Pandaw Cancels Ganges Cruise for 2010/11 Season

Paul Strachan writes:

It is with no small regret that I must inform you that I have taken the decision to cancel all future Ganges cruises.

We had always known that the logistics of operating in India would be challenging. We took up the challenge to provide our Pandaw passengers with the sort of adventure othey would expect from Pandaw. The passengers who sailed on board the RV Bengal Pandaw gave us mixed reviews. Most of them loved the “wildness” of the trip while others found the trip not living up to the standards of our other Pandaw Cruises.

With extreme variation in water levels and very strong flow rates navigating the Ganges verges on the impossible. Shifting sand banks damaged the propellers more than once, resulting in emergency repairs with virtually no engineering or logistical support from ashore. Thanks to the constant support of the Inland Waterways Authority of India, we were able to continue sailing safely through the last season against all the odds. Weighing it up, there are simply far too many factors against running a successful cruise.

I am very very sorry about this. Having pioneered so many other rivers together with our intrepid passengers it is rare that one admits defeat. In the case of India and the Ganges I feel that it would be best to cancel.

Thank you so much for your support and I hope that despite this, you will continue to sail with Pandaw Cruises along the Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Rajang. We have a number of new projects coming up including Laos and Indonesia where I hope conditions will be less difficult.

RIVER CRUISE INTO ‘LOST CAMBODIA’ OF SOMERSET MAUGHAM

PANDAW River Cruises that operate replica 19th century colonial riverboats on the waterways of South-east Asia, will take guests on a rare cruise experience later this year into the upper reaches of the Mekong River and the little-visited “Lost Cambodia” of Somerset Maugham.

Just two 10-night journeys will be made upstream from Saigon to Siam Reap, and two downstream back to Saigon, with all meals, local beers and spirits, soft drinks, mineral water, tea and coffee and a daily “local cocktail” included in the price, that starts from US$4950pp twin-share and from US$1950 for a single cabin.

The 38-cabin Tonle Pandaw will sail these unique adventures with highlights including the great Mekong Delta, Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, tribal villages, trishaw, and sampan and “Cyclo” excursions, a silk-weaving village, centuries-old temples, and now-dilapidated once-grand French colonial towns.

There will also be an excursion to Cambodia’s rare river dolphins, a road trip to the rarely-visited temples of Sam Bor, and a visit to an orphanage supported by Pandaw River Cruises.

A hotel night in Saigon pre-sailing and one in Siam Reap post-sailing are also included; the downstream itinerary has slight variations to that upstream.

Upstream sailings are on October 10 and November 1 and downstream on October 20 and November 10; airfares are additional. Details from travel agents, phone Pandaw River Cruises on (02) 8080 5622, email jlbati@ozemail.com.au or visit www.pandaw.com

Pandaw's Maiden Ganges Cruise

by Paul Strachan, Founder Pandaw Cruises

Now both the upstream and downstream voyages are over, I am taking stock and trying to work out if they were a success or not. My own feelings are mixed, as are the evaluations and reports we receive from the intrepid who came with us. Some say it was brilliant and others are asking for their money back. Where do I begin?

First of all we made it. For the first time in living memory, certainly since the 1920s, a passenger vessel made it all the way from Calcutta to Varanasi. That is 1,280km in 14 days. Given the challenges of low hanging power lines, bridge restrictions, high flow rates, dealing with bureaucracy through three separate states, etc, this was an achievement. Many said it could not be done. They said the same when we started on the Irrawaddy in 1995 and on the Mekong in 2002. Once again we cracked it.

On the plus side I would say the excursions are fascinating – there is a lot to see and do along the banks of the Hugli and Ganges, more than on the Mekong and as good as the Irrawaddy. The riverscape really is amazing – varied and full of contrasts. There are lots of dolphins and bird life is rich. The village people are warm and welcoming and there is none of the hassle you would expect of India. There is no doubt this is one of the most beautiful river cruises in the world. Given the mess of India’s land infrastructure surely the only way to see this wonderful country.

Read the rest of Paul's blog here

Free Ho Chi Minh City Stay With Vietnam & Cambodia River Cruise

PANDAW River Cruises that operates replicas of yester-year 19th century river-boats on the rivers of South East Asia, is offering two free 5-star hotel nights in Ho Chi Minh City as part of its 8-day Mekong Expedition Cruises in Vietnam and Cambodia in January and February next year.

