This year’s New Year celebration in Myanmar promises to be big! And you can join in the fun and festivities! Called Thingyan in Burma, it involves water, and lots of it! You’ll definitely get wet, so comfortable clothes are highly advised.

Welcome to Yangon, the start of your festive trip! Take a tour of the city and check out the eccentric mix of colonial buildings, glittering pagodas and serene lakes. Today is also Thingyan Eve. Locals will make merit and perform religious ceremonies at local temples. Feel free to join in. But be warned, celebrations start this evening!

Things go wild in day two! Hop on the back of a truck and join in the water fight! We truly hope you have your water pistol this day. Show them what you got! Enjoy the day and the H20. The waters celebrations do hold symbolic meaning; sins and bad deeds from the previous year are being washed away.

Let’s head out for more water, this time of the salty variety. Yes, we’re going to the Ngwe Saung Beach. Keep in mind that the New Year celebrations are still going on so be prepared for the water war. The atmosphere is a little more subdued here, so there will be time for you to kick back and enjoy the seaside atmosphere. Spend your days in leisure here. Feel free to join the villagers in the festival.

After your relaxing beach experience, hop in a car for the drive back to Yangon. The celebrations are still going on, but it is at a more relaxed pace than the water throwing from the back of the truck experience you had the last time you were here. This final day is one where the locals go to temple to make merit and you’ll visit Shweadagon Pagoda to observe the activities of the devout Buddhist people. Observing New Year’s Day at Shwedagon is an enlightening experience and the perfect way to end your Burmese New Year.

Now that the celebrations are over, you can enjoy a circular train ride around the city – in peace! This is a great way to observe the lively and colorful life of the rural Burmese people and to truly say goodbye to your experience here.

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