Flotilla News 2017

PANDAW 

F L O T I L L A N E W S 

Photo by: Barry Broman

PANDAW CHARITY 

BEGINS AT HOME - 

IN BURMA 

How Pandaw Founder, Paul Strachan gives back to Burma 

by funding rural healthcare and education 

The Pandaw Charity was established in response to 

the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, 

converting their ships into floating hospitals. Seven 

Pandaw Clinics have since been established in 

rural locations around Pagan, providing around 

5,000 free treatments a month with a full-time 

team of twenty medics, paramedics and pharmacists. 

Supporting education as well as healthcare in Burma, twelve 

schools have been built on remote river islands and in rural 

villages to offer an education to primary-aged children in these 

communities. On Thiri Island, Pandaw has now established a 

secondary school to allow village pupils to complete their 

education. Several other projects have been undertaken since 

Cyclone Nargis, including the Pandaw House for 50 female Nargis 

orphans at the Hpondawoo Monastery in Mandalay, donated by 

Brian and Vardie Pringle; the Pandaw Wing at the U Hla Tun 

Hospice, Mandalay and the Pandaw Clinic Barge which remained 

in the Delta for five years after Nargis. Pandaw is gradually 

expanding its goodwill further afield, setting up a library in 

Angkor Ban village in Cambodia which their Mekong guests 

thoroughly enjoy visiting and often donate school stationary and 

English language books. 

As a UK-registered charity, all donations go directly to the field 

and not on overheads. The charity is run by Pandaw employees on a 

2 Pandaw Flotilla News - www.pandaw.com

PANDAW 

C O N T E N T S 

■ 2 

Pandaw Charity Begins at Home 

■ 4 

Between Land and Sea 

■ 6 

out of the Woods 

■ 8 

ancient Salay 

■ 10 Read all about it 

pro-bono basis. Passengers have the opportunity to experience the 

tireless work of the Pandaw Charity first-hand as excursions to the 

clinics and schools are arranged as a valuable component of the 

onshore itinerary on the majority of their Irrawaddy expeditions. 

■ 12 decline and Fall 

■ 14 Fire over Burma 

■ 16 Reflections on the Chindwin 

"I have been engaged with Burma for thirty-five 

years and Burma has given me much. the Pandaw 

Charity is a way to give something back to Burma. 

It is also a way by which our passengers can say 

thank you to Burma for so many enriching 

experiences" 

Paul Strachan, Founder of Pandaw Expeditions 

■ 18 In the Pirates Lair 

■ 20 Finding Flavour 

■ 22 dolphin delight 

■ 24 damned if they do 

If you are interested to donate towards a clinic, school or 

orphanage building, please contact Paul's Personal Assistant, Susyn 

Zabell on susyn@pandaw.com to find out more. With considerable 

expertise on the ground in Burma, Pandaw can rapidly facilitate such 

projects and manage their development for donors. 

the 

■ 27 Mekong into China 

■ 28 our team 

■ 30 expeditions overview 

Supporting education and healthcare in Burma 

donate onLIne at. . . 

W W W. PA N DAWC H A R I T Y.C O M 

Pandaw Flotilla News - www.pandaw.com 3

BETWEEN 

LAND AND SEA 

The Irrawaddy Delta 

Pandaw's latest adventure is 

a voyage to the heart of the 

Irrawaddy Delta, one of 

Burma's most colourful 

and distinctive corners. As 

well as fulfilling a long-held 

ambition of the company, 

this exciting new expedition marks the 10th 

anniversary of Pandaw's widely-acclaimed 

humanitarian intervention in the aftermath 

of 2008's Cyclone Nargis, which devastated 

the region. 

Plans are already well advanced to 

bring you the best of this watery heartland, 

home of the ancient Mon race, the rice 

basket of Burma, now sadly known as the 

scene of one of the worst natural disasters 

in living memory. 

As well as appreciating the unique and 

picturesque cultural and natural qualities 

of this ancient wetland civilisation, 

passengers will see plenty of evidence of 

the enduring spirit of the Burmese and 

how they have rebuilt their communities in 

the face of devastation and tragedy. 

The Irrawaddy Delta, which comprises 

nine main tributaries and a capillary 

system of smaller creeks and waterways, 

stretches over 10,000 square kilometres. 

Heavily populated (the Delta is home to 

around 3.5 million people), this waterlogged 

maze has played a major part in 

Burmese history. In ancient times, it 

changed hands frequently between the 

Bamar and Mon kingdoms and has also 

been settled by the Karen. In the modern 

era, it was the key toe-hold in the 1750s for 

the East India Company, forerunner of the 

British Raj, which fought crucial 

engagements here in the 1824-1826 to win 

the First Anglo-Burmese War. 

