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DEPARTURE
DATES IN 2009 / 2010: 04th Sep
2009
PRE
& POST CRUISE TOURS (click
here)
DETAILED
PROGRAMME
In 2005 we successfully ran our first
Chindwin expedition since 2000 and it was a resounding
success. For the first time since colonial days a river
cruise ship with foreign travelers on board voyaged the
full navigable length of the river as far as Homalin.
The Chindwin is one of the most difficult rivers in the
world to navigate. We must traverse labyrinths of sand
bars and mount violent rapids. Whirlpools guard entry to
tight gorges. Water levels are prone to drop 6ft (2m)
overnight and can leave a ship high and dry in the midst
of an island. Then there is a ten month wait for the
next rise. No wonder we have been nervous about offering
such an experience again. Given the success of the 2005
expedition we will run two back-to-back expeditions in
2006. To make the expedition even more exciting we fly
our passengers in or out of Kale-myo airfield by private
air charter to embark or disembark the ship at nearby
Kalewa. This then gives our expedition a real start to
enable us to penetrate deeper into the Upper Chindwin
than in the past when reached as far as Kindat.
On the Chindwin you will pass through
some of the most dramatic and exciting riverscapes
possible. Jungle cascades into the fast flowing, muddy
rivers and not far to the west across the steep mountain
ranges lies India. Of great interest are a number of
unpublished art treasures around Mingkin, which includes
the oldest teak carved monastery in Myanmar.
We can only offer this expedition
during the monsoon period. It will be rainy but not all
the time. River banks will be muddy and slippery. On the
positive side the rains do keep the heat off and the
atmosphere of cruising through tropical downpours can be
romantic in the extreme. But be warned! We are linking
this 10 night cruise with the 10 night Upper Irrawaddy
so that serious river explorers can cover the two great
rivers of Myanmar on one visit with 20 nights on board
the much loved Pandaw II. Pagan and Mandalay sight
seeing have not been included as most of our passengers
know these places well but extra nights on board or in
hotels may be booked at these places if required.
Day 1: Rangoon
Arrive Yangon International Airport and stay
overnight at Chatrium (or equivalent 4 star); sunset
visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda
Day 2: Rangoon to Pagan
Early morning flight up followed by a coach tour of
the main monuments. Ship will depart from Pagan at 1700.
Day 3: Lower Chindwin
Cruise all day through the great Lower Chindwin
plain...
Day 4: to Monywa
Arriving in the busy port town of Monywa will be a
bit of a shock after the peace and remoteness of the
Chindwin. We will explore the town and time permitting
make a quick trip to the Thanbodi Temple with its
million Buddha images - a sort of Buddhist Disneyland!
Beyond Monywa we enter the Upper Chindwin. The river
narrows and the forested hills fall away to farmland we
pass a number of attractive villages like Kin or Kanee
where we can stretch our legs.
Day 5: Mingkin
Mingkin was rediscovered by Paul Strachan in 1987 and
described in some detail in his book Mandalay:
Travels from the Golden City. It remains for Paul
the most art historically interesting site in Myanmar
(more so than the now spoilt Pagan) with its Konbaung
court style teak monasteries sumptuously decorated.
Mingkin may be described as the Luang Prabang of the
Chindwin.
Day 6: Mawlaik
Mawlaik replaced Kindat as the administrative capital
but ironically the Myanma refused to move there from
upstream Kindat. It was mainly settled with the company
houses of the by the Scottish owned and run Bombay
Myanmarh Trading Corporation in the 1920s and 1930s.
There are many splendid ‘Dak Bungalows’ set around a
verdant golf course. Mawlaik and the other towns of the
Upper Chindwin can only be reached by boat so cars are
few. There is a dreamy otherworldly quality to such
places and truly one feels that one has travelled there
in the Pandaw time machine!
Day 7: Paungbyin to Sitthaung
Pantha was an important oil refinery belonging to the
Indo-Myanmar Petroleum Co (Steel Brothers). We pass the
mouth of the Yu River which drains the Kubu valley that
provided the route for a Lieutenant Grant to march to
the relief of the Manipur garrison when the chief
commissioner of Assam was massacred in a local
rebellion. Sitthaung was the final resting place of a
number of IFC steamers scuppered there in 1942 in an
‘act of denial’ from the advancing Japanese who were
a matter of hours behind. We hope to find remains of
these ships as we have in the past at Katha on the
Irrawaddy. It was from here that the survivors of the
Japanese invasion marched out to Tamu on the India
border.
Day 8: Sithaung to Toungdoot
Toungdoot or Hsawng-hsup in Tai, is an ancient Shan
enclave which in British times still had a ruling sawbwa
complete with palace and court. It will be interesting
to see what has become of the royal family and their
home and to see these Shan people so far from their
Tai-Shan homelands.
Day 9: Toungdoot to Homalin
We pass the Uyu River worked by gold washers on the
way to Homalin, the furthest navigable point on the
Chindwin for vessels of our size. Alister McCrae wrote
of his visit there 1935 ‘I loved the atmosphere of
quiet and peaceful living there. At night I could hear
greylag geese as they came in to the flooded land around
us from far away north’. Bird in 1897 says little
other than that Homalin is the headquarters of a
township, but has very little trade’. Until we get
there and explore the place there is not much we can
say!
Day 10: Homalin and
return downstream
Day 11: Return
downstream to Kalewa
Day 12: Kalemyo to Rangoon
Travel 20 miles from Kalewa to Kalemyo the gateway to
the Chin State and fly by private air charter to Yangon.
Overnight Chatrium Hotel. Time permitting there is
a tour to the Downtown area and Scott Market.
Day 13: International Departures
If time permits we can arrange a visit to the War
Graves at Htaukchan | 
