Documenting Democracy

Meet your Rustic Pathways staff, a combination of native Burmese and non-local staff with backgrounds in filmmaking and digital storytelling. Visit the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, the most famous religious site in the nation.

Identify your story through a series of activities before heading into the streets of Yangon to put your new skills to the test. Explore the famous Bogyoke Market, have conversations with locals at tea shops, and interview university students.

Visit a local monastery and give alms, an integral part of local Buddhist tradition and Burmese culture. Screen two Burmese documentaries before meeting the filmmakers. Get the millennial perspective of how Myanmar has changed at Inya Lake. Eat dinner at the former home of Gen. Aung San, the father of prominent politician and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Wander the dusty roads and explore the hundreds of temples that dot the landscape. Visit a monastic school in the afternoon to learn about its initiatives and the goals it has for students. Watch a beautiful sunset over ancient ruins.

• Customization Example: Skip Bagan to reduce the program length to six days.

Take a chartered boat across the Irrawaddy to a small island in the middle of the river rarely visited by tourists—home to several of Rustic Pathways’ staff members and their families. Learn about the village by meeting local community members, including the head of the village. Play soccer and cane ball, ride oxen, and enjoy a traditional Burmese dinner.

Touch down in Mandalay, one of the most famous and intriguing cities in all of Southeast Asia and home to 70 percent of the country’s Buddhist monks. Head across the historic U Bein Bridge to explore the village where Myanmar Country Manager Myint Zaw lives. Interview his family and learn about the complicated land rights issues playing out in Myanmar.

• Customization Example: Add a day or two in Mandalay. Interview local journalists, visit a monastic school or explore Shwenandaw Monastery, built by King Thibaw in 1878.

Explore a village where traditional life is as it was several decades ago during home visits—your last day to conduct interviews and develop your story. Take an evening flight to Yangon and reflect on the people you’ve met, places you’ve visited, and moments you’ve captured.

Bid farewell to your Burmese staff and connect to your international flight back home.