Since then, life in the Delta has seen 

no great dramatic changes, although 

British civil engineering increased the 

cultivatable land through dykes and 

barriers and connected the Delta via the 22- 

mile Twante Canal to the Yangon River, on 

which sits Rangoon, the country's former 

capital and main port, our point of 

departure and return destination. In the 

heyday of the Raj, the Delta's rice 

production fed vast swathes of the British 

Empire via Rangoon's docks. 

Some picturesque vestiges of that era 

remain, alongside the marketplaces, 

temples, churches and mosques of this 

vibrant and varied landscape. Deep in the 

Delta, pretty riverine towns bustle amidst 

the islets and creeks, which are strewn 

with salt-tolerant mangrove (heavily 

threatened by deforestation) and nipa 

palm. These flatlands comprise mineral 

rich soil, still producing high yields of rice. 


On the waterways themselves, fishermen 

and turtle egg hunters ply their ancient 

business, while exotic migratory water 

birds paddle in the shallows. Experienced 

travellers will be reminded of the 

waterways around Kerala, or the 

Louisiana Bayou. 

But as many Pandaw passengers are 

aware, this primordial scene of peace and 

serenity was brutally disturbed on 2 May 

2008 when Cyclone Nargis, the worst 

disaster in the long history of Burma, 

made landfall, causing a storm surge 

tidal wave 40km inland, a wall of water 

which, along with the destructive fury of 

the winds, was responsible for an 

estimated 138,000 deaths. 

Pandaw's forthcoming trip will 

show plenty of evidence of damage 

wrought by that catastrophe, but also of 

the complex process of rebuilding ten 

years on. Pandaw is proud to have played 

a leading part in that effort through our 

floating clinics and emergency relief 

packages (see "Nargis - our finest hour" 

pp193-202 The Pandaw Story), and we 

continue to support the people of the 

Delta through the work of the Pandaw 

Charity. 

Offering close encounters with a 

unique habitat, flora and fauna (potentially 

including the region’s salt water crocodiles 

as well as its wealth of wading and 

migratory birdlife) and redolent of the 

triumph of the human spirit over disaster, 

our Delta adventure promises to be one of 

our very best yet. 


OUT OF THE WOODS 

Can Burma's great forests be saved? 

Sailing through the green heart of Burma on the country's great rivers, the last thing on 

Pandaw passengers' minds is a shortage of trees. Especially in the high country, richlyforested 

Burma remains an exceptionally green and pleasant land. 

Follow the Burmese media, and listen to the debates 

of NGOs concerned with the country's development 

and conservation, and it becomes clear that the 

country already has a major problem with 

deforestation, with the threat of much more to 

come. 

A new generation of Burmese environmental activists, 

supported by foreign experts with an international perspective, are 

pressuring the emerging new, more democratically- accountable 

Burmese regime to improve the prospects of the country's "forest 

estate" for the greater good of the Burmese people. 

Illegal logging is rife, especially of the country's celebrated 

durable hardwoods – Teakwood, Pyinkado, Paduak and others, 

which command high prices worldwide, providing exceptional 

utility for flooring, outdoor furniture, boat-building and 

many other purposes. 

Those intent on exposing the illicit exploitation 

of this resource – journalists and campaigners – face 

harassment or worse at the hands of various 

ruthless and sometimes well- connected operators, 

who ply a shadowy international trade with 

counterparts in China and elsewhere. But despite the 

difficulties in monitoring illegal activity spread over 

such vast and inaccessible territory, important work is 

being done, notably by the UK-US charity the Environmental 

Investigation Agency to expose the dynamics and methods of those 

who profit in this harmful, greed-fuelled and short-termist activity. 

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, 

Burma lost as much as 19%, a staggering 7,445,000 hectares 

(28,750 sq miles), of forest between 1990 and 2010. The profitable 

exploitation of timber resource started under British imperialism, 

but since independence in 1948, when forest still covered 70% of 

Burma, the pace has quickened as mechanisation has advanced. 

As of 2014 that figure is now down to around 48%, a truly 

cataclysmic rate of depletion. 

Increasingly effective intervention has slowed the rate of 

decline, from 0.95% per year in the years 1990-2010 to about 0.3% 

per year – slower than in Indonesia or Vietnam. Nevertheless, this 

is still a problem that Pandaw, which trades on its rare access to 

Burma's fabulously-canopied interior, is keenly concerned with. 

We want to see the rate of exploitation stabilised for good. 

To understand the scale of the problem, we 

consulted Dr Oliver Springate-Baginski (pictured left), 

a lecturer in the School of International 

Development at the University of East Anglia, and 

one of the world's leading experts on Burma's forest 

economy. 

Dr Springate-Baginski - or Oliver if we may - 

spoke in November 2016 at the Britain-Burma Society 

in London on the issue, and his passion for the subject is 

palpable, as is his tendency to call a spade a spade. 

