After breakfast at your hotel, your guide and driver will pick you up to start your ‘alternative’ Bagan itinerary. You’ll first visit the Nyaung U market, a busy morning market where locals gather from surrounding villages to buy and sell produce, crafts, spices and other goods. Stop for a cup of tea in a local teahouse, a key part of daily life in Myanmar and a great place from which to observe the busy morning activities.

Then continue to the neighbouring villages where you will learn about their traditional livelihood. Learn the interesting process of creating “”Poneyay”” (pea powder paste) and see how local plum jam is made and packed. In addition, visit workshops of two of the region’s best known products: handmade lacquer ware and wooden handicrafts.

In addition, you will visit the villages and observe about how Cartwrights make a traditional bullock carts, still used by farmers and locals throughout the country. The craftsmen love to share their techniques with visitors and the curious kids from the village are usually happy to come and meet you.