Tour type
Tour Level: Relaxed / Easy
Tour Comfort: Standard
Tour Period: 2 Days
English Mandalay, Mingun
tour highlights
- Sleep on board a wooden fishing boat
- See locals and dolphins work together to catch their prey
- Visit stilt villages, temples, and markets, including the largest bronze bell in the world
- Enjoy local food and living traditional culture
tour details
Witness dolphins frolicking in their natural habitat while interacting with the people that live near them day in and day out. Journey to Shein-ma-kar village by private boat and visit a small bazaar. Then, reach another stilt house village and see locals at work and rest. That evening, you’ll board a fisherman’s canoe and search for Ayeyarwady dolphins, who ‘work together’ with local fishermen to catch their dinner. Sleep on the boat and wake up early to see more dolphins in action. Then, another village beckons, this one specialising in elderly care and meditation. After lunch, you’ll head back to Mandalay, visiting the 87-ton brass Mingun Bell, the largest in the world. You’ll also visit Hsinbyum Paya and the massive, unfinished Mingun Pagoda.
Why choose this tour?
- A conservative tour to discover the habitat of endangered Ayeyarwady dolphins
- Experience of witnessing the unique cooperative fishing of fishermen and dolphins
- Sightseeing in the anceint cultural city of Mingun
customise the tour
- Combine with Mandalay and its countryside excursions
- Optional overnight accommodation at Hsithe Village Eco Lodge
- Unlimited photo opportunity during the tour
includes
- Transfer services with private air conditioned car/coach as detailed in our itinerary
- Meals as specified in the itinerary (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch and D=Dinner)
- All entrance fees for the places as mentioned in the programme
- Transfers and tours with English-speaking locally-stationed guides
- Service charges, room tax and baggage handling
- Accommodation on board or at a monastery inside the village (mattresses, beds, pillows, mosquito nets, bed sheet and blankets will be provided)
- Filtered drinking water and wet towels during the tour
excludes
- Domestic airfare
- Myanmar visa fee
- Surcharges for throughout guides (English and other languages)
- Personal expenditure, such as drinks, souvenirs, laundry, camera fees, communications, postage, gratuities etc.
- Meals and services other than mentioned in the programme
- Drinks with meals
- Compulsory gala dinners during festive seasons and peak season surcharges which will be advised at the time of booking
- Peak season in general is between 15 December to 15 January and 13-17 April
- Early check-in and late check-out at hotels, if not mentioned in the programme
- Travel insurance (cover against all cancellation costs, medical expenses, including repatriation, in the event of accident or illness)
notes
- Be cautious and courteous: approach areas of known or suspected dolphin activity with extreme caution. Look in all directions before planning your approach or departure.
- Slow down: reduce speed to less than 2 knots when within 300 metres of the nearest dolphin. Avoid abrupt course changes.
- Use only row boats to observe human-dolphin fishing activity
- Wear a life jacket while in the row boat.
- Keep clear of the dolphins' path. If dolphins approach you, cautiously move out of the way.
- Reduce your speed and cautiously move away if a dolphin surfaces within 10 metres of the row boat.
- Do not approach or position your row boat closer than 10 metres to any dolphin.
- Do not approach dolphins from the front or from the side. Always approach and depart dolphins from behind, moving in a direction parallel to the direction of the dolphins.
- Do not try to swim with, touch, or throw things at dolphins.
- Keep your boat on the inshore side of the cooperative fishing boat.
- Do not ride on the cooperative fishing boat. Passengers are not allowed on these boats. They are unstable and cannot be manoeuvred with the extra weight.
- Limit your viewing time to a recommended maximum of one hour. This will minimise the cumulative impact of dolphin-watching boats and give consideration to other viewers.
- Allow no more than 2 rowboats to observe the human-dolphin cooperative fishing at any one time.
- Be quiet. Use only sign language during cooperative fishing.
- Do not throw things into river which are not biologically degradable.
Tour code: PKMNADDB
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