An LSE-trained economic historian, who took a PhD in Indian 


natural resource governance at SOAS's geography department, 

since 2008 Oliver has worked closely with environmental activists, 

notably U Win Myo Thu of the NGO EcoDev, trying to restore 

patterns of Burmese forest ownership that have long since been 

lost, first to British colonialist exploiters of Burmese forest 

resources, then to the no less rapacious actions of the Burmese 

military dictatorship. Described in NGO jargon as "civil society 

capacity building", his painstaking work recognises that the best 

way to sustain and restore Burma's great forests is to recover 

ownership rights stripped away by the British and never restored 

after independence. Under British rule, the rich timber resources of 

Burma were purloined by the Raj in a succession of legislative acts 

which gradually extinguished indigenous rights over Burma's great 

forests. 

For "natives" even harvesting their own wood, including for 

firewood or for construction of dwellings was eventually 

criminalised, and large swathes, mainly in Rakhine and Tenasserim 

were massively depleted by the the colonial overlords, although by 

the turn of the century, the British were attempting some form of 

rational reforestation. 

If Burma's forest-dwellers thought that independence from the 

British would restore their ancient customary rights to the forest, 

they were sadly mistaken. Not only did an independent Burma fail 

to reform a dysfunctional system, but its forest departments were at 

least as feudalistic in outlook as the British had been, exercising 

huge powers, and prone to epic corruption. 

Some of Burma's military dictators saw the forest as a natural 

piggy bank, to be raided at will in exchange for badly-needed foreign 

currency. With the gradual loosening of military rule, says Oliver: 

The dream of land reformers is that a new land policy 

developed by Burma's Ministry of Environment, will lead to new 

land law, which, it is hoped, will endorse a right to land tenure, and 

a comprehensive and integrated land and forestry policy - one that 

will sustain proper forestry management. Meanwhile Burma's 

ethnic populations, are asserting the claim to customary land rights 

in their domain. These peoples have no wish to be in thrall to the 

Forestry Department for the government of large areas of land that 

they want to administer in their customary way. 

Despite the bureaucratic barriers to creating the kind of peoplecentric 

forest management that campaigners like Oliver strive for, 

he is reasonably optimistic that Burma is on the right path, at least 

relative to what is happening elsewhere in the world. 

"Ironically Burma is one of the more optimistic 

places I have been to, because they have had had 

this disastrous period of dictatorship, and there is 

such a strong desire amongst civil society to turn 

things around. Countries that have had it really 

bad have plenty of room for improvement!" 

"It was HG Wells who said we are in a race 

between education and catastrophe, and in 

Burma the real crux is the long history of abuse 

of power by ruthless large-scale business 

interests. Facing down that power is the 

challenge, and if we can do that, then things will 

get easier for Burma's forestry." 

After decades – or centuries – of exploitation, Burma has the 

chance to ensure to patch up and enrichen what the WWII jungle 

fighter General William Slim called the "great rumpled green 

carpet" that accounts for so much of this nation's biodiversity and 

natural wealth. As a late starter in the job of reparation, Burma also 

has that great advantage that has changed the development dynamic 

throughout the post-colonial world: the chance to learn from others' 

mistakes. 

"now the government wants to give it back, but 

it's complicated. the general policy of the 

government hasn't been simply to dissolve the 

state-controlled forest estate. they have 'degazetted' 

some areas so that the people who live 

there are no longer considered squatters, but 

they haven't been given private tenure either. the 

Land Records department hasn't registered them 

as the owners, basically because they haven't 

paid the bribes, so business people who have 

paid the bribes become the owners." 

"another thing they are doing is granting large 

areas to communities but with strings attached. 

But often communities don't want to get into 

complex relationships with the government. You 

could say that reforms from the Forest 

department are well meaning but they are 

gradual and marginal." 

Pictures courtesy of the EIA 


ANCIENT SALAY 

Pandaw expedition managers are constantly carrying out 

reconnaissance on the routes we sail, in search of 

undiscovered treasures for our guests to explore. Salay 

can truly claim to be off the beaten tourist track. 

Salay is one of the most beautiful and least visited 

places in all of Burma, its history rooted in the twelfth 

and thirteenth centuries as an overspill of Old Pagan. To this day, Salay 

remains an active religious centre with almost fifty monasteries and 

many Pagan-era shrines to explore on foot, offering a truly peaceful 

insight into Buddhist culture. These are amazingly well-preserved 

thanks to the constant loving attention of the monks who tend to 

them. 

This colourful, ancient village lies twenty-two miles from Pagan. 

Once a bustling trading port under British rule, Salay is now a sleepy 

village filled with colonial architectural treasures and timeless teak 

monasteries. The only remnants of the Burma Oil Company are the 

crumbling colonial houses in hues of peeling blues and greens which 

housed rig workers in the area from 1886. These are now partly 

disguised behind an avenue of starfruit trees. Today, the small local 

economy relies on family farming of mainly peanuts and plums. 

