Tour Comfort
Our comfortable accommodation is hand-picked and chosen for its character, location or local importance. These properties have excellent facilities and a higher level of comfort and service.
Customer Suitability
Family 7 - 17 Years
Tour Type: Small Groups
Tour Pace: Full On
Breakfasts: 10
Lunches: 3
Dinners: 2
Accomodation: 10 nights
Code: FTB_2017
Arrive in Chiang Mai and check-in to our hotel with the remainder of the day being left free to explore the city known as the 'Rose of the North'.
Accommodation: The Park Hotel
We have a morning sightseeing excursion of the city which includes a leisurely stroll around the walled Old City which was once all that existed of Chiang Mai. Many of the temples for which Chiang Mai is rightly famous are located here including the Doi Suthep temple which is reached by a 306 step staircase flanked by mosaic naga (serpents) and is a shrine to a piece of bone said to be from the shoulder of Buddha himself. After lunch, we try out our culinary skills with a cooking class where we will be taught how to prepare 3-4 dishes for your evening meal. We get the chance to try out our bartering skills as we visit the bustling Night Bazaar this evening.
Accommodation: The Park Hotel
This morning we head out to the Elephant Nature Park Sanctuary which is one of the largest elephant conservation center in the country and also hosts an elephant nursery and hospital caring for sick and abandoned elephants. Its main functions are for the treatment and care of elephants although visitors and tourists are now admitted. We will feed the elephants from a viewing platform in the morning and in the afternoon we walk with the center's staff with the elephants to the river that skirts the park. Bathing these gentle giants as they splash around is a real highlight with the opportunity to go into the river with them or watch them from the river bank. The day is all about spending quality time with these gentle giants and observing them being with the herd. In the late afternoon, we say goodbye to the elephants and travel back to Chiang Mai.
Accommodation: The Park Hotel
This morning will find us driving to Thaton and boarding our long tail boat to Chiang Rai which allows us to enjoy the landscape as we cruise along the Kok River for a couple of hours. We pass tea plantations and orange groves along the way, with farmers taking a break to watch us and school children on their way to school waving to say hello as we pass. Upon arrival, we visit Wat Rong Khun, which is otherwise known as 'The White Temple' that is an unusual and quirky Buddhist temple. It is still being built, offering us the unique opportunity to visit a site that will be famous for centuries and our visit allows us to see it in its infancy. The remainder of the day is left free to explore Chiang Rai and its fabulous night market.
Accommodation: Amarin Resort
We head into the northern hills to spend the day where the hill tribes live. These colourful tribes people live on the mountain slopes above an altitude of 300m and each tribe has their own particular beliefs, way of life and colour of dress. We visit a Red Lahu Village which is an eco-friendly community-based lodge where contributions from our stay are used on community projects that are designed to improve the local hill tribe people's living conditions. We gain an insight into the culture of the Hmong and Lahu people as we meet a local family and are shown how they live. We spend the evening at our hotel that is close to the Golden Triangle border point between Burma, Thailand and Laos with the chance of visiting the night market to discover some of Thailand's delicious street food.
Accommodation: Greater Mekong Lodge
We cross the border where we are met by our Burmese guide who will assist our Explore Leader throughout this section of the trip. We transfer to Tachileik airport and fly to Heho and continue to the magical Inle Lake where we then catch a boat to our hotel. An idyllic setting, the Inle people are renowned for their floating gardens and the unique one-legged rowing style of their fishermen.
Accommodation: Royal Nadi Resort
We canoe on the lake for a short time and then take a long tail boat to visit the famous Paung Daw Oo pagoda, with its five famous Buddha images and also a nearby village where, in houses on stilts, we see traditional silk weaving with hand looms and the processing of lotus blossoms as they are made into beautiful fabric. This afternoon, we transfer to the airport and fly to Nyaung and onto our hotel in Bagan.
Accommodation: Hotel Umbra Bagan
Without doubt one of the world's premier archaeological wonders, Bagan's vast plain is studded with literally thousands of 1,000 year-old temples. From the 9th to 13th centuries, Bagan was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan - a precursor of modern Burma. During the height of its success, over 10,000 buildings were constructed here, of which over 2,200 still remain. Its sheer magnitude can be realised when you consider that there are more temples, stupas and pagodas on this Manhattan Island-sized plain than there are medieval cathedrals in Europe. We cycle around the temples of Bagan today and with so many to choose from, we plan to visit some of the most iconic and distinctive. With what seems to be an infinite number of temples and stupas, it is easy to understand why Bagan is known as 'The City of Four Million Pagodas'. We are also likely to visit Ananda ok Kyaung - a former monastery with spectacular 18th century wall paintings. We hope to finish our day with a memorable sunset view from the towering Dhammayangyi Temple which showcases some of the finest brickwork in all of Bagan.
Accommodation: Hotel Umbra Bagan
After breakfast, we enjoy shopping for the ingredients at the local market before cooking our own Burmese lunch with the help of a chef. In the afternoon, we journey to Myingaba Village where we learn about the famous Bagan lacquer-ware crafts that are produced and decorated using traditional methods. The day continues with a visit to the beautifully symmetric Ananda Temple which has four standing Buddha images inside the temple. We finish the day with a journey on a bullock cart to witness a magical sunset behind the temples (weather permitting).
Accommodation: Hotel Umbra Bagan
We fly to Rangoon (also known as Yangon). We explore the capital which includes visiting the Botataung Pagoda with its many ancient relics and artifacts, Pansodan Street which has many large colonial buildings that are still in use today and its numerous sidewalk markets that sell a range of products from food to old books and magazines. We visit the colossal reclining Buddha Chaukhtatgyi and the National Museum which is filled with artifacts and cultural exhibits of Myanmar before visiting China Town and the famous Scott Market, which is a sprawling complex that is well known for its handicrafts. We finish our sightseeing with a visit to the awe-inspiring Shwedagon Pagoda which towers over all of Rangoon and is considered the most beautiful pagoda complex in all of Asia.
Accommodation: Rose Garden Hotel
We have breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport for the departure flight home.
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