MANDALAY PAGAN PACKET REVIEW

CATHERINE MIRRLEES, MANDALAY PAGAN PACKET, MARCH 2015

Hello Mr. Strachan.

Just returned from an amazing river cruise in an amazing country with your Pandaw Cruises.  (March 14-March 21)

I cannot express how much I enjoyed this trip.  The staff on this boat gave 110% everyday. Sei was kind, efficient and smiled all the time.  Sen, our guide did an exceptional job as well.  He had a boyish charm which was quite endearing.

The extra touches like cleaning our shoes and a glass of juice upon our return from excursions was appreciated.

Also loved the variety of transportation used for our excursions....horse and cart, luxury bus, tuk tuk and open air truck with benches all made for a wonderful adventure.

The food!   Couldn't believe it!  We had duck at lunch one day and even though I'm not a duck fan I couldn't get enough of it.  Excellent!!  And the breads!   And the salads that they tossed in front of us!!

Sen made the longyi demo really fun and interesting.  Loved it.

The rooms were always clean and I appreciated the unlimited bottles of water  in our room.  We had a courtesy room on the last day and I noticed the little care packet (ie comb etc.) I never had this in my room.   I only had soap, lotion and shower gel. (maybe upper deck gets that and not main deck?)

The shower water was cool on one or two occasions but I didn't care.

Although I enjoyed everything I thought I'd mention one thing.  We went to a small pot village, a metal pot place, a lacquerware place that makes pots, a silver pot place and a village that makes large pots.  I was thinking that it might be too many pot villages.  The last village we visited was the least desirable or maybe I was just tired of pots by then.

Now...one more thing to mention......we got stuck on a sandbar for 9 hours and missed the Mandalay tour completely. I can only blame this on the captain.   the posts were clearly marked in the water and boats floated by all day long as we sat there.   Even though a ferry boat and a tug boat tried to help, it didn't seem that the captain had a clue about where to attach ropes or where to pull.  Finally a tugboat came by that actually knew what they were doing and had us out in 5 minutes.  Sei made an excellent judgement call regarding our bar bill and I was quite pleased.   I only wish I had drank more all week!  From what I understand, Mandalay is just a big city so I don't feel like I was cheated.

Anyway, loved this fascinating country and felt privileged to travel there while tourism is still in its infancy.

I would highly recommend this cruise company.

Best..
Catherine Mirrlees

Response from Pandaw

Dear Ms Mirrlees,

Thanks so much for your very enthusiastic note. I am so glad the trip went well and have passed on your kind words to the team in Burma. I am sorry you were stuck on a sandbank 9 hours. This season nearly all our ships have been grounded regularly as a result of very low water. I am glad you took it so well. Please may we post your message on our feedback page as it tells the story so well to other potential travellers. Many thanks again.

Best regards,

Paul Strachan