Of many visual delights, Mann Paya Buddha is an outstanding 

relic. Legend has it that local villagers spotted the hollow twenty-foot 

wooden statue floating downriver after heavy flooding in 1888. The 

villagers dragged it ashore and coated it in gold lacquer. The Mann 

Paya is believed to be one of the only lacquered and largest Buddha 


images in the country. Nobody knows for certain who carved it, 

but its style suggests an origin of around 1300 AD. 

On the eastern riverbank of the village is another highlight; 

the eighteenth century Yout-Saun-Kyaung monastery adorned with 

elaborate teak carvings and now a Burmese Cultural Heritage site. 

For those interested in the literary heritage of Burma, Salay is 

the native town of the famous writer Salay U Pone Nya. There is a 

small museum dedicated to his writings during the time of the 

Myanmar Kings. 

SALAY HOUSE, a recently restored trading company 

warehouse built on the banks of the Irrawaddy in 1906 is now 

operated as a museum. This is a cultural and historical addition to 

our itinerary where you can enjoy learning about British Colonial 

Burma through information panels set among artifacts and 

antiques. There is an extensive outdoor decking and garden area 

where you can pause to enjoy classic Burmese tea and admire the 

view over the Irrawaddy. 


READ ALL ABOUT IT 

Introducing Pandaw's best book selection with Golden Earth 

As you might expect in a fleet founded by a former publisher and Southeast Asian art scholar, 

all Pandaw ships carry well-stocked bookshelves and libraries. Over the years many of our 

passengers have dipped pleasurably into these shelves, acquainting themselves even more closely 

with the countries whose sights, sounds and culture they are enjoying. 

We thought it was time 

to extend the service 

to Pandaw "pax" by 

making our own 

recommendations of 

the books most likely to enhance your 

understanding of our destination countries. 

The presumption is that even a bit of prior 

knowledge adds immense value to the 

sensual experience of your expedition. 

Intermittently, and in no particular order 

therefore, this blog will be recommending 

essential books on Burma, Vietnam, 

Cambodia, and the other great and ancient 

civilisations that you will encounter with 

Pandaw. 

We're starting with one of our 

favourites: Golden Earth: Travels in Burma 

(1952) by Norman Lewis, an account of this 

master travel writer's journey around 

Burma in 1948, soon after the country won 

independence from the British. 

Norman Lewis (1908-2003), once 

described by Graham Greene as "one of the 

best writers, not of any particular decade, 

but of our century" was a highly influential 

if self-effacing travel writer, who revelled in 

the obscure, the bizarre, and the downright 

dangerous. 

An early childhood - well 

described in his autobiography 

I Came, I Saw - in a spiritualist 

household, made him a 

connoisseur of human 

eccentricity , which gave him a 

deep empathy with the 

minutiae of life in the 

"backwaters of Asia" which he 

travelled through in the 

immediate post-War decades, 

as well as enjoyment of being 

bemused and surprised by the 

outrageous oddness of human behaviour 

that few of us have time to savour. 

At the time of the visit to Burma 

described in Golden Earth, the country was 

convulsed with inter-ethnic and quasipolitical 

violence, and his solo venturing off 

the beaten track, despite official 

discouragement, exposed this World War II- 

Norman Lewis 


hardened British 

Army intelligence 

officer to much 

danger as well as 

hilariously-described 

discomfort. But it 

enabled him to see 

things in Burma that 

few Western writers, 

before or since, have 

experienced. 

Lewis was the 

forerunner of travel 

writers like Colin 

Thubron or 

Redmond O'Hanlon 

who made their 

business to research 

deeply, through 

books, but also 

obviously through 

conversation, the 

cultures through 

which he moved, 

and he will switch 

elegantly from reportage, to majesticallywritten 

and precise expositions of a point of 

Burmese history, religion, folklore, 

architecture or ethnic politics. 

He is quietly but determinedly critical 

of British rule in Burma, and of the casual 

racism of all colonialism, though he notes 

that the Burmese – for whose special 

qualities he has boundless regard - were 

magnanimous of their former overlords. 

His prognosis for Burma's future was 

hopelessly optimistic at the time, but is 

particularly interesting to read now that 

some semblance of democracy has started 

to reassert itself. 

Golden Earth describes phenomena 

such as the Burmese spirit world of nats, its 

dramatic traditions, particularly around the 

pwe festivals, its devout Buddhism. He is 

very far from being starry-eyed or 

sentimental, and does not flinch from the 

implications of the Burmese Buddhist 

reluctance to take life, even from vermin or 

animals in torturous pain, or the country's 

historical preference for funding pagodas 

rather than leper colonies. This passage 

about the "pious" 19th Century King 

Mindon's live burial of a pregnant woman 

to create protective spirits to guard his new 

capital Mandalay is characteristic, both of 

his comic style and of his brutal realism 

(see below): 

Importantly where Burma is 

concerned, Lewis is also very 

knowledgeable about the cocktail of ethnic 

identities comprised within this vast 

country's borders, and catalogues the 

characteristics of the Burmans, the Shans, 

the Kachins, the Palaungs, the Chinese, and 

others, also the indeterminate nature of 

their conflicts in the aftermath of the war 

against the Japanese, complicated as they 

were by common banditry and the ravages 

of "dacoits". 

