Good morning. We have recently returned to Australia after travelling on the Champa Pandaw on the upper Mekong through Laos (our second Pandaw trip). It was fabulous. There is nothing to say other than positives about the staff, the food, the ship and the experience generally.

Our guide Vieng was great - knowledgeable and very approachable. Our barman Htike Htike and our dining room "waiter" Suy were two of the nicest people you could meet, always on the ball, never without a smile on their face and hard working. Although we thanked them I would love if you could also pass on our great appreciation.

I have loved both of the trips and hope I am able to go on another, although having just retired it may be now a luxury! Having said that, it is great that everything is included. The members' package is a fabulous idea and we certainly made use of it and appreciated the discounts etc.

So once again, many thanks.
Regards Janette Grierson and John Storen

Dear Mr Strachan,

My wife and I just returned this morning from our fourth Pandaw trip, this time on the Kalay on the Chindwin.

I can recommend this ship highly - and its crew. When saying farewell, I got our guide to translate for me, to tell them that in English we say "small is beautiful", and so was the Kalay. We were particularly impressed by the Purser, U Win Myo, who was a gem; also one particular crew member who was the exact double of the comedian Michael Macintyre, even to the hairstyle and cheeky grin, albeit a trifle more suntanned. All crew were splendid. They paid me the compliment of calling me "Aba" or "Babar".

My wife wondered whether you, or your wife, might be considering producing a Pandaw Cookbook?

Regards,
Tim Tawney

Response from Pandaw

Dear Tim

Many thanks for writing to me about your recent river expedition. I am so glad it went well for you.

I have passed on your good wishes to purser, guide and crew who will much appreciate your praise.

Otherwise, many thanks for coming with us and I hope we will see you again on a Pandaw one day.

Good idea for a cook book!

Please do consider supporting The Pandaw Charity, which is registered in the UK. We are now running 12 clinics with a total of 5,000 treatments a month. We are currently raising funds for a new X ray machine for our central clinic at Pagan. You can donate online at: www.pandawcharity.com.

Unless you have any objections I will post your letter on our Feedback pages so potential travellers can learn from your experiences.

Many thanks for coming with us and I hope we will see you again on a Pandaw one day.

With all regards,
Paul Strachan

As a small group of seven, we have just returned from The Christmas Laos Cruise on the RV Laos Pandaw – this was a fabulous cruise, a real highlight and totally different to the lower Mekong.

It was wild, turbulent, beautiful and interesting as we swirled our way through the numerous low water rocky gates along the river between Vientiane and Luang Prabang – This is a must do cruise before it’s spoiled by the planned dams on the river. The food was both interesting and ample and Christmas was celebrated in style on Christmas Eve with a stop on Christmas Day to have a celebratory swim in the Mekong. Thank you Captain Phan all the crew for a very exciting yet restful Christmas Cruise!