Amarapura, Mingun, Sagaing and Innwa Heritage Tour
Meet your Burmese driver at your hotel at 09:00 am and begin the tour to Amarapura.
Visit Mahargandaryone Monastery, a pleasantly meditative place for most of the day and one of the largest teaching monasteries in Myanmar, founded around 1914.
Saunter across U Bein Bridge, the world's largest teak footbridge, which gently curves 1300 yd across the shallow Taung Thaman Lake. It is especially beautiful at sunset.
Explore the weaving industry, one of the main professions of the people of Amarapura. More than one hundred looms are used to create beautiful and intricate silk design patterns.
Head towards Mingun and visit Mingun Pahtodawgyi, a roughly 240 ft cube on a 460 ft lower terrace, often described as the world's largest pile of bricks.
Proceed to Mya Thein Tan Pagoda, a large white-painted pagoda on the northern side of Mingun in the Sagaing Region, modelled on the physical description of the Buddhist mythological mountain, Mount Meru.
Marvel at the Giant Lion at Mingun, near the monumental unfinished stupa begun by King Bodawpaya in 1790.
See the Mingun Bell, a bronze bell weighing 55,555 visses (90 tons). It stands 13 ft high and measures over 16 ft across at the lip. Entrance information: 5000 MMK per person.
Continue to Sagaing and visit Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda. Its central 97 ft-high gilded stupa was originally conceived in 1312 and is one of the most important temples on the southern crown of Sagaing Hill.
Explore the U Min Thonze Caves, famed for their crescent-shaped colonnade of 45 Buddha images.
Proceed to Innwa, also known as Ava, and visit Maha Aungmye Bonzan. Built unusually of stucco-covered brick, this 1822 royal monastery temple is a rare survivor from the Ava era.
Gaze at the Watch Tower, the 90 ft leaning tower of Inwa, known for its beautiful and especially wide views from the top.
Continue to Yadanar Semi, a small but photogenic ensemble that brings together three sitting Buddhas and a handful of old brick stupas shaded by a giant flame tree.
Head towards Bagaya Monastery, Inwa's most memorable attraction. This teak monastery, built in 1834, is supported by 267 teak posts, the largest measuring 60 ft high and 9 ft in circumference, creating a prayer hall that is cool, dark, and genuinely ancient in atmosphere.
Remark: You will stop at the Innwa boat jetty after Sagaing. Then, you will rent a boat to visit Innwa city and also rent a horse-cart to go around Innwa city.
