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The Chindwin (B-CH5)

Departure Dates Deck Plan Prices

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 Of great interest are a number of unpublished art treasures around Mingkin, which includes the oldest teak carved monastery in Myanmar.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.

Departure Dates

Select a departure from the list below to display availability:

Deck Plan - Pandaw IV

Select a stateroom using the deck plan below. Click once to select a stateroom for two people, again for single occupancy and once more to clear your selection. Your choice will be reflected in the pricing table below the deck plan:

Prices (per cabin)

Cruise prices per cabin are displayed below, along with the selection you have made from the deck plan above.

Cabin Type	Price	Cabins	Subtotal
Upper Deck Twin Sharing	$7,000.00	0	$0.00
Upper Deck Twin Single Use	$4,000.00	0	$0.00
Main Deck Twin Sharing	$6,000.00	0	$0.00
Main Deck Twin Single Use	$3,500.00	0	$0.00
Subtotal			$0.00

Additional Charges	Price	Travellers	Subtotal
Fuel Surcharge	$0.00	0	$0.00
Port Taxes	$0.00	0	$0.00
Subtotal			$0.00

Total			$0.00

From Kalewa to Homalin to Pagan on Pandaw IV

Day 1 Rangoon

Arrive Yangon International Airport and stay overnight at the Dusit Inya Lake Hotel (or equivalent 4 star); sunset visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda

Day 2 Rangoon to Kalemyo

The gateway town for the Chin State, drive 40 miles from Kalemyo to Kalewa the first port for the Upper Chindwin. We explore Kalewa with its markets and quaint wooden architecture.

Day 3 Kalewa to Kindat

Stop for morning walk at Balet (9m from Kalewa). The people in this area are of French and Portuguese origin. In 18th Century foreign mercenaries captured after the siege of Syriam were transplanted to this remote region (as far from the sea as they could get) and given land and wives to settle the area. It will be interesting to see if the locals show any traces of Gallic physiognomy. (Pandaw Cruises are attempting to persuade the French Embassy in Rangoon to have Kindat included in the Francophone alliance, the benefits to the people of Balet would be enormous.)

Day 4 Kindat to Paungbyin

Kindat was as far as the old IFC steamers ventured outside of the Monsoon season it was the former capital of a wun (provincial governor) with a stockade. In the 1920s British moved the capital to Mawlaik on account of a healthier atmosphere. From here as Bird in 1897 states ‘this part of the Chindwin valley is very sparsely populated and villages are few and far between’

Day 5 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 6 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 7 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 8 Homalin to 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 9 Mawlaik to 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 10 Mingkin to Monywa

Now entering the Lower Chindwin where the river widens 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.

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! Cross the river to visit the cave temples at Hpowindaung with 18th and 19th century mural paintings.

Day 11 Monywa to Pagan

Cruise all day through the great Lower Chindwin plain. There will be little time for full Pagan explorations and passengers not staying on are advised to book with us extra nights at a Pagan hotel or if cabins are available may stay an extra night on board at a small extra cost. We anticipate most passengers will stay on board for the connecting Upper Irrawaddy cruise to Bhamo that includes full day Pagan and full day Mandalay sightseeing.

Day 12 Pagan to Rangoon

Fly to Rangoon visit the Scot Market and farewell dinner staying again at the Dusit Inya Lake Hotel or stay on board for Upper Irrawaddy connecting.

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