Location: Ayeyarwaddy in Mandalay, Myanmar
Duration: 2 days/1 night
Start/End: your hotel in Mandalay
Highlights of this tour
- Explore Myay-zun Village
- Witness the “cooperative fishery” in Mandalay
- See Mingun Bell
- Visit Mingun Paya, and Hsinbyume Paya
- Full Itinerary
- Price & Inclusion
- Accommodation
- Photos
Day 01: Mandalay – Mingun – Myay-zun Village
Mandalay trip starts at your reserved hotel followed by taking one- hour on a boat trip on the Ayeyarwaddy River to Mingun and meanwhile, get a first-hand look at idyllic scenery filled with local boats and bamboo rafts.
Next, visit the Mingun Bell, weighing 87 tons and being the world´s largest intact bronze bell, Mingun Paya, and Hsinbyume Paya. In the afternoon, after embarking on a boat, we will reach Myay-zun village on the river bank.
Next, zip through the serene village and study the socio-economics of the community. Overnight in Myay-zun – the village monastery.
Day 02: Myay-zun Village – Mandalay
After breakfast, we will start early by hoping on a fisherman’s boat canoe to have a closer look at Ayeyawaddy Dolphins to witness the beautiful interaction between the lovely Dolphins and local fishermen for an insight into the lifestyle of riverside residents.
The trip ends with a scenic sail along the river back to Mandalay.
What’s included?
- Entrance fees & permits
- Tours guide (English speaking tour guide)
- Ship/ ferry fare
- Good (private) car or van with air-condition
- One bottle of water/per person
What’s excluded?
- Drinks & beverage
- Others not mentioned
- Insurance
at 7:11 am
In Myanmar, this program and practices will raise awareness of the community and local fishermen of protecting lovely dolphins from extinction and keeping productive and sustainable livelihoods, or create the partnership between human and dolphins. Yearly systematic direct-count surveys conducted in 2002-2010 indicated that the population of dolphins between Mandalay and Bhamo is about 90. Fresh-water Dolphins are called ‘Ayeyarwaddy Dolphins’, found on the Ayeyarwaddy River – the most important commercial waterway in Myanmar, which has its sources from the glaciers of the eastern Himalayas until it reaches the Bay of Bengal. Dolphins are generally well-regarded because of their direct economic benefits to cast-net fishermen, creating the cooperative fishery.
Specifically, it plays an important role in the livelihoods of more than 100 fishing families. Hence, the fisherman does not kill a dolphin and they work together to make fishing safer, or called “cooperative fishery” The cooperative fishery occurs only between Mingun and Kyaukmyaung (about 74km in river length) that supports 22-32% of the dolphin population during the dry season, so these braided channels were selected as the first area to receive official protected area status.