Just as importantly, he is also a great 

observer of nature, which he rightly 

anticipated was about to face a sustained 

onslaught from modernity. He knows his 

birds, his trees and his flowers, and is as good 

at describing the accidental beauty of a jungle 

wilderness, the ethereal effects of butterfly 

swarms to descriptions of the verminous state 

of some of his upcountry accommodation, 

the rats, the cockroaches and the venomous 

spiders and the pariah dogs. 

Beauty and cruelty are powerfully 

intertwined in Lewis's world view. He is 

always unflinchingly truthful about the 

horrors of the natural world, for example 

describing how pigs feasted on the dead 

"and the dying" during the desperate and 

deadly Monsoon-season mountain exodus 

from the Japanese invasion in 1942, one of 

the book's most searing passages. 

In short Golden Earth is a book of 

extraordinary humanity and empathy, that 

concludes with an ardent hope and 

expectation that the Burmese would escape 

the excesses of Western consumerism 

(which Lewis relentlessly exposes to 

ridicule), and find their own agrarian-based 

route to self-determination and happiness. 

Six decades have now passed, during which 

Burma has been ruled by a military elite 

whose superstitions and savageries would 

have horrified and fascinated Norman Lewis. 

He captured great truths about Burma, 

which makes this book as impervious to 

time as some of the monuments he 

describes so surprisingly and so well. 

as a Buddhist scholar of renown and the leading authority of his times 

on Pali texts, Mindon probably disapproved of this stone-age practice. 

If he permitted the woman to be buried alive, he did so in the same spirit 

as a socialist cabinet minister might dress for dinner – not because he 

agreed with the principle, but because these things were expected of 

him; and, after all, there was nothing to be lost one way or another. 

Golden Earth: Travels in Burma 

by Norman Lewis (Eland Books, £12.99) 

Available at Amazon 


DECLINE AND FALL 

Orwell's Burmese Days 

For the second of our selection of the essential reads on Pandaw country, our guest contributor is selfconfessed 

"Pandaw junkie" Charlotte Pinder, Who celebrates George orwell's devastating critique of British 

Burma in the last years of the Raj. 

The RV Kindat Pandaw glides 

effortlessly into the jetty at 

the little town of Katha in 

Upper Burma. No great 

monuments, no notable 

pagodas to visit here; we have 

stopped for a different 

reason, for Katha - or Kyauktada to give it its 

fictional name - is immortalised as the setting 

for George Orwell's 1934 debut novel Burmese 

Days. 

Young Eric Blair (Orwell was a penname) 

clearly regretted his choice of Burma 

for his Indian Police Service career by the 

time he was dispatched to Katha in 1926. 

After a string of unprestigious postings he 

found himself in another remote town 

among a handful of dull Europeans. His 

disenchantment with the imperial ideal 

meant that this was to be his last posting; the 

novel he set here reveals his utter contempt 

for the British Raj. 

Burmese Days tells a simple story of 

doomed love. John Flory is a rapidly ageing 

bachelor who has squandered his adulthood 

in Burma (in so many respects similar to 

Orwell's own background). A book-loving 

intellectual yearning for refined conversation, 

for a sitting room with a black piano and 

"furniture from Rangoon", Flory believes an 

unattached, pretty girl recently arrived from 

Paris will offer him the redemption he craves. 

In the background, the local Europeans 

wrestle with an exhortation from above to 

admit a 'native' to their sacred Club ("I'll die 

in a ditch before I'll see a ni**er in here"). A 

minor Burmese official schemes and plots his 

way to greatness by exploiting the gullibility 

of the naive British Empire-builders. 

Here the Burmese are portrayed in a 

damning light – in cheating their employers or 

as blackmailers, rapists and murderers. Far 

more surprising for its time is the novel's 

viciously unsympathetic portrayal of the British 

residents as bigoted, racist, cruel and grasping 

snobs scrabbling to uphold the "Pukka Sahibs' 

code". 

They eat British (tinned, imported) 

foods, play endless bridge, repeat inane 

conversation about dogs, pore over out-ofdate 

British newspapers. Memsahibs never 

learn a word of Burmese and torment their 

servants. 

Hypocritical in moral matters, they start 

drinking before breakfast - Flory bemoans 

"booze as the cement of Empire". Men are 

lazy, leer over scantily-dressed magazine 

models and cavort with native prostitutes. 

Even the more sympathetic Flory has 

purchased a concubine for himself, an 

incident that leads to the novel's far from 

happy ending. 

