SUMMER & FALL 2012 - VOLUME 3 - Senior Tours Canada

TENTATIVE ITINERARY - BURMA, YUNNAN & BANGKOKDAY 1DAY 2DAY 3DAY 4DAY 5DAY 6DAY 7DAY 8DAY 9DAY 10DEPARTURE. We depart for Kunming in China’sYunnan Province, via Hong Kong.KUNMING. We arrive and transfer to our hotel.KUNMING. Our full-day excursion takes us to theincredible Stone Forest where we will besurrounded by rising stone peaks and layer uponlayer of green hills and forest. En route we visit aminority village. A local flavor dinner with singingand dancing awaits us in the evening.DALI. A short flight takes us to Dali, famous for themany types of marble produced in the area. Webegin our visit with a boat cruise on Erhai Lake witha visit to a local fishing village on Jinsuo Island. Wethen see the three pagodas of ChongshenMonastery, located at the foot of Zhonghe Peak.The pagodas are a symbol of the city's long andcelebrated history, the tallest of the trio, almost 70meters, was built in 836AD.DALI / LIJIANG. This morning we have a tour ofDali’s 600-year-old Ancient Town. We then drive toLijiang, stopping enroute to visit a local residencein Xizhou County and enjoy a three-course teaceremony. On arrival in Lijiang we see the BlackDragon Pool - the main headwater of the YushuiRiver which goes through the Old Town, and visitthe Dongba Culture Museum.LIJIANG. We begin with a cable car ride up JadeDragon Snow Mountain to the “Yak Meadow” - thesouthernmost marine glacier in the northernhemisphere. We continue to Yuhu Village, formerresidence of Dr. Rock who introduced Lijiang to thewestern world. We visit the ancient Naxi Town ofDayan, inhabited by the Naxi minority people. Herethe streets are paved with the local stone slabs andmany stone bridges and arches in the city werebuilt during the Ming and Qing dynasties.LIJIANG / SHANGRI-LA (ZHONGDIAN). We driveto Shangri-La, located in a Tibetan region of ChinaEn route we visit Tiger Leap Gorge, one of thelongest and narrowest gorges in the world.SHANGRI-LA. Today’s touring includes the naturalwonderland of Pudacuo National Park, the largestTibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan and thelocal Tibetan Town where we have the chance tomeet a local Tibetan family.YANGON (MYANMAR). We fly to Yangon(Rangoon), the capital of Myanmar and transfer toour hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.YANGON. Our sightseeing begins at Sule Pagoda,a gleaming octagonal pagoda that stands squarelyat the center point of the city. We visit the NationalMuseum followed by some free time at BogyokeMarket which contains crafts from all corners ofMyanmar. In the afternoon we visit some of themore well know pagodas including ChaukhtatgyiPagoda and Shwedagon Pagoda.DAY 11DAY 12DAY 13DAY 14DAY 15DAY 16DAY 17DAY 18DAY 19BAGAN. We fly to Bagan, a spectacular plaindotted with thousands of 800-year-old temple ruins.Today we visit some of the most famous ones.BAGAN. Today we explore more fascinatingtemples, and attend a demonstration oflaquerware production.MANDALAY. We fly to Mandalay, the last capital ofroyal Burma and still a cultural and spiritual centre.Our touring begins at Amarapura, another formerroyal capital, to visit Mahagandayon Monasterywhere every morning the monks line up to receivetheir daily offering of alms and food from faithfulBuddhists. We also see U Bein’s Bridge, anancient teak bridge that is the highlight of any visitto Amarapura. On our way back to Mandalay wevisit more of the most important and impressivePagodas and Monasteries in the area.INLE LAKE. Today we fly to Inle Lake to enjoy thespectacular scenery and observe the skilledfisherman using their leg-rowing technique topropel around the lake. We then visit the floatinggardens, a market and an Intha village.INLE LAKE. We travel by boat to the westernshore of Inle lake where a stairway leads to ahidden Indein temple complex consisting ofhundreds of small stupas overgrown by moss andgreens. We also visit Khaung Daing Village wherewe board a small wooden canoe to observe theunique life of the Intha people. Paddle peacefullyaround the village and visit a cottage industrywhere traditional silk is made.YANGON. We fly back to Yangon. On arrival weenjoy a walking tour from Maha Bandoola Streetthrough Chinatown, an area alive with freshmarkets for vegetables, meat and flowers. We stopat a typical shop to watch the making of flat ricenoodles and rice flour pancakes before wecontinue to the Indian Quarter, passing Hindutemples and the Jewish Synagogue. We end theday with a refreshment at the historic Strand Hotel.BANGKOK. We fly to Bangkok today and transferto our hotel. The balance of the day is at leisure.BANGKOK. Our tour begins with GoldenMountain, an old burial with fantastic views of thecity and surrounding area. We then visit the GrandPalace, home to the beautiful Emerald BuddhaTemple. We continue to WAT PO where we see thecolossal reclining Buddha and enjoy a 30-minuteThai massage. After lunch we travel by speed boaton the picturesque Chao Phraya River and klongs(or canals) to see family homes and the flowermarket where we see how merchants createbeautiful flower garlands. This evening we enjoy aThai Dinner and Classical Dance.HOME. We transfer to the airport for our flightshome (via Hong Kong).53.