The amazing thing about this new-to-tourism country is its authenticity. Myanmar has long been isolated and Burmese culture has progressed seamlessly without outside influence. Very few countries today can provide such an untarnished experience. You will meet locals who are truly in love with their country and enjoy a way of life that sways along at an easy pace, even in the large cities. Buddhism is actively practiced by 89% of the Burmese, making for a peaceful and religious place. Even through struggles, the Burmese have clung to traditions that generations have held dear. The country has also recently turned a political corner toward a more democratic government. Experience an unaffected culture, explore magnificent temples, stupas and pagodas, step back in time and do so with the ease, flexibility, and access that only a Discovery Tours small group allows. We urge you to reserve soon because once word gets out about its breathtaking wonders, Myanmar may never be quite the same again.

The ancient city of Bagan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the true spiritual hub of the country with over 2,000 pagodas, stupas & temples. The city sits in the center of the country, southwest of the Mandalay region and bordering the Irrawaddy River. The incredible preservation of sites here is said to rival that of Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat but with only a percentage of the visitors, for now. We have compiled a list of some of the famous landmarks of Bagan.

Ananda Temple– One of the most beautiful and best preserved in Bagan, Ananda Temple can be found near the Tharabar gate. The pagoda is a single-story structure that was built from 1090 – 1105 during the early Bagan age. The architectural style of Ananda shows Mon and Northern Indian influences. The highlight of the temple is the golden sikhara, or tower-like spire on top of the pagoda. The golden reflection is visible from miles away over the plains of the city and after dark the pagoda is lit up creating an ethereal glow.

Shwezigon Pagoda – The gold-plated pagodawas built around the year 1090 and is one of the oldest monuments in Bagan. This incredible structure glitters in the sun and is an extremely important pilgrimage site for Buddhists. The stupa sits in the center of a large area where several other shrines and temples were built later on. The pagoda’s design has been copied over and over again for temples and pagodas all over the city but Shwezigonis the original.

Dhammayangyi Temple – The Dhammayangyi Temple is the largest temple located in Bagan and is visible from almost all parts of the city. This massive temple was never completed and consists of a massive square base topped by six terraces. The temple does hold an interesting back story as it was started by King Narathu in 1170 as a way of atoning himself after he murdered his father and brother who were next in line to become king! King Narathu himself was later murdered under uncertain circumstances.

Shwesandaw Pagoda – One of the taller pagodas in Bagan, the Shwesandaw Pagoda is quite the imposing structure with 5 receding terraces topped by a cylindrical stupa. The pagoda tops out at 328 feet and is visible from far across the Bagan plains.The structure was built by King Anawrahta to further Buddhism in his empire and to enshrine hair relics of the Buddha that he had brought back from the town of Thaton.

Gubyaukgyi Cave Temple – This fascinating cave temple draws visitors to see the well-preserved, richly colored murals and carvings inside. The temple was originally constructed in 1113 in an Indian-influenced style that contains a large entrance attached to a smaller antechamber.  The interior of the temple is lit by natural light that comes in from large stone windows giving plenty of light to see all the beauty inside.

Manuha Temple – The Manuha Temple was built by the Mon King Manuha after having spent a decade in captivity in the city of Bagan. It is thought that the temple is meant to represent the stresses of living in captivity for so long, as the images of the Buddha are large and crammed into their assigned spaces, much like a King in captivity. Four large gold painted images of Buddha are contained in separate rooms and each in a seated image. The temple is still an active place of worship for Buddhists in Burma to this day.

It doesn’t take long to realize that Kuthodaw Pagoda is much greater than the sum of its parts. The revered fortress-like complex rests at the foot of Mandalay Hill. Its stupas gleam white in the Myanmar sunlight. Though each of these spirit houses are modest in scale and scope, they come together to tell an epic story.

Remarkably, there are 729 of these stupas, plus one central, gilded pagoda, spread over a vast area adjacent to the old royal palace. Within each of them a stone tablet measuring 3×5 feet and 13 centimeters thick rests on an altar. Scripture is written on both sides of each tablet. The 729 tablets tell the story of Theravada Buddhism, a total of 1460 pages, and have collectively become known as the largest book in the world. When this astounding complex was created, as recently as the 1860s, this was surely the most expensive book in the world, too, as its Pali scripture was originally etched in gold.

It is a sacred setting for a sacred text, and it begs for long and ancient legends to be written. Which of Buddha’s followers wrote the tablets? How far and over which storm-whipped mountain ranges did they carry them to reach this spot? The city of Mandalay, where we find the Kuthodaw Pagoda, has similarly taken on an air of legend and mystery. Its name evokes a romance akin to that stirred by lost Southeast Asian cities.

Mandalay is actually younger than the United States, an infant compared to other Asian cultural capitals. How did such a young city become enshrouded in such mystery and nostalgia? One answer might rest with a Buddha, the other with a writer.

