Myanmar Festival Photo Tour & Workshop

 

Including the Ananada Pagoda Festival in Bagan

January 3 - 14, 2012

 

Myanmar, or Burma as it used to be called, is one of the best places in the world to photograph a unique culture with world treasures. The people are very friendly and more than happy to be in your photographs too. This combination creates a photo rich environment and a great place to take your photography to the next level. You will visit sites in Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake while learning how to improve the pictures you take. You will come home with jaw dropping photos of craftspeople, farmers, fishermen, monks, vendors and more as you walk and ride around festivals, temples, pagodas, monasteries, villages and farms.

 

Myanmar Photo Tour & Workshop is specifically designed for people that want to experience this mystical travel destination while improving their travel photography skills. You will start your journey in Yangon, an old colonial city on the Yangon River. Here you will get your first glimpse at what this country has to offer with a visit to Shwedagon Paya, the most sacred Buddhist site in Myanmar. Once you have spent some time taking photos here, with complete freedom to photograph temples, monks, pagodas and everyone that visits this site, you will realize that this will be no ordinary photo tour.

 

From Yangon, you fly to Mandalay, in the center of the country, for visits to historical sites, craftspeople, monasteries and a lively riverfront. You will have a chance to photograph Palaik, Mingun and Ava to capture images of old temples, pagodas, monasteries, schools and villages. You will watch craftspeople make gold leaf, marble and bronze statues, pottery and silver bowls. You will see the busy riverfront from both the land and a boat and watch people load and unload boats by hand.

 

 

Next you fly to Bagan, an archeological zone with over 4,000 temples that are centuries old. Here you will experience the Ananda Pagoda Festival on the full moon day where thousands of people celebrate the limitless wisdom of Buddha. Villagers use bullock carts to travel to and camp in the area around the pagoda so this is a unique opportunity to photograph traditional rural life and a festival at the same time. You will also visit the most impressive temples, pagodas and monasteries and have a chance to photograph them from the land, water and air. You will climb several pagodas for sunrise and sunset views. You will cruise by temples on the Ayeyarwady River and you will even take a hot air balloon flight as the sun rises over the temples.

 

 

You fly from Bagan to Heho near Inle Lake. Here you will witness village life on the lake. The fishermen here have a unique way of paddling their boats with the legs while preparing to drop fishing nets. The villagers live in houses on stilts over the water and boats are the only form of transportation. You will spend several days here photographing the fishermen, farmers, craftspeople, vendors and monks that live in and around the lake. You will have a chance to photograph people from different tribes including long neck people. You will see blacksmiths, silk and lotus weavers, paper and umbrella makers, cheroot makers, boat builders and sugar makers.

 

You fly back to Yangon for one last chance to capture images here. You will visit this old colonial city with remnants of its British occupation. The day will end with another visit to Shwedagon Paya to give you one more chance to capture this huge complex in photos.

 

Trip Ratings

 

Physical Demands: 2      Comfort: 4      Culture Shock: 3

 

• Tour Cost: $5,900 per person

• Single Supplement Fee: $700 per person

 

 

For more information, a detailed itinerary and application can be downloaded by clicking on the links below.

 

Myanmar Photo Tour and Workshop Itinerary - 2012

 

Myanmar Photo Tour and Workshop Application