My wife and l would like to put into words our immense thanks and gratitude for providing us with such wonderful memories of our adventures in Burma that will forever be ingrained in our minds.

From our initial enquiry with Fred River Cruises to being personally escorted to the airport for our return journey home we cannot thank everyone enough.

Without seeing another tourist for days at a time the respective cruises provided us with a wonderful experience of the true way of life in the remote villages along the river banks, all of which which were filled with the loving hospitality of the ever smiling Burmese people.

We cannot thank those involved enough for giving us such a wonderful memorable experience. Absolutely every member of the crew and guides were wonderful and attentive, always happily putting themselves before all the passengers.

It would be unfair to mention any one person as everyone deserves our thanks and gratitude and to pick out an individual we feel would dilute our appreciation for others.

The everyday thoughtful touches together with attention to detail also made for an amazing experience.

Our thanks also goes out to the administration staff at Fred River Cruises and the Pandaw overseas offices in putting together our flights, wonderful hotel stays, transfers and the very attentive and helpful post guide that we had at Yangon.

We also feel that you should be aware of the massive contribution and the positive impact of your "Private Dining" option had made to my wife.

She suffers from Agoraphobia - an anxiety disorder which is characterised by the symptoms of anxiety in situations where she can perceive the social environment around her to be uncomfortable and at times will go at great length to avoid situations. This disorder together with her being hard of hearing can result in her using much of her energy to combat her disorder when for example being seated at a table with other people. By sitting on our own at meal times meant that she was able to preserve her energy for the tours and activities etc, where she is then able to enjoy mixing and interacting with all the other passengers.

By the way as with all the other guests, even though it was chilly at times all of us enjoyed the outside dining.

All the above has prompted us to book a further Pandaw river cruise, this time the 14 night Upper Ganges, together with a pre and post stay extension.

Again a big thank you to everyone involved in providing such a wonderful experience that far exceeded our expectations.

Best wishes
James Bamsey

My wife and I have recently enjoyed yet another set of adventures with Pandaw Cruises, in March 2016: a pre-cruise tour of Yunnan Province (LTC2), a Mekong China downstream cruise (CH-002), and a post-cruise tour of the Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand (LTTH1).

Firstly we want to congratulate your staff on surmounting a number of difficulties brought about by the low river level which prevented the RV Laos Pandaw vessel from travelling up to Jinghong. The arrangements made by Joost and staff to accommodate us in the Empark Grand Hotel, to organise excursions in and around Jinghong, and to secure vessels to transport us downstream to the Laos Pandaw, were remarkable and compensated for our disappointment in not joining the Laos Pandaw in Jinghong.

The pre-cruise tour of Yunnan Province beginning in Kunming and concluding with a flight from Lijiang was wonderful. Guides, drivers, busses, hotels, and itinerary were all excellent.

When we arrived in Jinghong we were surprised to find that we would be staying there for some time. We guessed that it was the low river level of the upper Mekong that was the problem. How we were to get to the RV Laos Pandaw was a mystery. Those in our party of 18 who were seasoned travellers with Pandaw accepted the situation and enjoyed our time in Jinghong, especially the spectacular cultural show at the theatre one night. We also enjoyed shopping at the night markets. You can imagine our delight when, on day 3 in Jinghong, Joost explained that he had arranged two boats to take us down-river from Jinghong to meet the RV Laos Pandaw the next day. That trip was fascinating, and a marvel of organisation. We suppose the hiring of these boats would have cost Pandaw considerable sums of money, but we would recommend these modes of transport be incorporated in future Upper Mekong cruises if similar river level problems beset the RV Laos Pandaw. The second vessel, equipped with furniture from the RV Laos Pandaw, plus a Pandaw cook, whilst not a luxury craft, provided us with an adventure we won't easily forget. And we saw all the river we were supposed to see in the original itinerary.

Once aboard the Laos Pandaw we all enjoyed the usual attention to our needs which your Company provides, and had a lovely 4 days on the river, with interesting excursions.

Barbara and I much appreciated the efforts of the cruise director on RV Laos Pandaw to rescue our photographs by means of his computer and his purchase of a memory stick for us.

The post-cruise tour of the HillTribes of northern Thailand with "Nun" as our guide was great. Some adventures such as the bamboo rafting on the Kok River, and the following elephant safari, would have been daunting for people less able than we were.

Yours sincerely,
Rollo and Barbara Kiek. Victoria, Australia.

My husband and I recently had the wonderful experience of doing the 14 night Burma Irrawaddy Cruise leaving on the 19th December from Yangon to Mandalay and we really had to contact Pandaw to comment on our experience. The itinerary was relaxing yet covered most areas of interest on the river and the boat was beautiful, clean, relaxing and the food offered was way above what we expected in choice and taste.

But the crew of the boat were what really amazed us. They were absolutely amazing!! From the captain all the way to the lovely smiles and welcome back on board from the crew who had dug stairs up very steep river banks. We were spoilt beyond anything we have experienced. The crew went above and beyond and this is our greatest memory of our trip. The crew of our cruise deserve to be congratulated!!

Due to their amazing service and attitude we are only looking at doing Pandaw cruises in the future.