The Road to Mandalay River Cruise

Myanmar

Mandalay—one of the most evocative names on the globe. Kipling immortalized it (though he never visited) and Sinatra sang the tune. The capital of Burma (now Myanmar) prior to British rule (which lasted from the mid-19th century until 1948), and known as the Golden City, Mandalay was built in the 19th century by the last of the royal leaders and is still redolent of its royal past as the heartland of Burmese culture and religion. Its huge market is a thriving phantasmagoria of earthy smells and a polyglot mixture of cultures. Mandalay is the starting point for a cruise down the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, the country’s great natural highway and the focal point of Burmese life. The urban centers of its 2,500-year-old civilization line the banks, including the city of Bagan (formerly Pagan), where, along 8 miles of riverbank, some 2,200 Buddhist pagodas nestle so close together that they resemble a forest of spires and pinnacles. Founded by a Burmese king in A.D. 849, Bagan reached its apogee about 1000 and was abandoned in 1283 when Kublai Khan, in control of northern India, swept south with his soldiers. It was believed that building religious structures gained merit for a king and his people, so an army of skilled artisans embellished this spiritual center with what may originally have been more than 10,000 religious monuments.... read more >>

EUROPE

From the Highland Games of Scotland to the Acropolis in Greece, wine-tasting in Burgundy to walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and Count Dracula's Castle in Romania to Santa's Village in Finland.

AFRICA

From the Great Pyramids of Giza to the Imilchil Betrothal Fair in Morocco, safari in Kenya's Masai Mara to climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and the spectacular Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

MIDDLE EAST

From the Dead Sea to Jerusalem's Old City, the rose-red city of Petra in Jordan to Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, shopping in Dubai's Gold Souk to one of the world's oldest inhabited cities in Yemen.

ASIA

From Beijing's Forbidden City to Xi'an's Terra-Cotta Warriors, Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival to Calcutta's Marble Palace, Turkey's Whirling Dervishes to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

USA & CANADA

From the Las Vegas strip to the French Quarter in New Orleans, Alaska's Inside Passage to Skating the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, and sailing at Cape Cod to whale-watching in Vancouver.

LATIN AMERICA

From the Mayan Ruins in Mexico to Belize's Barrier Reef, the San Blas Archipelago of Panama to Buenos Aires's Tango Bars, and Machu Picchu in Peru to the Penguin Rookeries of Antarctica.

The CARIBBEAN, BAHAMAS & BERMUDA

From Cap Juluca in Anguilla to the Shark Rodeo at Walker's Cay in the Bahamas, Cuba's Jazz Festival to Sailing the Grenadines, and Old San Juan in Puerto Rico to Carnival in Trinidad.

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & The PACIFIC ISLANDS

From the Sydney Opera House to Ayers Rock, New Zealand's Tasman Glacier to the Cook Island's Dance Festival, the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea to Tonga's Heilala Festival.
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