bandersnatchy, obviously. sounds rather lewd tho.

Bandersnatchable? Bandersnatchous?

Oh, Boojum, Panda: How can I reduce the number of days on the Pandaw? Should I jump off and swim? The water would probably be warm enough! We already signed up for the 14-day cruise. There is no way that these 2 friends would have consented to spending 2 weeks in Burma on a land-based trip. Burma was not even on the radar until I mentioned the Pandaw.
They do not like to get their day started until about 10am so we would not have gotten vary far in Burma on our own! At least I will not have to be the drill sargeant as far as morning wake up calls!
You are absolutely correct about the meshing. It could be quite a horror show. I am sure there will be lots of stories--remember Dogster and the tent-woman?

I'm sure you will bring your own special personality to the 14 day trip and your fellow passengers will be enthralled. And I'm sure you be equally enthralled by them. Just kill me. Disaster awaits. This will be much fodder for Fodors.

If it's really awful, eks could jump ship (after all, it's not like she'll be mid-ocean) and meet up with her friends again in Mandalay. And if it's really, really awful she will be required to stay onboard and document it in excrutiating detail for our amusement.

Perfect Kathie! There would be nothing better than a detailed report of massive Bandersnatchiness.

An onboard trip report sounds great, but somehow I doubt there is wireless on the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy. And it will be wonderous, so there will be no bandersnatching.

Two further questions:

1. What is the best way to book a flight from Bangkok to Yangon? Thai Airways has an early morning (8am) flight and I am assuming that this is the best flight to take. Shall I book with Thai online, or shall I ask a Bangkok TA to book this for me and have the ticket delivered to my hotel in Bangkok? (Agent Hanuman??)

2. There are very few cabins booked on the Pandaw cruise for our dates in 2010. Does PAndaw ever cancel cruises for lack of passengers?

Many thanks....faithfully yours, ekscrunchy

You can book your Bangkok to Rangoon flight online. The tickets are e-tickets, so even if you book with a Bangkok travel agent, they will email you your ticket.

eks - have you been following this thread? http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...the-rajang.cfm

I booked my BKK-RGN flight with Eddie at seatours - at the time it was cheaper than on-line. I'm sure Kathie has done research on current prices though.

Seems like everyone is doing e-tickets these days. Even my Varanasi-Kathmandu flight on Indian Air next February is on an e-ticket.

Craig, you're right, I did check, and the price is the same right now, though it isn't always. I've ended up having Eddie book the flight as he's booking my intra-Burma flights.

The tickets that are not e-tickets are the intra-Burma flights... I wish they were!

Thursday---OMG!!!!!!!! Is that thread a joke?????????? I could not even bear to read the entire tale...!!!!!!!

Eks, make sure you read it all the way yo the end. The usual maiden voyage glitches aren't the point...

eks - if you don't want to read the whole thing (certainly doesn't seem to be any kind of a joke), try restarting here: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...omment-5893776 - and then read ALL the way to the end.

Oh, dear! I just read the final denouement and now will return to read the entire thread in detail.

On an unrelated note, I found a good flight from Bangkok to Yangon on Bangkok Air but seem to be unable to learn prices or to book flights for my dates. When I try dates in September, I can get the information on their site, but when I put in my real dates, the site says that "no flights are available."

Bangkok Air seems to have a daily flight on most days of the week, including mine. Is it not possible to book these 6 months out, or does it mean that they will not have those flights in February?

MANY thanks to everyone for all the help on these niggling details..you can tell that I am a bit shaky with planning the transport end of things..

Back to the saga...

EKS-call Bangkok Air at 866-226-4565. It's a call center in India, but they can give accurate information. You can also book a flight on the call. You have to follow up with payment, but it's simple , if old fashioned. Should be perfect for you (The Snark appears). I've always been reduced to calling. The website is inadequate.

eks, I think you are just too far out from the flight date.

The Bangkok-Rangoon options are Thai, Bangkok Air and Air Asia.

MANY thanks, yet again.

Did someone use the word "obsessive" in the same sentence as the name, ekscrunchy?


ps. on the issue of Pandaw cancellations for lack of participants, should I quit worrying?

Just in case - I think the Road to Mandalay is operating again so perhaps you should check with them as well. More luxurious too!

http://www.orient-express.com/web/rt...o_mandalay.jsp