Secure in the conviction of their 

superiority, what ultimately taints Orwell's 

colonialists is an unwavering contempt of 

local peoples. Timber manager Ellis' rantings 

against a "greasy little sod", "filthy black lips", 

"black snout", "oily little babu" go 

unchallenged. Cruelty is rife – even the genial 

Deputy Commissioner Macgregor reminisces 

about sending insolent servants to be flogged 

at the jail. Only Flory seethes at "the lie that 


we're here to uplift our poor black brothers 

instead of to rob them". 

This drama is set in a time of growing 

nationalism and rebellion throughout the 

Indian Empire. "The British Raj is finished if 

you ask me... The best thing we can do is 

shut up shop and let 'em stew in their own 

juice". 

The overt anti-imperialism of the novel 

and unflattering depictions of the Anglo- 

Indians led British publishers initially to 

reject publication of Orwell's novel for fear of 

libel claims. Names and locations were 

disguised in the 1935 first UK edition. Yet a 

renowned contemporary reviewer praised 

Burmese Days as: "admirable… a crisp, 

fierce…. attack on the Anglo-Indian". In 

Burma, conversely, among Orwell's former 

colleagues, the response was livid. Orwell's 

superior Stewart at the Police Training 

School in Mandalay threatened to have him 

"horsewhipped". Another colleague whined 

that Orwell had "rather let the side down…." 

Yet Burmese Days is no mere anticolonial 

polemic. A case could even be made 

for it as the finest novel that the author of 

Animal Farm and 1984 ever wrote, a deftlyplotted, 

fast-paced and riveting story. 

Today it is hard to read it without 

abhorrence of the blatant racism of the 

sahibs (we Pandaw travellers have, after all, 

journeyed here to marvel at the wonders of 

Burma). And yet, here is the paradox: it is 

clear that the book's antihero, Flory, and its 

author both adore the country. We can revel 

in Orwell's beautiful, lyrical descriptions of 

the jungle flora and fauna, in Flory's 

repeated attempts to share with new arrival, 

Elizabeth, all that he considers fascinating in 

Burma: sinuous pwe-dances, delicate teas, 

exotic aromas and dazzling market produce - 

exactly what excites us as visitors today. 

That afternoon, onshore in Katha 

almost a century later, we meander in pony 

carts through the sleepy town, halting at 

colonial-era structures which are startlingly 

familiar: the tennis court, the Club (a 

surprisingly unprepossessing building, given 

its status in the novel as "the real seat of 

British Power"), the railway station, the 

Deputy Commissioner's crumbling home, 

even Orwell's own spartan wooden shack. 

Once-manicured gardens are now 

choked with creepers, the Club no longer 

boasts "swaths of English flowers, phlox and 

larkspur, hollyhock and petunias … in vast 

size and richness" and yet the novel has 

sprung to life before our eyes. Shocking that 

this could ever disappear, it suddenly seems 

vital to preserve these dusty colonial relics as 

witnesses to a story of such profound 

cultural significance to the history of British 

Burma. 

Burmese Days, Penguin Modern 

Classics paperback £3.99-£9.99 

Kindle edition £4.99 

Charlotte 

Pinder 

a passionate linguist, educated 

in Britain, Charlotte has spent 

much of her adult life working 

overseas in marketing roles, 

primarily in the Far east. Her 

passion for "all-things asian" was 

sparked during a youthful first 

posting to tokyo (at a time when 

there were few expats living in 

Japan and learning the language 

was a necessity). She has since 

lived in China and travelled 

extensively in most countries of 

the region but has a particular 

affection for the cultures (and 

cuisines) of South east asia. Her 

first trip to Burma was thirty 

years ago. a self-confessed 

Pandaw "junkie", she has joined 

us on the Mekong in Cambodia, 

the Red River in Vietnam and the 

Chindwin/Irrawaddy in Myanmar 

(describing the experience on 

the RV Kindat Pandaw as "a 

food-lover's paradise"). a future 

adventure on the RV Champa 

Pandaw from Laos to China is 

already booked! 


FIRE OVER BURMA 

Field Marshal Slim's classic WWII memoir 

For the third in our series on the must-read books in Pandaw's library, Colin Donald recommends 

Defeat Into Victory, a general's-eye view of the Second World War in the Burmese theatre. 

Whether they know it or not, Pandaw 

passengers in Burma tread in the 

footsteps of the short-lived Fourteenth 

Army. The Irrawaddy and the Chindwin 

rivers were crucial to the campaign, 

particularly in the pivotal final battles of 

the summer of 1945. Our routes are haunted by the ghosts of 

thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers who, to 

paraphrase the Kohima Epitaph "for our tomorrow, gave their today". 