Its boutique 32-cabin Mekong Pandaw and 38-cabin Tonle Pandaw operate these cruises from Ho Chi Minh City (formerly the French colonial Saigon) through culturally and geographically divergent Vietnam and Cambodia to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Highlights along the way include the Vietnam Delta region, back-water village areas that can only be reached by the shallow-draught Pandaws and local “country boats,” a Cambodian orphanage funded by voluntary donations from Pandaw’s guests, over-water villages, wetlands, the 60km wide Tonle Lake and the legendary temple complexes of Angkor Wat.

The two nights given free as part of these package in January and February 2010 are at the 5-star Sofitel Plaza in Ho Chi Minh City, and would normally be valued at $248 per person; the hotel is located in the heart of the city close to the Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace and the bustling Central Markets.

Pandaw Cruises: Rajang River Rapids

This was the hairy bit. River level was down, rocks poking out everywhere, but the local skipper just kept the boot in and a huge 1000hp twin turbo MTU marine diesel just screamed. The boats are easily 30m long, so they're not dinghies. The guy hanging on for all crap in front of me is a retired Rear Admiral!

This is a typical vessel, built on an old Soviet design and common on the Mekong too.

Cruise Weekly: An empire experience along Borneo's Rajang River

A neatly arranged set of wicker chairs under a sprawling awning on the top deck is peopled by a selection of the Empire's finest citizens. Urbane conversation on the arts, literature and geography can be heard above the clink of ice in glasses of gin and tonic.

A timeless vessel
This scene could be either one of the original 1920s Irrawaddy Flotilla Company vessels making its leisurely way up the Mekong through Burma or indeed our own vessel, the brand new RV Orient Pandaw, here on a ground-breaking 10-night itinerary on Borneo's Rajang River, the longest in Malaysia.

Such is the authenticity of this vessel, she was built according to original blueprints obtained by fastidious fleet owner and patriotic Scotsman, Paul Strachan. After restoring an original Clyde-built vessel, the Pandaw, Strachan went on to build a further six faithful replicas, all finished in copious teak and brass and dripping in colonial history.

The Rajang River
Today the Rajang is a busy commercial waterway around the Chinese-founded port city of Sibu. Shipbuilding, timber and various marine commerce dominate the lower reaches, while upstream is wild Dayak territory, populated by an assortment of indigenous ethnic groups, the largest being the fabled Iban headhunters. The tradition of the longhouse is maintained, but the signature buildings are now mainly ironroofed structures resembling vast barracks.

The itinerary
This itinerary is best described as a work-in-progress, but the excitement of seeking out new destinations is irresistible and hordes of curious, waving locals line the riverbank as we motor serenely past. Children cautiously cling to their mothers before managing a delicate wave in response to our own greetings.

Onboard living
Onboard living is an unrepentant throwback to the glory days of Empire, when England was the world. Doting Burmese staff tend to your every whim with such reverence, it's almost comical, but their sincerity is genuine and heartfelt.

Meals are served in a bright, airy dining room, ventilated by enormous picture windows that open out across the expanse of river. Gentle breezes waft through the room making air-conditioning both intrusive and redundant.

Lemongrass-scented baked fish fillet, ginger roast duck or Cambodian dried beef with black pepper emerge from the kitchen along with chicken, steak or ostrich fillet to be crowned with local sweets such a onde-onde, a rice flour, palm sugar and coconut delicacy.

Coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer and local spirits are included. Wines are typically US$25 per bottle and US$8 per glass.

There is also a library and video theatre with wi-fi connection on the top deck.

Passengers and excursions
Passengers are certainly of a more refined ilk and few cite experiences aboard traditional large cruise ships. Repeat expeditioners and Pandaw frequent cruisers are in the main with retired, but active couples filling most places. Our contingent is Australians, British, a few Americans and a Swiss couple.

Shore excursions are mainly village visits and naturalist treks, but those wanting more intimate wildlife encounters can book optional pre- and post-tours from the website. The vessel is currently without its own tenders, which places undue reliance on local operators to ferry passengers on excursions, but two ten-passenger tenders are planned.

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Read more at Yahoo!'s Adventure Cruising section.

For further information on this Pandaw river cruise, visit:
www.pandaw.com

Fly to Borneo with Malaysian Airlines:
www.malaysiaairlines.com

For further information about visiting Sarawak:
www.sarawaktourism.com

CRUISE BACK IN LUXURY TO DAYS OF BORNEO’S COLONIAL RAJ

Pandaw River Cruises will begin luxury 8-night cruises into the spectacularly wild heartland of Borneo in July, a jungle region little-visited by tourists because of its remoteness.

