Northern Burma on the RV Pandaw II
 

The thirty passengers going on this cruise flew from Yangon to Kalemyo on Sept. 4, 2014, and boarded the boat at Kalewa on the Chinwin River in northwest Burma. We traveled as far north as Homalin, then sailed south to Bagan, and, leaving the Chinwin near Mandalay, set forth north on the Irrawaddy River as far as the Second Defile (gorges) near Shwegu and Kyun-Daw. We then reversed direction and disembarked in Mandalay on Sept. 23, being aboard the vessel, altogether, twenty nights.

I have quite mixed feelings about this trip. They are both of a personal nature about myself and an evaluation of Pandaw. Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to go to northern Burma and my two visits to Burma twenty years ago, when most of the country was off limits to foreigners, fueled the desire. Getting to that remote area necessitated joining an adventure such as that offered by Pandaw. What I failed to realize was that there would be hours and hours, day after day, of unscheduled activity. I was bored out of my skull half of the time. One can read only so much. The sameness of the view---river traffic, small huts along the shore, women washing clothes on rocks beside the water---began to blunt the senses. Generally, we visited two villages ashore each day and, before long, I had to use discipline not to say, "if you've seen one village, you've seen them all." I was not alone in that sentiment. At the same time, however, visiting the villages, talking to the people, and see their living style was a highlight of the trip.

Now, about Pandaw, the staff, crew, and passengers. Of the thirty passengers, about half were from Australia. The rest were from the U.S., the U.K., and Sweden. It was a congenial group, but I found it stressful to have to make conversation at every meal and at the evening cocktail hour (when a briefing about the next day was given) with twenty-nine of my newest best friends. Accommodations were good and we passengers were pampered by the crew. As for food, I would give A+ for presentation and B+ for quality. The chef liked dishes to have dramatic appearances and he made inexpensive ingredients look like haute cuisine. As an example, he took a martini glass, put a little milk in it, added a few cubes of mango, and served it as dessert. The best food was the bread, whose baker rose in the middle of the night to bake fresh.

I regret to have to say that the guide, while kind, generous, and hardworking, should go back to his original occupation in the construction business. He was not a teacher and could not explain most things in an intelligible manner. He had a limited English vocabulary, his pronunciation was often difficult to understand, and he used Burmese sentence construction (object, verb, subject) so that we listeners had to reassemble as best we could what he was telling us. The Purser likewise had limited understanding of English. In dealing with these men, I went around in circles a lot.

I am sorry to end my report on a bad note. On Day 14, one day north of Mandalay on the Irrawaddy River, I developed excruciating pain in the lower abdomen. I'll save you all the details, but say that I was terribly ill for a week, then flew directly from Mandalay to Bangkok for medical treatment, and, after three days, returned to the U.S. The Digestive Disease MD in Bangkok diagnosed my illness as food poisoning. The persistent cough that I developed, which added to my intestinal misery, was attributed by the respiratory specialist to the wind and other environmental factors of the cruise. Making arrangements for me to fly to Bangkok and contacting my insurance company were a nightmare because of limited Internet access and telephone service. In fact, my insurance company failed to cancel my return ticket and I had to buy another one from Bangkok. The message here is that unless a tourist is in the immediate vicinity of Bagan or Mandalay, there is no professional medical treatment available in northern Burma. I still feel that I was a lucky woman, however, because of the exceptional care of the Pandaw staff, crew, and passengers. ZZ

ZZ, so sorry to hear of your illness. Frankly, if I was sick, I wouldn't get treatment anywhere in Burma, though there is an SOS clinic in Yangon. Like you, I would fly to Bangkok. I hope your insurance reimbursed you for buying a new flight ticket!

As you know, I am very interested in your review of this trip, as we have thought seriously abut doing this trip next year. Your review does not encourage us to do so, though it doesn't rule it out. I appreciate your candid assessment.

I'm also sorry to hear about your illness. I realise that it's impossible to be certain about such matters, but do you have any idea of the source of the food poisoning ? Were you eating food during the village visits ?

sartoric: Six hours before I became ill, I ate vegetable curry for lunch. I do have an idea about the source of the food poisoning: the crew made a point of visiting the markets in villages where we stopped and buying food ingredients from local people. In walking through the markets, we saw plants, roots, herbs, mushrooms, and all manner of produce that had been gathered in the forest by the women and children. I figure that this was the origin of the problem. I never ate food in the villages, but I did drink some hot tea that a hospitable woman offered me.

