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DEPARTURE
DATES IN 2009 / 2010
-
Oct:
01
-
Nov:
01
-
Dec
23
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Feb
01, 2010
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March
01, 2010
PRE
& POST CRUISE TOURS (click
here)
DETAILED
PROGRAMME
This
is a very different travel experience. Sailing through
the heart of 'Middle Myanmar' we pass through a varying
landscape - from the lush teak plantations around Prome
to the desert country south of Pagan. We visit a number
of small villages and towns and see local agriculture
and manufacturing at first hand. These places are remote
from the modern world and offer a glimpse of a timeless,
lost Myanmar far from the usual tourist track. We also
visit a number of old monasteries and temples of art
historical interest in this the cultural heartland of
old Myanmar.
Day
1: Prome and the Ancient Pyu
Drive by coach to Prome (4.5 hours) and board your
Pandaw; after lunch visit the 5th-8th century
archaeological site of Thiri-ya-kittiya, former centre
of the Pyu civilization with a fascinating museum of
early Buddhist artifacts and sculpture. Hmawza is a
picturesque site and we cross jungle and countryside to
visit monumental Pyu stupas and the excavations of the
former palace-city in this walled early centre of
Buddhism. Cast off at sundown with cocktails on
deck.
Day 2: Thayetmyo
Frontier Post
This pleasant colonial town once guarded the border
between Royal Burmah and British Burmah following the
2nd Anglo Burmese War of 1855, many of the buildings
including the covered market date from this period.
Thayet also boasts the oldest golf course in Burma
(1885) said by the locals to be reciprocally clubbed
with the Royal & Ancient St Andrews (however when we
mentioned this in an early brochure we received a curt
note from the R&A Secretary denying any such
association). Outside the town is an extensive war
cemetery where Turkish prisoners of war were laid to
rest. Captured in Iraq, the Turks were transported to
labour camps in Burma where they died in their hundreds
of malaria. In the town itself we visit the market, see
the colonial houses and ride out by horse cart to see
the countryside and golf links.
Day 3: Minhla Forts and
Magwe
Minhla and Gwechaung - we visit the two Italian built
forts constructed to keep the British at bay from Royal
Burmah. We climb the Gwechaung hill for the view. These
were captured by the British in the 3rd Anglo Burmese
War. The fight for the Minhla redoubt was the only
serious action in the war and the death of a young
subaltern inspired Kipling to write a poem. Gwechaung,
the more impressive of the forts was captured from the
rear before the Burnese could turn the guns around.
In the afternoon we cruise on to Magwe where we climb
the river bank and wend our way through a labyrinth of
passages and paths to reach the magnificent Myat-thalon
Pagoda. This pagoda is constructed with solid gold
bricks. Of interest are the many nat shrines and
hermitages within the temple precincts.. Cast off at
noon and sail through afternoon.
Day 4: Sale Monasteries
Here we visit a number of teak monasteries including the
Yout-saun-kyaung with its spectacular wood carvings; we
also explore an area of splendid colonial-style houses;
moor at the Tan-chi-taung mountain and ascend on foot or
by WWII jeep for the spectacular sunset over Pagan.
Day
5: Pagan
We
tour by coach a selection of the 3,000 listed monuments
at this World Heritage Site. Puppet show on deck at
night.
Day 6: Pagan Monuments
Further exploration by coach of the monuments and visit
to a lacquerware school and markets. Cast off in
afternoon.
Day
7: Yandabo Potteries and Pandaw School
This very small rural village specialises in pot making.
We visit the Pandaw School, built with past donations
from Pandaw passengers.
Day 8: Mandalay and
Amarapura
Morning explore the ancient capital of Amarapura by
coach and sampan and crossing the U Bein Bridge to see
the paintings in a temple.
Afternoon coach tour of central Mandalay visiting the
Mahamuni Pagoda and Shwe Nan Daw Kyaung teak carved
monastery. We stop to see tapestry making and other
traditional crafts.
Day 9: Mingun Pagoda and
Bell
We cast off early in the morning and stop at Mingun to
see the largest working bell in the world and the
unfinished pagoda, that is the largest single mass of
brick building in the world. We also visit the Mingun
Old Peoples Home originally established with the
assistance of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in the
1930s.
Day 10: Kyaung-myoung
Potteries and Khan-nyat Village
Visit the spectacular potteries near Kyauk-myoung where
the famous 50 gallon water pots are hand made. We see
all stages of manufacture from the throwing of the pots
to the week long firing in huge kilns. We enter the
Third Defile and sail upstream all day stopping at Khan-nyat
village with its many Buddhist monasteries and an
orphanage we support. If free, the village orchestra and
dancers will perform for us on the sun deck after
dinner.
Day 11: Tagaung Ancient
City and Tigyang Hill
We explore by foot the ancient city of Tagaung viewing
the fortifications, the shrine of Bo Bo Gyi a famous nat
or spirit who protects sailors plying the river, and the
archaeological area. In the evening we climb the Pagoda
Hill at Tigyang with its stunning views of the
Irrawaddy.
Day 12:
Katha - Burmese Days
We reach the enchanting colonial town of Katha, setting
for George Orwell’s Burmese Days, and little changed
since then. Of interest is the fire station’s
collection of IFC ships bells taken from sunken ships in
the Second War. Katha was the final resting place of the
old flotilla and here over a hundred ships were
scuppered in 1942 in an Act of Denial before the
advancing Japanese. If permitted, we visit an elephant
logging camp in the hardwood forests of the hills that
surround the town and if time allows a visit to the lake
at Indaw-lay offers a glimpse of highland Myanmar with
its rich bird life.
Day 13: Shwegu and the
Second Defile
Travel by local speedboat to view this the largest of
the three Irrawaddy gorges. In the afternoon return
downstream.
Day 14: Downstream
We stop for a walk in a jungle village.
Day 15: Mandalay
Disembark in afternoon. | 
