Destinations: Yangon – Kalemyo – Sitthaung – Toungoo – Bagan
COST : $ 7,840 /pax
Duration: 21 days / 20 nights – Type: group tour
Departure: Delightful walk through some of the oldest wooden village houses in Burma.Delightful walk through some of the oldest wooden village houses in Burma.Delightful walk through some of the oldest wooden village houses in BurmaThe scenery on this cruise is spectacular and we are welcomed with astonishment by the many remote communities through which we passed.
Day 1 :Yangon / Kalemyo
05:00 Registration is at Chatrium Hotel – 40 Natmauk Road – Tamwe Township – Tamwe Township
05:15 AM, transfer to airport
Morning flight to Kalemyo, the gateway town for the Chin State. We explore Kalewa with its markets and quaint wooden architecture.
Meals: Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 2 : Kalewa / Kindat
Stop for morning walk at Balet, a charming and typical river community.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 3 :Kindat / Paungbyin
Kindat was as far as the old IFC steamers ventured outside of the Monsoon season. This part of the Chindwin valley is very sparsely populated and villages are few and far between.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 4 : Sithaung
We pass the mouth of the Yu River which drains the Kubu valley. Sitthaung was the final resting place of a number of IFC steamers scuppered there in 1942.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 5 : Toungdoot
Toungdoot, or Hswang-hsup in Tain, is an ancient Shan enclave which in British times still had a ruling prince or sawbwa complete with palace and court.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 6 : Homalin
We pass the Uyu River worked by gold washers on the way to Homalin, the furtherst navigable point on the Chindwin for vessels of our size.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 7 : Mawlaik
Mawlaik replaced Kindat as the administrative capital. Like other towns of the Upper Chindwin, they can only be reached by boat so cars are few.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 8 : Mingkin
Mingkin features Konbaung court style teak monasteries which are sumptuously decorated. Mingkin may be described as the Luang Prabang of the Chindwin.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruises
Day 9 : Monywa
Entering the Lower Chindwin where the river widens and the forested hills fall away to farmland, we pass a number of attractive villages. We will explore Monywa and time permitting make a quick trip to the Thanbodi Temple with its million Buddha images.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 10 : Cruise to Pagan
Cruise all day to the great Lower Chindwin plain.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 11 :Pagan
Tour a selection of the most significant of the 3,000 Buddhist monuments found at this World Heritage Site. We will visit lacquerware manufacturers. Sail in the afternoon and evening walk in Oh Ne Kyaung village to see the local life in this typical river side community.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 12 : Yandabo Village
We head upstream to the Chindwin confluence and stop in the evening at Yandabo. Here we visit the Pandaw School built with donations from past Pandaw passengers.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruises
Day 13 : Ava and Amarapura
In the morning we travel to Ava and explore the ruins, visiting Bagaya Kyaung, a 200 year old royal monastery made of teak with elaborate wood carvings. In the afternoon we travel to Mandalay for an orientation tour of the city area visiting the Mahamuni Pagoda and sunset at Amarapura U-Bein Bridge.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruises
Day 14 : Mingun Pagoda and Bell
We cast off early and stop at Mingun to see the largest working bell in the world and the unfinished pagoda that is the largest single mass of brick building in the world. We also visit the Mingun Old People’s Home originally established with the assistance of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in the 1930s.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruises
Day 15 :Kyaung-Myoung Potteries
Visit the spectacular potteries near Kyauk-Myoung. We enter the Third Defile and sail upstream all day stopping at Khan-nyat village with its many Buddhist monasteries and an orphanage we support.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruises
Day 16 : Tagaung Ancient City
Explore by foot the ancient city of Tagaung viewing the fortifications. In the evening we climb the Pagoda Hill at Tigyang with its stunning views of the Irrawaddy.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 17 :Burmese Days
We reach the enchanting colonial town of Katha, setting for George Orwell’s Myanma Days. Katha was the final resting place of the old flotilla and here over a hundred ships were scuppered in 1942.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 18 : Shwegu and Kyun-Daw
We continue upstream to Shwegu and Kyun-daw, a midstream island of monasteries and countless small pagodas. Cruise through the 2nd Defile, the most dramatic of the three gorges, with cliffs towering over the narrow channel.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 19 : Inn-ywa
Delightful walk through some of the oldest wooden village houses in Burma.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 20 : Khanyat
Visit a Buddhist orphanage and the grave of an English officer assassinated here during the Pacification of Burma (1887).
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Accommodation: Pandaw Cruise
Day 21 :Mandalay
Disembark the ship between 8.00 am – 9.00 am at Shwe Kyet Yet Jetty, Mandalay.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: NA
Important Notes:
- PROGRAMS & SCHEDULES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE
- River Conditions Warning!
- The rivers you will sail on are subject to seasonal rises and falls of water level, in some places as much as 30 metres. Water levels can change dramatically overnight and a sudden rise can impede our progress upstream considerably and even prevent us from passing under certain bridges. A sudden fall can result in our being unable to get into certain places or go as far upstream as we would hope. Groundings on sandbars are not infrequent and are part of the excitement of any Pandaw expedition. Published itineraries are indicational only and subject to sudden change. In such events alternative itineraries will be provided and we do our best to ensure that if a stop is missed we make up for it with another stop. Passengers are thus forewarned and expected to be flexible and patient. River cruising in Asia can be a dramatic and adventurous experience – not like cruising the controlled waterways of Europe or America. Note also that we operate in areas with little or no developed infrastructure and subject to the strictures of local officialdom. Be prepared for this and it is all more the fun!