Again, I sympathise (and empathise, got dysentery after trip to India, most unpleasant)

I think Pandaw is expanding rather rapidly, but no excuse to have poor quality guides, and a purser who is difficult to understand. I get what you say about the monotony of the riverbanks and villages.

I'd still like to do this trip though..

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

I am so sorry you got so sick. Nothing is more miserable, especially when you are traveling solo.

I appreciate your report, as I have occasionally considered Pandaw (mostly on the basis of dogster's reports), but I have to remind myself that I quickly get bored on boats. It does sound like Pandaw is either going downhill or expanding too fast.

Zambezi
I to was sorry to hear of your illness, Mrs SS was ill in Yangon two years ago, nothing to do with country or the food, and I understand how miserable in can be when travelling.
Incidentally, as my tum is delicate, I always have stand-by Ciprofloxacin from my Doc which has cleared up serious food poisoning in India in 48 hours.
thursdaysd
[ It does sound like Pandaw is either going downhill or expanding too fast]
I first travelled on Pandaw in the late 90's and also cruised with them on their Chindwin/Bahmo expedition some years ago.I also cruised twice with RTM.
They are expanding is response to all the newcomers with their flash G&T boats trying to tap in to the wealthy tourists who want to be cosseted and have heard "Burma" is the next big thing and expect the same standards as the like of Silversea.

Pandaw's owner Paul Strachan ( a Scot) is the most experienced operator of river cruise boats in SE Asia and I personally believe his expansion is sensibly planned.
Just my pennies worth.
SS
ps Thinking about doing Yangon to Mandalay with them in 2015.

Zambezi, I came back to re-read your report, as we are going over the Pandaw cruise options to consider something for next year. We are looking specifically at the Monywa to Homalin or the Nagaland cruises. Both are 7 day cruises on very small boats. I wonder if you have any thoughts about these. This is one of these times when I especially miss dogster!

As a side note, I re-read your note about getting ill... Cheryl because intensely ill from tea offered in Darjeeling, and I once became ill from tea in Morocco. We tend to think of tea as being safe - after all, it is hot - right? - but i no longer think of tea as safe.

BTW, Paul Strachan has written a book about his Pandaw experience. It's fascinating reading, though has the worst editing of any Kindle book I've seen!

I'm glad you bumped this Kathie, because I think I missed it the first time around.

For a while I was considering a cruise with Pandaw, but did not find one that was 'just right'. Now that they've expanded the options, I'll take another look.

For what it's worth, I don't remember being bored on the Road To Mandalay cruise I took a few years ago, but I do remember feeling overly pampered and coddled. In some cases (walking around barefoot about to tread on broken glass) the watchfulness proved quite necessary!

Thanks for the report ZZ.

Hi Femi, good to bump into you again!

If you have any interest in a Pandaw cruise, read Paul Strachan's book.

Hello Everybody! Looking through my original post and reading the comments, I'll begin by bringing the story up to date and by adding an observation. First, the insurance company, Travel Guard, reimbursed me fully for the new ticket that I had to buy in Bangkok, even though it was business class. (I had purchased a greatly discounted consolidator ticket from Atlanta to Rangoon, the legs of which consisted of levels from economy to first class.) Second, after reading what some of you said about tea, I went back to the daily schedule and see that the tea I drank in a village was two days before I got sick and that, on the day I became ill, we passengers had visited only one village in the afternoon. On that day's page, I had written, "Hottest place yet." The day was Wednesday, September 17, 2014. The village was just north of Mandalay on the Irrawaddy River.

Now, for Kathie's question. If I were to go on another Pandaw cruise, it would be for seven days. The stretch from Monywa to Homalin is very beautiful because of the mountain backdrop along the way, the Phowin Taung Caves near Monywa, the big Buddhist temple in Monywa, and the considerable contrast of life in Homalin from life in small villages elsewhere. Homalin's proximity to India and its trade prosperity results in scenes of teenagers in jeans and gelled, spiked hair-dos, vehicles (that you hardly see in any villages), and all sorts of seeming anomalies from "normal" Burmese life.

I have not been to Nagaland, but I have investigated trips on the Brahmaputra offered by another steamship line. The difficulty of reaching the area has been a deterrent to further action. Having spent some days in Calcutta one time, I have no desire to go near the place again.

I'm interested in knowing what you decide. ZZ

Thanks for your comments, Zambezi. I'm glad to hear that your travel insurance paid up - they should have!

I feel reassured to hear that you'd opt for a 7 day cruise, and that you have favorable comments about the Monywa to Homalin scenery. I'm very interested in seeing Mingkin. Did you have a good guide for this Buddhist site?

