Itinerary

1. Day 1: Arrive in Mandalay

   • Meet the tour guide, who will pick you up at the Mandalay International Airport and check in to the hotel.
   • Visit Mahamuni Pagoda, home to a spectacular Buddha image covered with thick layers of gold leaves. 
   • Stop at local workshops to see Kalaga tapestries being made and gold leaf being beaten into paper-thin pieces. From here, we go to Kuthodaw Pagoda, where the Theravada Buddhist scriptures are inscribed on 729 marble slabs, giving rise to its nickname, ‘the world’s largest book’. 
   • See the beautiful teak-carved Shwenandaw Monastery, the only royal palace building to survive the World War II bombing. Atop Mandalay Hill lie glittering glass-studded temple walls, which reflect the evening glow as you watch the sunset. 
   • Witness the U Bein Bridge, which at over a kilometre, is believed to be the longest teak bridge in the world. 
   • Return to your hotel in Mandalay. 

    Accommodation: Hotel, Mandalay

   Meals included: Breakfast

2. Day 2: Heho - CBT Trip

   • Meet the tour guide to reach the CBT meeting point and leave Samkar village. Walk up the western slope of the Lwekhaw mountain range. 
   • Arrive at the peak of the mountain; you can look back to Samkar Lake and view patches of seasonal crops on the mountains. After a rest in the forest, continue to walk down to Lwemoon village, which is located on the eastern foot of the Lwekhaw mountain range. Lwemoon village population is formed from both Shan and Pa-O ethnic groups. The villagers can speak both languages, and they are still wearing their particular dresses. 
   • Continue to the east until Namtek village. The trek between Lwemoon and Namtek is flat, and it will take about one hour. On this land, depending on the season, either rice or garlic is grown in paddies. So we will walk across these paddy fields and can see many villagers as they are working in the fields. The villages around the plain make marvellous scenery. We will have lunch in one of the local houses in Namtek village. It is located between the eastern part of the plain and the western foot of the mountain range. The population of Namtek village is Shan and Pa-O as well, and they are also still wearing their own costumes all the time. Some of their homes are still built in their traditional style. We can learn about their language, culture, building style and ways of life and enjoy the view of the landscape in and around the village during lunch. 
   • Stop for the night at Htikaung village. The village is located in the valley of the Kaungneinmountain range, which keeps an important memory concerning national and ethnic history. The village is surrounded by hills and mountains. High trees are grown surrounding the village and look like the village’s fence. There is a big water source in the center of the Htikaung village. It is among a village forest, and there is a very old monastery nearby the water source. The villagers still are maintaining their own culture and rely on agriculture for their livelihood. 

   (Distance = 23 km; Walking hour = 7hrs (approximate); Trek condition = 10 % down, 50 % up and 40 % flat)

   Accommodation at CBT village

   Meals included: Breakfast+lunch+dinner

3. Day 3: Explore the CBT Villages

   • Have breakfast in Htikaung; we start walking to the top of the Kaungnaine mountain range at 8:00 AM. This is the highest mountain range in the eastern part of Inle Lake. The trek winds up from foot to the top of the mountain. Even though the mountain is high, it is easy to walk up. There are orange fields, natural forests, stone banks or rock faces, natural orchids on trees and different species of birds to observe throughout the valley. 
   • Get to the top, and we take a rest at the top of the mountain and enjoy the view of Inle Valley to the west and Hopong-Seseng valley to the east. 
   • Proceed to Pinton village through an area dense with pine and other valuable trees. Moreover, the monastery in Pinton village is good to visit because all the pillars are made from teak, so huge that it cannot be embraced with both arms. We can also see the young monks studying Buddhist literature. The picnic lunch will be taken on the way to a panoramic viewpoint. 
   • After lunch, we pass through the seasonal crops such as beans, corn, cheroot, garlic and paddy fields on the way to Maetine village. Here too, the villagers are still wearing traditional dresses and speaking their own language. We will stay overnight at that village. 

   (Distance = 23 km; Walking hour = 7hrs (approximate); Trek condition = 30 % down, 30 % up and 40 % flat)

   Accommodation at CBT village

   Meals included: Breakfast+lunch+dinner

4. Day 4: Maetine Village - Boat Ride on Inle Lake

   • Have breakfast at Maetine village, and we continue to Phatpon village(Shan & Pa-O). On the way, we can see their ways of life while passing through seasonal plantations such as paddy fields, cheroot, corn and beans. Lunch will be served with Pa-O traditional taste at Lwekan village. 
   • After lunch, we proceed to Kantawdam, which the villagers use for the irrigation of summer crops. 
   • Walk up to Thetlutt Mountain and down to Lwekhaw, a Pa-O village. 
   • Continue to Inpawkhon boat jetty. From here, you take the boat to return to your hotel on Inle Lake or the NyaungShwe jetty. While we return on the way, we will stop at some places if we have time. 

   (Distance = 16 km; Walking hour = 5hrs (approximate); Trek condition = 10 % down, 5 % up and 85 % flat)  

   Accommodation at CBT village

   Meals included: Breakfast+lunch+dinner 

5. Day 5: Departure

   • Transfer to Heho Airport and fly to Yangon International airport.