Countless books have been written about the travails of the 

so-called "Forgotten Army" and its bloody, disease-ridden, mudspattered 

contest with the Japanese. Most have acknowledged the 

stand-out horrors endured by the "Cinderella of all British 

armies". Its soldiers battled with inadequate equipment in 

sweltering, malarial, trackless and monsoon-sodden terrain, the 

fanaticism and brutality of the enemy made worse by topography 

that resembled "the teeth of a saw" and "a thick-piled, dull green 

carpet, rucked up into fold after fold". 

Out of all the literature of the war, there is one widely 

acknowledged masterpiece, written by the man in charge. Field 

Marshall William Slim's Defeat Into Victory (1956), from which the 

above quotes are taken, has been hailed as the best "general's 

book" to emerge from World War II. It has also served as a 

repository of wisdom on jungle fighting and has been cited in 

subsequent conflicts, particularly the American war in Vietnam. 

"Uncle Bill" Slim (1891-1970) is now seen as one the greatest 

of all Britain's wartime generals, at least on a par with 

Montgomery, whose hunger for publicity he did not share. 

Modest, plain-spoken and especially attentive to the welfare of his 

troops, Slim was also an exceptionally clear-sighted writer whose 

penetrating intellect and good judgement of men were matched by 

intensely aggressive military instincts. It is a rare combination of 

talents. 

In Defeat Into Victory he had the ability to distance himself 

from the smoke of war and to assess his own successes and 

failures with crystalline objectivity. He could also articulate and 

answer fundamental questions about, say, the "spiritual, 

intellectual and material" foundations of good morale, or the 

difference between physical courage and moral courage. The 

Japanese he contends, had the former, but not the latter: 


"they were not prepared to admit that they had 

made a mistake, that their plans had misfired and 

needed recasting. that would have meant 

personal failure in the service of the emperor and 

loss of face.". 

Given the "savage" atrocities perpetrated by the Imperial 

Japanese Army "to their eternal shame", his cool appraisal of their 

strengths and weaknesses seems remarkable now, and must have 

seemed even more so in the heat of battle. The dominant theme of 

the book is how he managed to diminish the legendary Japanese 

jungle- fighter in the eyes of his soldiers, and how he used their 

generals' excessive "military optimism" and inflexibility to outthink 

them and outmanoeuvre them. The turning point was his drawing 

them deep into India for the great battles of Kohima and Imphal in 

the spring/summer of 1944, which fatally over-extended Japanese 

supply lines. 

As you would expect, Defeat Into Victory is partly a record of the 

minutiae of military planning, tactics and strategy, much of which 

came down to questions of air supply and ability to move men and 

materiel across the Burmese environment and population, both of 

which he describes with great sensitivity. It is also a celebration of 

the gallantry and guts of those whom Slim, writing ten years after 

the war's end, felt had been insufficiently appreciated. 

Most of all it is a cracking good story. Slim liked to be where 

the action was, and the book gives vivid pictures both of the 

fighting, and also the environment in which it happened. Although 

it does not dwell on the price paid by so many, it conveys something 

of the sense of what it was like to be in the Burmese inferno in 

these terrible three years. 

Even those ignorant of military science will enjoy Slim's brisk 

account of this back-and-forth campaign, from his surprise posting 

on the eve of the Japanese invasion in 1942, to the reconquest of 

Rangoon and the Japanese surrender in August 1945. 

As the title suggests, Slim's contribution was to rescue British 

honour from its lowest depths, following the humiliating and 

horrific long retreat into India (he does not linger on the worst 

aspects of this), and to create the conditions for ultimate triumph of 

a multinational, multiracial army over one of the most formidable, 

and ruthless fighting machines ever put in the field. 

Slim has many virtues as a writer, not least a clear, 

unpretentious and lively prose style, including a surprising amount 

of wry humour. Rather self-consciously perhaps, he is prepared to 

admit his own mistakes, and to apologise for the occasional act of 

recklessness or bad judgement. He also has an eye for the beautiful 

and the quirky; his description of the temples of Pagan at dawn for 

example, or the experience of discovering General Rees leading his 

Assamese soldiers in the singing of Welsh missionary hymns 

following a battlefield success. 

Slim had no time for the grandstanding, in-fighting and 

tantrums that bedevilled the joint British-US command in the East, 

though he recounts them with some relish in his descriptions of 

other senior figures. He undoubtedly has scores to settle, for 

example implicitly criticising General McArthur of delaying the 

Japanese surrender to suit his own ego, prolonging the agony of 

sick and dying British POWs. 

There are incisive pen portraits of "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, whom 

he alone seemed to like, the aviator General Claire Chennault, and 

the dashing Admiral Louis Mountbatten, as well as more obscure 

generals like "Punch" Cowan and James Giffard, whom, he clearly 

felt had been unfairly overlooked for their achievements. He 

describes with care his encounter with Aung San, the Burmese 

leader who initially fought with the Japanese (Slim is contemptuous 

of the fighting abilities of the Burmese and Indian National Armies). 

