Explore Myanmar’s Salween River and Irrawaddy Delta with Pandaw Luxury Cruises

Pandaw has launched two new cruise programmes exploring Myanmar’s Salween River and the fascinating Irrawaddy Delta.

The Salween is the longest river in Myanmar (the country formerly known as Burma) at 1,749 miles from its source in Tibet and only navigable for larger vessels for about 100 miles between its mouth at Martaban and Hpa-an.

There is much to explore in this undiscovered area of Myanmar: Moulmein, the first British capital of Myanmar, with some fascinating old churches and splendid royal Buddhist monasteries; the war graves at Thanbyuzayat; beautiful scenery and charming undiscovered villages; the Karen capital of Hpa-an and the dramatic Mount Zwekabin with its Karen dancing school.

Plus, Pandaw guests will stop at the Golden Rock Pagoda of Kyaikhtiho and Pegu with its splendid Shwemadaw Pagoda, the tallest in Myanmar.

The Kalay Pandaw, with her ultra low draft, is the ideal luxury vessel with which to explore the Salween River. She has four main deck staterooms, an upper deck owner’s suite and dining room.

Originally a vast inhabited wetland and jungle, much of which was cleared and cultivated by the British who annexed Lower Myanmar in 1855, the Irrawaddy Delta became the rice basket of Asia, effectively feeding much of the Indian Raj.

During this period of prosperity a number of rice towns developed in the colonial style. The most famous of which was Bassein. By the 1920s The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company operated over 100 creek steamers across the Delta connecting these towns and villages at a time when there were neither roads nor bridges.

Travellers can enjoy a choice of two short cruises (four-nights outwards and two-nights inwards) from Yangon (also known as Rangoon) to Bassein both ideal to combine with a relaxing stay at the beautiful Ngwe Saung Beach, where there is a choice of two deluxe hotels (the Eskala Hotel or the Ngwe Saung Yacht Club).

The Katha Pandaw, was built in Vietnam in 2012 to offer 16 staterooms ranging over two decks. With open deck dining suited to the Southeast Asian climate, she is one of the most popular ships in the Pandaw fleet.

With the Katha Pandaw operating the new Irrawaddy Delta programme, the 18 stateroom Kindat Pandaw will operate the Mandalay to Pagan short cruises in 2016/17 and the new 9-stateroom Kha Byoo Pandaw will replace the Kindat in our Pagan and the Upper Irrawaddy cruises.

The new cruises will operate weekly from October 2016 to March 2017.