We have looked before at the Brahmaputra cruise and I looked at it again last week, but I don't think it is what we want. And you are right, just getting there in an ordeal. I outlined how to get there when I did my research last time (and ended up going to Sikkim instead).

I have some more research to do before making a decision on the Pandaw cruise. But stay tuned!

I have looked at my photographs taken at the Buddhist monastery in Mingin and remember well our visit. It was a large wooden structure, raised, as were most buildings in the villages, with a red tin roof. We did not have any special guide except the abbot there. While the monastery is a worthwhile destination, to characterize the town as another Luang Prabang, as travel agencies are doing, is to grossly exaggerate its merits. ZZ

Yipes! Travel agencies rea adverting it as another Luang Prabang? I don't like hearing that. Paul Strachan describes it in his book as perhaps the most important Buddhist art history site in the country that has not been ruined by the "restorations" by the generals. Oh, wait, I just did some googling and found that Mingin very near Mandalay) is described as another Luang Prabang, but as far as I can tell that is a different place from Mingkin, located north of Monywa. Or are the maps I can find so bad that these are really the same place?

Kathie: I have confused the conversation by spelling the town where the monastery is as it was listed on our day sheet for September 11, 2014: MINGIN. In truth, the correct spelling is MINGKIN and its location is north of Monywa. The confusion is abetted by the existence elsewhere of a town, not far away, with the name of Mingin. While I stick by my original assessment, I'll add that a visit to the town and its famous monastery adds to the allure of the Monywa - Homalin stretch of the Chinwin. ZZ

Thanks, Zambezi. The multiples spellings and similar names of many towns in Burma does make it confusing!

I'm currently in correspondence with Pandaw... we'll see what we can work out.

Hi all, been away and been busy so just catching up.
I think I have already posted that I have booked the Pandaw from Yangon to Mandalay this winter. We have done Bagan to Bhamo and all 3 defiles so this completes the picture.
We were very tempted by the special offers on the Upper Chindwin but cannot justify two cruises in Myanmar in 3 months
https://www.pandaw.com/expeditions/c...alin-7-nights/
I am however very tempted by next years Nagaland cruise
https://www.pandaw.com/expeditions/a...e-to-nagaland/

I have just read the kindle preview of The Pandaw Story: On the Rivers of Burma and Beyond by Paul Strachan-a good read and I will now buy the paperback.
SS
NO I do not work for them- just a big fan

SS, the Nagaland cruise looks very tempting, I agree.

I bought the Pandaw book on Kindle. It is fascinating reading. But the editing on the Kindle edition is the worst I've ever seen! You'll probably enjoy the paperback more...

Zambezi, we have now booked the Chindwin cruise, Monywa - Homalin in November. We are very excited about it. I will, of course, post a full report when we get home.

That's great, Kathie! I'm eager to read your report. From my own experience, you might consider investing in one of those satellite telephones to give you ease of mind about having the ability to contact the outside world in case of an emergency. ZZ

Kathie, great news, and I look forward to your report as well.

The wedding we're going to is in Mandalay on November 21.

At this stage the plan is to arrive Yangon evening 18th, fly Mandalay morning 20th, then head to Hsipaw on Tuesday 24th.

If any of your dates line up, I'd love to shout you a sundowner in recognition of the help you've given me via this forum.

Alas! We are in Mandalay at the beginning of the month, Yangon later, but we fly out of Yangon on Nov 17. We won't quite be planes passing in the night...

Perhaps our paths will cross another time.

Yes indeed, another time. Have a great river cruise...

Zambezi--

Thanks for pointing me in this direction. You have some good insights that clarify some things for me. I am still a bit leery wondering if we would be bored out of our gourds by even a 7 day cruise on the part that you found most interesting--the Chindwin.

I also had to laugh when you commented on how stressful it was to have to make conversation with your new best friends (the ones you were trapped with) on the boat. I so identify. On our six week trip to southern India last winter we stayed several places where this was expected from guests, and at one point we were so glad to just be in a more anonymous setting of a larger hotel. And, this is unlike us normally since we typically prefer smaller places with lots of interaction time with hosts and other guests.

Totally off topic: I saw some of your other posts regarding fishing in Belize and Argentina. If you ever want further info, my husband is a fly fishing guy who has found some interesting places in the Yucatan.

We have been traveling on rivers in Indochina with Pandaw since 1990s, and every time, people do not read the fine print.

These are expedition boats, these are 3rd world locations, it is emphatically not EU or USA, the best nearest hospitals are at Singapore, KL or Darwin, not at kampong-something.

