PAT FERDINANDS
Dear Paul,
I recently had a wonderful trip on the Orient Pandaw from Prome to Mandalay, and had the pleasure of meeting you & your wife when the 'Baby Pandaw' drew alongside. I wanted to send this email with some comments on my trip, which I felt was an exceptional, and, at times, very humbling, experience.
Firstly, I would like to say how impressed I was with the Orient Pandaw itself - a glorious and very special boat (?ship - apologies, don't know which is correct!)which encouraged strong friendships to be formed. The whole experience was greatly enhanced by the friendly, thoughtful and caring crew, who were second to none, and ensured the comfort and well-being of all of us onboard. The itinerary gave us the opportunity to see much more of what, I suspect, is the 'real' Myanmar, much helped by having Soe, an excellent guide, with us. Like many of my fellow travellers, I have been travelling for much of my life, and this trip stands out way above the norm - I'll definately be investigating other Pandaw tours myself and have already fed back to my English travel agent that I would happily recommend the trip.
I must also mention something which I very much hope is rarely needed - and that was the assistance and care that was given to two of my fellow passengers, when the gentleman needed medical care and then later, when he and his wife had to be air-ambulanced to Bangkok for treatment. The assistance and caring attitude given to them both, by all the crew but most especially by Erick, our Purser, was incredible, from contacting and getting the best medical assistance in difficult circumstances, right through to the practicalities, such as giving Barrie piggy-backs up the riverbank to enable him to physically get to doctors and hospitals along the way - even bringing him up to the sundeck so he could enjoy the fun being had there - very, very impressive and way beyond any normal assistance.
To conclude, thank you for putting such a superb experience together and I wish you continuing success, especially with the 'Baby Pandaw'!
Pat Ferdinands
