Pandaw Cruises Burma - The Golden Land 11 days

Meeting point at Sule Shangri La Hotel in Yangon at 06.00am, followed by coach transfer to Prome. Please note that this transfer can take up to 6 hours.

We reach Prome by the afternoon and travel by coach to the 5th-8th century archaeological site of Thiri-ya-kittiya, the former centre of the Pyu civilization with a fascinating museum of early Buddhist artifacts and sculptures.

This pleasant colonial town once guarded the border between Royal Myanmar and British Myanmar following the 2nd Anglo Myanmar War of 1855. Many of the buildings including the covered market date from this period. Thayet also boasts the oldest golf course in Myanmar (1885). We visit the market, see the colonial houses and ride out by horse cart to the golf course, passing through the former British botanical garden.

Minhla - We visit the two Italian built forts constructed to keep the British at bay from Royal Myanmar. The fight for the Minhla redoubt was the only serious action in the war and the death of a young subaltern inspired Kipling to write a poem.We ride Trishaws to reach the magnificent Magwe Myat-thalon Pagoda, constructed with solid gold bricks. Of interest are the many nat shrines and hermitages within the temple precincts.

Here we visit the Yout-saun-kyaung monastery with its spectacular wood carvings; we also explore an area of splendid colonial-style houses and continue sailing upstream.

In the morning, moor at the Tan-Chi-Taung mountain and ascend by WWII jeep. Afternoon, we tour a selection of the 3,000 listed monuments at this World Heritage Site, Pagan.

Further exploration by coach of the monuments follow by a lacquerware workshop and visit to the local markets. Sail in the noon to upstream. Evening walk at Oh Ne Kyaung village to see the local life in this typical river side community..

This small rural village is specialized in pot making. We visit the Pandaw School, built with past donations from Pandaw passengers.

Guests will take a tour of central Mandalay visiting the Mahamuni Pagoda and Shwe Nan Daw Kyaung teak carved monastery. In the afternoon we visit Sagaing. The true delight of Sagaing lies in its 1000 hermitages and sanctuaries, rich in woodcarving and religious art. Next we explore the ancient capital of Amarapura by coach, take a boat ride along Taungthaman lake and watch the tranquillity and serenity of this beautiful lake and its famous U-Bein Bridge at sunset.

We stop at Mingun to see the largest working bell in the world and the unfinished pagoda which is the largest single mass of brick building in the world. We also visit the Mingun Old Peoples Home originally established with the assistance of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in the 1930s.

Visit the spectacular potteries near Kyauk-myoung where the famous 50 gallon water pots are handmade. We see all stages of manufacture from the throwing of the pots to the week-long firing in huge kilns. Afternoon cruise back downstream to Mandalay.

Disembark the ship between 8.00 am - 9.00 am at Saggai Lay Kyun Man Aung Jetty, Mandalay.

Embark the ship and after lunch on board, we tour central Mandalay visiting the Mahamuni Pagoda and Shwe-im-bin teak carved monastery and Amarapura with the teak Bagaya Kyaung, Menu Ok-kyaung and crossing the U Bein Bridge.

Embark on the ship between 10:30am - 11:45am at Saggai Lay Kyun Man Aung Jetty Mandalay.

We move on to explore the ancient capitals of Ava and cast off cruising downstream through lunch and in the late afternoon we explore Yandabo, a small rural village specialized in pot making. We visit the Pandaw School and the new dispensary both built with past donations from Pandaw passengers.

We tour a selection of the 3,000 listed monuments in this important World Heritage Site and visit lacquer workshops.

Ascend Tan-chi-taungmountain by foot or by WWII jeep for the spectacular sunrise over Pagan. In Sale we visit a number of teak monasteries including the Yout-saun-kyaung with its spectacular wood carvings and we explore an area of splendid colonial-style houses.

We climb the river bank and wind our way through a labyrinth of passages and paths to reach the magnificent Myat-thalon Pagoda. This pagoda is constructed with solid gold bricks.

We visit Minhla Italian built forts constructed to keep the British at bay from Royal Myanmar. Thayetmyo, this pleasant colonial town once guarded the border between Royal Myanmar and British Myanmar following the 2nd Anglo Myanmar War of 1855. Many of the buildings including the covered market date from this period. We visit the market, see the colonial houses and ride out by horsecart to see the countryside and golf club.

Visit the 5th-8th century archaeological site of Thiri-ya-kittiya, former centre of the Pyu civilization with a fascinating museum of early Buddhist artifacts and sculpture.

Stop at the famous A KaukTaung to explore the spectacular stone carving on the cliff.

Continue our exploration of Delta creeks and stop at Donabyu, another little known town with a busy port and bustling markets.

Sail through the Rangoon River and enter the Twante Canal, which connects the Yangon River with the Irrawaddy Delta. We stop on route at the Twante in the afternoon. Enter to the Yangon river port.

Disembark at Rangoon (Yangon) 'BOTAHTAUNG' Jetty at 8.00am.