The replica colonial-era riverboat, Orient Pandaw will carry just sixty guests in thirty staterooms, sailing the swift-flowing Rajang River from Sibu to Kapit, the wild Pelagus Rapids, Song, Sarikei, Tanjung Manis and back to Sibu.

Cruise prices will include all meals with a choice of both Western and Asian cuisine, local beers and spirits, soft drinks, tea and coffee, gratuities, and daily guided shore excursions; prices will begin from US$4995 per cabin twin occupancy and from US$3255 single use. Air will be additional.

The brand-new Orient Pandaw will give guests the chance to walk remote villages of one-time Iban headhunters, trek jungle paths, travel by longboat amidst an abundance of wildlife and tropical flora, and discover historic forts, palaces and other colonial vestiges from an era of rule under Britain's white Rajas.

Or just sit back on the sundeck and take it all in from there.

For full details see travel agents, phone Pandaw Australia (02) 8080 5622, email jlbati@ozemail.com.au or visit www.pandaw.com


ADDITIONAL CRUISE INFORMATION: Prosperous Chinese shop-house communities that give a glimpse of what Singapore and Bangkok would have been like a half-century or more ago, will also be found on these cruises, often side-by-side with modern bars, café's and shops.

And traditional songkat textile and weaving workshops, tropical fruit plantations, pepper farms, logging camps, schools and river stations will be included in daily shore excursions, with of opportunities for jungle walks.

(Pandaw River Cruises, the largest river cruise company in Asia, also operates similar replica-colonial era riverboats to the Orient Pandaw on Cambodia's and Vietnam's Mekong, the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers in Myanmar, and the Hugli and Ganges Rivers in India.)

Into the heart of Borneo - a journey on the mighty Rajang River

Pandaw Cruises are excited to announce that they will inaugurate a new expedition cruise on the Rajang River in Sarawak from July 2009.

Following in the footsteps of the British explorer and travel writer Redmon O'Hanlon, the brand new ORIENT PANDAW will make an eight-night cruise three times a month from Sibu to the Pelagus Rapids and beyond, up the Baleh River.

The Rajang River is rarely visited by travelers on account of its inaccessibility and lack of tourist facilities. It is, though, the longest river in Malaysia. Cruising in the extreme comfort of a Pandaw, passengers will be able to visit Iban longhouses, make boat trips up tributary rivers, and see the vestiges of the colonial Brooke Raja.

But above all, passengers can view from the Pandaw's observation decks the rich tropical rain forest close at hand. Jungle treks, for all levels of walkers, are a must - this is, after all, one of the most diverse and exotic eco-paradise's on the planet.

Main deck cabins start at $2,250 per person. An add-on, two-night stop in the captial Kuching is highly recommended. Kuching is easily reached from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Brunei.

For an itinerary and schedules, click here

Borneo photo gallery
www.pandaw.com

Background to Pandaw Cruises
With SIX luxury ships, we are the largest river cruise company in South-East Asia. In 1995, we were the first to pioneer and explore the region’s great rivers and their tributaries: the Irrawaddy and Chindwin in Burma, the Mekong and Tonle Rivers in Cambodia, and the backwaters of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

These small ships can penetrate remote and otherwise inaccessible areas. While we offer a real adventure experience, travelers are cushioned with incredible comfort, fine dining, great cocktails, and choice wines, not to mention extraordinary levels of service.

Our SIX boutique ships were built new and designed and finished as replicas of colonial river steamers. These small ships have the highest passenger-to-space ratio of any ships afloat.

MR. ANDREA MASSARI Exeecutive Director Pandaw Cruises Pte Ltd Email: andreamassari@pandaw.com www.pandaw.com

Cruise Weekly Comment: Burma

Cruise Weekly – Comment by Roderick Eime

I reckon it would be tough selling anything to do with Burma, yet the tenacity and optimism of Pandaw Cruises is inspirational. Resurrected in 1995 from the original Irrawaddy Flotilla Company of the 1860s, the gorgeously recreated vessels typically carry around 60 pax in nostalgic, teak-and-brass luxury.

Traditional river cruising, European style, is normally far-removed from the adventure product, but with Pandaw there is a definite crossover. Itineraries include shore excursions, village visits, historic sites and cultural encounters in sufficient quantity to easily qualify as an adventure product.

