Trip Overview

This 14-day Standard Myanmar Birding is the most popular and comprehensive birding tour that will take us to the five major birding sites of the country and provide detailed overview of the major birding sites, searching for all the country’s endemic, near endemic, widespread Southeast Asian and Asian mountain bird species, along with a number of Himalayan species. We begin our birding tour by picking you up at Yangon International Airport, followed by a private transfer to a hotel in Yangon and spend two night stays with an opportunity to marvel at the world’ largest gilded pagoda of Shwedagon as well as a chance to begin our introductory birding in the Hlawga park on the outskirts of bustling Yangon in search of lowland forest birds including the highly sought-after Davison’s Bulbul. Leaving Yangon behind, we take a morning domestic flight to Heho, from where a short drive will take us to the former British hill station of Kalaw. We spend two days exploring around Kalaw with the chance of locating the highly localized near endemic Burmese Yuhina and other highly sought-after Asian mountain birds. After two days of exploring around Kalaw, we drive the short distance east to the famous Inle Lake and spend the day at Inle Lake, exploring the best birding sites on the lake by boat and searching in particular for the scare and habitat-restricted Jerdon’s Bushchat, near-endemic Collared Myna and the desirable Chinese Grassbird, along with a number of water birds on the Lake. Departing from Inle Lake, we travel west on a short domestic flight heading towards the ancient city of Bagan in the central dry zone of the country. With about 4000 ancient monuments including over 2000 well preserved ancient temples and pagodas dating back from 9th to 13th century, Bagan is the richest archeological site in Southeast Asia. We spend two days exploring the best birding sites among the countless ancient temples and pagodas with the opportunity of finding these sought-after endemic species such as Burmese Bushlark, White-throated Babbler, Ayeyawady Bulbul, Burmese Collared-Dove, Jerdon’s Minivet and the seldom-encountered Hooded Treepie, along with a selection of other fantastic species. Heading west from Bagan, we take a private long drive towards the Natmataung (Mt.Victoria) national park in the Chin Hills which are mountain ranges that consist of a southern extension of the eastern Himalayas and we spend four nights at a comfortable mountain resort set inside the national park with an excellent opportunity of seeking these highly sought-after endemics such as White-browed Nuthatch and Burmese Tit, along with very near-endemic species such as Chin Hills Wren-Babbler, Mount Victoria Babax, Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Striped and Brown-capped Laughingthrush as well as a huge selection of other sought-after Himalayan species that cannot be found anywhere in Southeast Asia. After three full days of searching for the specialties in the Natmataung National Park, we make our way back down to dry and hot Bagan, where we stay overnight before returning to Yangon. We fly back to Yangon for our last overnight and on our final morning in Yangon we conclude our fascinating birding tour with a private transfer back to Yangon International Airport for your International departure flight back home.

Practical Information

Practical Information