DAVID AND JUDY SAUNDERS, UK, A VOYAGE TO NAGALAND, JUL 2019
We have just returned from back to back voyages to Nagaland on board Zawgyi Pandaw departing 27 July and 3 August 2019.
First of all we must thank Pandaw for operating the voyage downstream on 3 August 2019 with only two passengers – us! To say we were looked after royally would be an understatement. Captain Zaw Zaw Oo, Purser Fabian and all the crew could not be faulted – not to mention our guide Ko San Lwin who by the end of the two cruises was as much a friend as a guide. It may be unfair to mention individual crew members, but Ko Thura Tun and Ko Jackson, the deck stewards, were very attentive and the head chef, Ko Soe Myint Swe, let us choose the menu and provided seven lunches and dinners of Myanmar cuisine. On both voyages, Ko Soe’s meals were of International standard with imaginative presentation.
On the second voyage we still had two stops each day and most of them were different from the first voyage. They included a visit to Tonhe/Ton Hae where the Chindits crossed the river in 1943 and we met an old man of 92 who clearly remembered the evacuation in 1942 and the Chindits in 1943.
As we had visited the Naga museum in Khamti on the first voyage we asked Ko San Lwin to find somewhere different for our second call and we dropped in at the local nunnery. The nuns were very welcoming and offered us light refreshments in their dining area. This area would accommodate 15/20 visitors and we would suggest this be considered as an additional visit on future Pandaw calls to Khamti should time allow. (We visited a nunnery last year on the inaugural Delta voyage and this seemed to be popular with passengers).
Although not directly under the control of Pandaw(!), considering it was the monsoon season, we had relatively little rain during the whole 14 days and certainly nothing to interrupt our activities. In fact the river level was dropping. The friendly Nats must have been smiling down on us!
Once again many thanks and we hope to travel with Pandaw again in the not too distant future.
Kind regards
David and Judy Saunders