With luxury accommodation as a basis, passengers enjoy an extensive selection of cruises encompassing Myanmar, the Mekong (Cambodia and Vietnam) and now Borneo aboard a growing fleet currently comprising six vessels.

The vision of the far-sighted and heritage-minded Scotsman, Paul Strachan, he regrets once being seen as an apologist for the Burmese regime but, according to fellow Scot Colin Donald, stoutly defends one of the few foreign owned businesses that puts money in the pocket of the ordinary Burmese.

As if Burma needed another setback, Cyclone Nargis tore the Delta region apart in May. Instead of throwing his hands up in despair, Strachan activated his fleet as floating hospitals and supply vessels and was one of the few aid providers to make a measurable impact on the suffering of the God-forsaken Burmese. His humanitarian work continues.

Website: www.pandaw.com

Pandaw Plans New River Cruises in Borneo’s Sarawak

Pandaw River Cruises in July will initiate a new expedition cruise on the Rajang River in Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. The Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia, traveling some 450 miles across Borneo from Sarawak into Indonesian Kalimantan. The Rajang presents a jungle experience that traverses the second largest island in the world after Greenland. The land is peopled by the Iban, who practiced headhunting into the 1950s.

On July 1, the new 60-passenger Orient Pandaw will start a series of eight-night cruises from Sibu to the Pelagus Rapids and beyond up the Baleh River. Shore excursions include a visit to Iban longhouses, boat trips up tributary rivers, a walk about the vestiges of the colonial Brooke Raja that ruled Sarawak for 100 years, tours of pepper farms and fruit plantations, and a trip to weaving workshops. Jungle treks, for all levels of walker, are among the highlights of this cruise. The Orient Pandaw, an up-market replica of a colonial river steamer, started its maiden voyage on Sept. 29 from Saigon on the Mekong River. It has 30 staterooms on two decks. There’s also a restaurant, bar, café, spa and a sun deck. It is the fifth vessel to join the Pandaw fleet of river boats. Main deck cabins are $2,248 per person; upper deck is $2,495 per person. Rates include shore excursions, all meals including snacks, an open bar (for locally manufactured spirits), evening entertainment, transfers in Sibu and port charges.

Pandaw recommends that guests add on a two-night stay in Kuching, which is easily reached from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Brunei. Pandaw, which specializes in small-ship cruising to exotic destinations, has been in operation since 1995. Its vessels ply the rivers of Southeast Asia including the Irrawaddy and Mekong rivers. The U.K.-based company is owned by Paul Strachen. Pandaw River Cruises raised more than $500,000 in Burmese aid following the recent cyclone disaster. For more information, call 800-798-4223 or visit www.pandaw.com.

Into the Heart of Borneo*

An Expedition on the Mighty Rajang River on the new RV Orient Pandaw

Borneo, the second largest island in the world after Greenland, has one of the most diverse eco systems on the planet, its primary rain forest home to a vast number of species of flora and fauna.

Now part of Eastern Malaysia, Sarawak was ruled for exactly one hundred years by the Brooke family, known as the Raja Brookes, and only joined the British Empire after the war, gaining independence in 1966.

The Rajang River, at 640km is the longest river in Malaysia, 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 river’s remoteness and lack of facilities. The scenery is magnificent – a total jungle experience with the rainforest tumbling into the fast flowing river.

The Rajang is navigable on a ship of Pandaw’s size for at least 250km until the Pelagus Rapids, and further on its main tributary the Baleh River. The river is peopled with the Iban, headhunters till the 1950s, whose unique long house culture survives well to this day, blending well animist tradition with modernity.

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 we 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 and crocodiles, monitor lizards and the hornbill (national bird of Sarawak) common sights.Downriver, the prosperous Chinese city of Sibu with its old shop houses, markets and friendly inhabitants, is a calm reflection of an old China that probably no longer exists in mainland China. Sibu with its rich surrounding farmlands and tropical climate is an important agricultural area.

Sibu is the world’s biggest producer of pepper and at Sareiki we will visit pepper farms, fruit plantations that boast seven kilogram pineapples and a host of other exotic fruits. The sea port of Thanjung Manis is a centre of traditional songkat textile production and we will visit weaving workshops.

Sibu is well served with several daily flights to Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Brunei and Kuching (Air Asia and MAS) thus connecting with international flights to Europe or other Asian cities.

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 as yet untrammelled by greedy developers. The serene Sarawak River flows through the city centre, flanked by gorgeous Brooke Raj palaces, courts and a glistening white fort that marks the first White Raja’s landing.