We are heading off to Laos on Thursday, fully insured, but if we get sick and die, the kids will get the benefit. That's the deal with traveling in Asia. (Also, that's the deal, travelling in Europe and UK, because of infectious diseases. Don't go to hospital in Germany, get yourself to Switzerland).

maree frgot to mention Baumrungard in Bangkok, my choice of hospital if I were injured in Burma/Myanmar.

"Also, that's the deal, travelling in Europe and UK, because of infectious diseases. Don't go to hospital in Germany, get yourself to Switzerland"

Where do you go if you get sick in the US?

From the CDC website:
"Based on a large sample of U.S. acute care hospitals, the survey found that on any given day, about 1 in 25 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection. ... About 75,000 hospital patients with HAIs died during their hospitalizations."

That's just acute care, and don't get me started on errors.

I second Kathie's nomination of Baumrungard Medical Center in Bangkok. That is where I went after flying into Bangkok from Mandalay. When my taxi pulled up to the front door, there were several employees who met me and escorted me to reception. I was quickly given the "once-over" by medical staff who decided where to refer me and appointments were made, the most important one within an hour and others for the next day. Other staff consulted me about overnight accommodations (the medical center has an arrangement with a nearby hotel, but I was able to check in early at a hotel for which I had a later booking) and made telephone calls for me to my insurance company. The whole operation was a gem of efficiency and kindness.

While I concur partially with MareeS55's views and acknowledge the increased risk of traveling in some parts of the world, I don't share the rather flippant idea that "if we get sick and die, the kids will get the benefit." Dying ain't no fun. ZZ

I just want to make sure I get this right since I have been looking at the possible idea of the 7 day Chinwin cruise.

A typical day on the cruise would involve 2 village excursions. I am guessing that each of these was perhaps an hour or two. Or, am I wrong? The rest of the day was taking in the scenery while cruising, eating, reading, and chatting with fellow travelers? Or, do I have this wrong? Once again, I am primarily wondering whether there would be enough activity for us.

Thanks much.

Julies: You have it figured out exactly. I will list here the schedule for the first full day of the 20-night Chinwin/Irrawaddy trip in September, 2014.

Friday, 5th September 2014
Day 2
6:00 Cast off from Kalewa [this is where we embarked on the Pandaw II]

6:00 Early risers' coffee and tea served on the sun deck.

7:00 - 8:30 Breakfast [Buffet: included fruit, chef-cooked eggs, bacon, pastries, cereal, and wonderful bread]

8:30 ETA Kywe Kue village: Go ashore for a walking tour in this charming and typical river community.

10:00 Return to ship and cast off from Kywe Kue

13:00 Lunch

16:30 ETA Kindat village: We take an afternoon walk to watch the local life.

18:30 Cocktail hour and briefing in the saloon bar. [The Burmese tour guide discussed the following day's itinerary, but, in my case, with a guide who did not excel in this department, it was mostly a waste of time and the free cocktails were often something you would drink one time only to be polite.]

19:30 Dinner is served in the dining room.

Moor overnight at Kindat. We covered 44 miles/70.4 km that day.

As you can see, there is a lot of free time. ZZ

I so appreciate this. I am suspecting we'd feel pretty trapped and restless.

I have to commend you that you were able to do this for three weeks!

Zambezi - I was sorry to hear of your illness but glad to see this thread topped after so much time as I'd missed it first time around.

Incidentally if anyone is interested in the Brahmaputra river trips I'd be happy to provide feedback...

We went some years ago on a seven night cruise. It was right after the Mumbai attacks so there were only four of us on an enormous river boat. It was a rather unlikely trip for us (normally we'd want something much more active) but we wanted to go somewhere and I was recovering from surgery so it seemed like a relaxing way to travel. Luckily my surgeon knows how much we travel and didn't think I was mad to head to Assam to relax five weeks after major abdominal surgery ;).

There was a local flight from Delhi and getting to Assam was less of a hassle than it seemed before we went. The itinerary works well in combination with Calcutta which we loved. The cruise was fairly varied in terms of the sites and activities and we very much enjoyed the game park where we were on elephant back to see the rhino. We stayed in a lovely lodge near the game park overnight because the boat hit a sandbar but I'm not sure this is normally on the itinerary which means you'll spend a huge of time getting to and from the game park and the boat in a single day. Given the fact that I was still recuperating it all worked very well for us and it was unforgettable to have the boat for four people. I liked that the trip got us to that part of India The guide was good and it would be hard to see the same things as well if you weren't cruising. However, having done this cruise I must admit I'm not particularly keen to try a cruise in Burma or elsewhere in SEA, though we loved our recent trip on a dahabiya in Egypt .