Even though the physical city of Mandalay is just over 150 years old, built by King Mingdon in 1857, the spiritual city is centuries older. Mingdon knew when he ordered stones to be laid that he was fulfilling the prophecy of Buddha. Centuries before, the god-like figure had visited the hill that we now know as Mandalay Hill. From its summit, he proclaimed that a great city would rise at his feet in the year 2400 of the Buddhist Era. In this grand metropolis, his teachings would blossom. The prophetic year fell on Mingdon’s watch, and so he created a splendid urban oasis of finely crafted wooden structures. Over the next couple of decades hundreds of pagodas dotted the cityscape and, true to the Buddha’s premonition, monks converged to teach the ways of Theravada.

King Mingdon proclaimed Mandalay the royal capital of the kingdom. Even after the British colonized Burma in the 1880s, a pure Burmese culture thrived in the city by the hill as the colonizers moved the capital to Yangon. Despite occupation, Mandalay continued to grow as a major center of Buddhist teaching. Today, the Mahamuni Pagoda, with its huge gilded Buddha, and the magnificent teak Shwenandaw Monastery, stand as testament to the city’s role as religious center.

It was around the late 1880s that Rudyard Kipling, after serving as part of the British Raj of India, stopped in Burma on a circuitous route home. Its landscape and its people charmed him. His poem “Mandalay” is not about the city per se, but about a British soldier’s longing and nostalgia for the warm exoticism of Asia upon his return to an overcast England. Though the city was only 35 years old when the poem was published, it was etched into the minds of literature lovers as an ever-distant, ever-ancient Shangri La.

Most of Mandalay was destroyed during World War II bombing. You can almost see the Buddha weeping atop Mandalay Hill. The city’s destruction added even more depth to Kipling’s nostalgic poem of yearning. Some of its gems survive, including the largest book in the world, which would no doubt please both the Buddha and the writer.

Learn more about this fascinating city while on our 12 Day Discover Myanmar (Burma) tour.

The freshwater Inle Lake is Myanmar’s second largest lake and famous for its scenic beauty. Throughout the seasons, its depth varies wildly, from five feet in the dry season to 12 in the rainy season and sometimes up to 17 when monsoon season hits. The local Intha people live in houses on stilts, made from wood and woven bamboo, and live simple, self-sufficient farming lives here. Discovery Tours visits this fascinating locale, taking in a lakeside culture the likes of which you’ve never encountered before. Here are some highlights of the Inle Lake area:

Buddha To Go. At the Phaungdaw U Pagoda, five Buddha figurines have been ritually covered by followers in gold leaf so often that they’ve been rendered unrecognizable. Think gold papier-mâché snowmen and you get an idea of what they look like. Pilgrims and other devotees drape a small robe around the figures, thus anointing the cloth, then place the blessed fabric on their home altar.

Buddha Overboard. Each year during the 18-day Thadingyut Festival, four of these golden Buddhas are placed on an elaborate barge for a village-by-village tour around the lake. One year in the 1960s, heavy winds capsized the barge, toppling its occupants, and the Buddhas, into the water. Rescuers failed to retrieve one of the Buddhas, and all were stunned when they returned to its altar to see that it had found its way back on its own!

Row Your Boat. Fishermen stand to row their boats so they can see over the tall reeds of Inle Lake. Standing at the stern, they wrap one leg around the oar and guide the paddle through the water with one hand. It’s a method that requires incredible balance and can only be seen in this part of the world.

Floating Veggies. One way to protect gardens from flooding water is by making them float too. This is exactly how the local Intha people have adapted to the rising and falling water levels of Inle Lake. They create a bed from the sturdy reeds that grow under the lake’s surface, then plant vegetable gardens on top of the floating beds, securing them all with bamboo poles.

Fabric from Earth and Lake.  The lotus plant that thrives around Inle Lake is used to weave a unique material. This process, known as ikat, creates scarves and special robes for Buddha images. Silk is also woven here into a distinct design known as Inle longyi, and it’s among the highest quality you can find.

Just a Cigar. When you think of the stereotypical cigar-smoking person, you might not think of Myanmar. Here at Inle Lake, the occupying Englishmen grew fond of the tobacco that is rolled in cheroot leaves and adapted the habit. Some believed that smoking protected one from contracting malaria, but it is more likely that it was the scent of the tobacco that kept mosquitoes away.

Ring Around the Collar. The Padaung are part of the Kayan tribe that migrated to the Inle Lake region from Tibet. Women of the tribe wear brass coils around their necks, from as early as the age of five. As the girls grow, more coils are added. The tradition behind this fashion statement is a point of debate: some believe it enhances feminine beauty while others say it make the women undesirable so they are not entered into the slave trade.