Pandaw cruise in Myanmar - anyone have experience?

We have just booked a Nov cruise on the Irrawaddy in Myanmar (Burma) with Pandaw. Anyone been? Any advice or info to share?;):)

We did 14 night Yangon to Mandalay on Indochina Pandaw in July/August 2013.

It was fantastic, the cabins are compact but comfy, the crew were delightful, nothing too much trouble !

Burma is fascinating, with the people being the star attraction. They are so happy with so very little.

Our passengers were nearly all Australian, and were a well travelled interesting bunch of people. Ages ranged from early thirties to nineties, with probably 60% over 60. The shore excursions were fun and there was a mix of different transportation like sidecars, jeeps and local boats.

You will see a lot of temples and monasteries which require bare feet and covered shoulders and knees. My rubber thongs became the footwear of choice. On returning to shoes, a wet wipe would be found sitting on them.

The food was plentiful and mostly delicious. Local beer and spirits are included in the fare as was local wine with dinner (it became more drinkable as the days went by).

Our two guides were passionate about their country, and very willing to talk freely about the governance situation and the ongoing struggle for democracy. All very moving stuff.

I highly rate Pandaw, we did the Mekong with them a few years ago.

Enjoy your trip Spikemom !

I started a post in the River Cruises section when we booked our Pandaw cruise, sheduled for late October 2013.

It has attracted lots of comments from USA travellers waiting for the large US companies to start Irrawaddy cruises in 2014 or doing package tours with companies who charter Pandaw riverboats.

We are booked on the 14 day cruise on Pandaw Katha from Yangon/Prome up the Irrawaddy as far as Katha and down to Mandalay water levels permitting. The Pandaw website shows only seven of the sixteen cabins are taken. I will review on return but that will be too late for you. I don't expect wifi on the Pandaw but I'll try to send a quick message.

As Rhine cruises are ABCs (another blooming church), I suspect the Irrawaddy may be a YAP (yet another pagoda) and Satoric's advice about covering neck to knee, bare feet and rubber thongs (flip flops) or at least slip-on-slip-off shoes is good.

Trip Advisor's Myanmar forum has good practical information as well.

The Pandaw we were on Indochina Pandaw was being spruced up in Mandalay as it is being chartered by Uniworld for the upcoming season. We saw Katha Pandaw while in Prome, it is a smaller boat with open air dining.

There is wifi, but extremely slow and once everyone tries to log on the whole thing crashes !

Don't expect fast Internet anywhere in Burma.

Thanks Sartoric for the information about Katha Pandaw. I haven't checked the website to see if the open air dining area is insect-screened or has fans. We'll be taking all the precautions our travel doctor recommends re mosquito-borne diseases. Already checking out cool covered up clothing and stockpiling DEET.

We did a Pandaw in Burma. The insects were horrendous! In fact, it was like a blizzard out on deck at night and you had to take connsiderable precautions when opening your cabin door. And at the foot of our door there was an incredible seething mass of weevil-like things every night. We had a great trip, though. We didn't like our Pandaw trip on the Mekong nearly as much.