I didn't write a trip report at the time as Dogster had written one the previously. Frankly it was so fabulous that I couldn't even begin to write about the same thing. Plus we met some of the same people and lets just say he used a bit of artistic license as all great writers do!

To julies, if I can just add, we've been on two Pandaw trips, there were various activities scheduled while on board.
We had a tying the longyi demonstration presented by two gay guys (hilarious), a fruit carving lesson, Burmese language lesson and a talk on the political history which had me in tears. There were others I can't think of right now.

wtb--We are big India fans (spent about 4 months there total), and I have taken an online look at that cruise on the Brahmaputra so I know exactly what you are talking about. Off to see the rhinos on elephant back sounds very similar to the experience we had at Chitwan Nat. Park in Nepal.

sartoric--good to know that it isn't all just chatting with shipmates and reading and looking at the scenery.

Everyone who has responded to my questions has really helped me with getting the information I would need to see if something like this really would be for us. As we all know, we are all very different types of travelers. Thanks much.

I hate to sound jaded, but I am also starting to wonder if some of these experiences with river cruises and small out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere boat trips do become somewhat similar. We've spent a week at a lodge in the remote reaches of a tributary of the Amazon in Peru where all transportation was by boat, and we had village stops. Our bicycle trip in Vietnam (waaay off the beaten path in the Mekong area where our guide told us many people had never seen a white person before) included ferry crossings and riding through small villages.

"Plus we met some of the same people and lets just say he used a bit of artistic license as all great writers do!'

wtb - lol. I had the same reaction at the Courtyard Hotel in Kathmandu.

<I hate to sound jaded, but I am also starting to wonder if some of these experiences with river cruises and small out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere boat trips do become somewhat similar.>

I entirely agree they have a very strong similarities and there is a clear formula which is probably why I wouldn't repeat the experience However sometimes extraordinary things happen, and it seems to be when you are some of the only (or few) people on the trip because they can take the time...

On the Brahmaputra we (two of us, driver and guide) stopped at a small farm to see the people threshing the crops. While we were talking to the family we could see the mother was holding her arm at an odd angle and it turned out she was in enormous pain and had fallen the day before. It was clear this was something serious though she said nothing and had welcomed us into their farm.

This wasn't a scheduled stop I'd just seen their work and asked a question about it so the guide stopped. So, we put her in the jeep and headed to the local clinic. Because we were with her she went straight in to see the doctor who said it looked like she had broken her arm, the X-ray machine was broken. The company helped us arrange to have her brought to a hospital in a nearby town and we heard several days later that she was safely back at home having been treated.

In Egypt we had the most fascinating conversation with an incredibly well informed teacher in a small village. He follows world and US political news very closely and asked insightful questions about what the US is doing in the Middle East why, how and when they have and haven't intervened in Egypt and what his take was on the Muslim brotherhood. Much of the conversation was translated by the guide but it was one of the most interesting times we had in Egypt.

I'm sure others have these types of stories too. However, I think being on our own in both cases made all the difference.

Thursday - too funny!

Kathy--I think some of those people were still at the Courtyard Hotel when we were there about two years ago!

wtb--You have hit on exactly why we do not do group tours. Those serendipitous encounters (ever been invited to lunch at a family's apartment on May Day in Romania while trying to figure out the insurance ramifications after they had hit our car in a parking lot?) do not happen with groups on tour.

"do not happen with groups on tour."

Well, sometimes they do if the group is small enough and flexible enough. I remember an unscheduled stop for a village celebration on Lombok with Intrepid, for instance.

Julie, I get your point and in many ways I agree but the examples above were when technically we had signed up for a group. And as Thursday suggests some groups are pretty flexible. The issue is however there's no guarantee, just as you don't know if you'll like the people which is always a concern.

The only other group trip we did was to Mali and without the group we would never have been able to visit the places we saw. To me I'll consider a group when it gets me somewhere I couldn't possibly get on my own, which I would imagine is why many people of on these cruises.

To welltraveledbrit: You are exactly right about joining a group going someplace where it is not feasible or possible to go alone. I'm glad that you made it to Mali. My sister and I have had to cancel plans twice, most recently this past March when the travel agency knocked Timbuktu off the itinerary because it couldn't guarantee safety. Both times, we had booked rooms at the Radisson Bleu in Bamako. ZZ