BudgetTravel

The Real Deal: Thirteen nights' accommodations, sightseeing, and breakfast daily from $905 per person.

When: Depart May 6, June 3, 17, July 1, 15, 29, 2007.

The Fine Print: Note that the $905 rate is paid as follows: $655 in advance and $250 cash due on arrival to cover local transportation. Expect to spend about an extra $150 per person for meals not included in the package. Airfare is additional, and there is a $10 departure tax. Single travelers will be paired with a roommate of the same sex; no single supplement. Maximum group size is 15 people. U.S. citizens are required to obtain a tourist visa and should contact the Myanmar Embassy. For general guidelines on evaluating deals, click here.

Book By: No deadline; based on availability.

Contact: G.A.P Adventures, 800/708-7761, gapadventures.com.

Why It's a Deal: Booking the G.A.P package provides the reassurance and convenience of traveling with experienced guides to an unfamiliar, repressive country. (Consider that independent travelers are often charged much higher rates for services than locals would pay.) The $905 rate breaks down to about $70 per person per night for accommodations, transportation, sightseeing, and daily breakfast.

Trip Details: The guided tour of Myanmar--traditionally known as Burma--begins with a brief orientation in its biggest city, Yangon. The next morning you'll board a bus for the ride to Kyaiktiyo, where you'll hike along a path trod by Buddhist pilgrims to a holy mountainside shrine.

The next day you'll travel to the small town of Bago (formerly called Pegu), which is famous for its giant reclining Buddha structure. A train trip--on comfy reclining seats, according to G.A.P--brings you to Mandalay, where the kings of Burma once held court. You'll visit the old city of Amarapura, home to a teak bridge, and the temples along Sagaing Hill.

After a day trio to the hill station Pyin U Lwin, you'll continue by public ferry along the Irrawaddy River for the 7-to-11-hour journey to Pagan. The city is filled with thousands of temples built between the 11th and 13th centuries; the country's isolation has kept many of its cultural traditions and historical sites intact.

The last few days are spent by Inle Lake with visits to local villages and monasteries, hikes, and a half-day boat tour. You'll catch a 70-minute flight (on a domestic carrier such as Air Mandalay or Yangon Airways) back to Yangon, where you'll tour the majestic Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset and enjoy a group dinner.

Note that all 13 nights are spent in modest hotels with which G.A.P works regularly. The trip begins and ends at the Panorama Hotel in Yangon. You can extend your stay in Yangon for $40 per night for solo travelers or $25 per person per night, based on double occupancy.

Making the choice to visit a country with a bleak human rights record can be difficult. Activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for one, has asked Westerners to avoid travel to Myanmar while its regime remains in place. Some tour operators refuse to run trips there.