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 Pandaw Cruises now have six luxury pupose built river craft exploring Borneo, Buma, Cambodia and Vietnam and now they are expanding into India. Taking you to visit places off the beaten track in comfort. With daily excursions ashore to really experience the people and places most people only dream about.
BORNEO The Rajang River, at 640km is the longest river in Malaysia. It flows across Borneo from Sarawak into Indonesian Kalimantan. Though well know to many from Redmon O’Hanlon’s classic “Into the Heart of Borneo”, there is very little tourism here due to the remoteness of the river and the lack of facilities. The scenery is magnificent – a total jungle experience with verdant rainforest tumbling into the fast flowing river. There is much to do and see upriver, whether just gazing at the amazing scenery or visiting long houses traditional and modern. In these river towns you can explore the architectural vestiges of the Brooke Raj. Jungle treks, for all levels, are a must as are long boat trips to the Pelagus rapids. Wildlife is in abundance with common sightings of crocodiles, monitor lizards and Sarawaks national bird, the hornbill. Downriver the still prosperous Chinese city of Sibu with its old shop houses, markets and friendly inhabitants, is a calm reflection of a China of old.
The most delightful city in South-East Asia, Kuching offers a glimpse of what Singapore or Bangkok must have been like half a century ago. Laid back, yet full of hip cafés and bars, the traditional Chinese shop houses are as yet untouched by greedy developers. The serene Sarawak River flows through the city centre, flanked by gorgeous Raj palaces, courts and a glistening white fort that marks the first White Raja’s landing.
INDIA This new river expedition sails between Calcutta and Benares on the Ganges and Hugli rivers and starts in September 2009. The eight hundred mile expedition will be of fifteen days duration. Only ten sailings are planned for the coming season. The expedition takes in a number of the most important historical sites in India including many of the colonial splendors of Calcutta, the sacred places of Buddhism around Bodh Gaya and Benares, now called Varanasi, the great cultural centre of Hinduism. In addition, the Pandaw stops daily in smaller towns and villages to see handicrafts, rural life and a variety of local cultures as you pass from region to region.
Given the practical difficulties of crossing India by land, a river cruise makes the best sense covering a vast landscape in comfort and safety and exploring the real India well off the beaten track.
BURMA Burma, which after 1987 was renamed by the regime Myanmar, is the largest mainland South-East Asian country and with the greatest variety of scenery from Himalayan peaks to tropical beaches. We have yet to meet a visitor to Burma who does not feel that this is the most beautiful, friendly and culturally interesting Asian country ever visited. Most of the population live in three great river valleys encircled by impenetrable horseshoes of mountains. River life dominates the country. It forms the main system of transportation, irrigation and from its rich fishing grounds the principal protein source for the majority of the population. In the great Chindwin, Irrawaddy and Salween valleys two millennia of Buddhist art, architecture and archaeology survive, including of course the 3000 standing monuments at Pagan. There is no other Asian country with so vast and varied a range of cultural sites. Almost everywhere we look there are temples and monasteries, festivals and ceremonies. The warm and friendly Burmese people are also a deeply pious people and Buddhist activities dominate every aspect of life.
CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM There can be no tapestry of river life as fascinating and varied as the River Mekong. Indeed there can be no more striking a cultural contrast as that between the bustling Vietnam delta and the tranquility of Cambodia. Passing from the vibrant French colonial port of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, through the vast Delta so rich in human life and enterprise, to travel along the main channel into the rich countryside of Cambodia.In 2003 the Mekong Pandaw was the first ship to attempt this extraordinary journey in its entirety surmounting complex bureaucratic and navigational obstacles. Two Pandaws now explore two countries, two cultures and two ways of life linked by one great river. This is the only luxury cruise vacation on the Mekong River.
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