His final verdict on the soon-to-be-martyred post-independence 

leader's character? "The greatest impression he made on me was one 

of honesty… I felt I could do business with Aung San." 

But the most interesting pen-portrait is of General Orde 

Wingate, legendary leader of the Chindits, to whom Slim gives 

severely conditional praise. He clearly thought Wingate over-rated as 

a military philosopher, and grimly puts the special forces leader's 

selfish and insubordinate conduct on the record. Characteristically, 

Slim does try to be generous. Although he did not rate him as a 

strategist, being too careless of his men's lives, he acknowledges 

that the Chindit campaigns had an effect on morale: 

Wingate was a strange, excitable, moody creature, 

but he had fire in him. He could ignite other men. 

When he so fiercely advocated some project of his 

own, you might catch his enthusiasm or you might 

see palpable flaws in his arguments; you might be 

angry at his arrogance or outraged at so obvious a 

belief in the end, his end justifying any means; but 

you could not be indifferent. You could not fail to 

be stimulated either to thought, protest, or action 

by his sombre vehemence and his unrelenting 

persistence. 

While the physical traces of the Second World War in Burma 

have long since been erased by time, the monsoon, and tropical 

vegetation, this great record still stands sixty years after it was 

written as if carved in granite. Arguments will rage about the causes 

and consequences of the Burma campaign, but after reading Defeat 

Into Victory, the peace and serenity we witness from Pandaw's decks 

acquires a whole new meaning. 

Far Left: 

Field Marshall 

William Slim 

Left: 

Operation 

Longcloth 


REFLECTIONS ON 

THE CHINDWIN 

by Pandaw Founder Paul Strachan 

The Chindwin is the loveliest of 

rivers... so wrote my late friend 

Alister McCrae of his 1930s 

trip up the great tributary as a 

young assistant of the 

Irrawaddy Flotilla*. And so it 

remains. I have been up a few 

rivers in my time and the Chindwin without a 

doubt remains the loveliest of them all. The 

Laos Mekong, with its gorges and rocks the size 

of apartment blocks is on a grander, almost 

intimidating, scale. The Irrawaddy is a 

magnificent beast as it expands and contracts 

through a series of vast shimmering water 

filled plain and tight defiles. Nothing could 

beat the Brahmaputra for bird and wildlife and 

nothing could beat the great Mekong Delta for 

human life. 

I returned this year to the Chindwin to 

find it little changed in a world of great change. 

Timeless, soulful, the river meanders through 

range upon range of forested hills, through 

rocky narrows and great open spaces. You are 

up against towering bluffs to one side and 

shimmering seas of elephant grass on the 

other. Our course is punctuated by pristine 

villages that have not visibly changed in a 

millennia. On the Chindwin, you will find the 

real Burma: a quietly prosperous riverine 

economy, self-sufficient and at one with its self. 

I first explored the Chindwin in 1986 

when I travelled up river on a small motorboat. 

I was twenty-five then and spent the better part 

of a week sleeping on sand banks as the 

boatmen tried to coax our overladen vessel off 

these sand banks. This was in April and the 

river was so shallow you could walk across. 

I fell in love with the river and marvelled at the 

art treasures that awaited in long forgotten 

wood carved monasteries, one of which at 

Mingkin I believe to be the oldest in Burma. 

The best places to stay, when not on the 

sand banks, were in the village monasteries. 

At Kan I formed a friendship with the spiritual, 

yet at the same time highly capable sayadaw 

(abbott), that lasts to this day. The Kan Sayadaw 

ran the village as a sort of benign theocracy and 

it was the tidiest, cleanest and most quietly 

prosperous village in Burma. His aura of 

authority was such that he was able to keep out 

the hordes of rapacious officials lying in wait in 

the nearby township of Mingkin. 

The Chindwin is the Irrawaddy's greatest 

tributary flowing down 700 miles from the 

Patkai Hills in North-East India, said to the be 

the wettest place in the world, which accounts 

for a monsoon rise of water levels of 100ft and 

sometimes the river can rise thirty feet in a 

night. In the low water season from mid- 

October onwards, the water level drops to three 

feet or less and is navigable only by vessels with 

the shallowest of drafts. The river is navigable 

from its confluence with the Irrawaddy as far as 

Homalin which is 400 miles. 

I did not return till the late 90s on our 

first Pandaw and there was virtually no change 

from when I had been up there fifteen years 

before. Roads were few and cars fewer. The 

Chinese 'colonisation' of Burma was just 

beginning and had yet to reach these remote 

parts. It was a joyful reunion with the Kan 

Sayadaw, witnessed by bemused guests on 

board. I have been lucky enough to do the trip a 

couple more times in the intervening years and 

it just seems to get lovelier and lovelier. 

This year I took my family on our Kalay 

Pandaw, the five cabin so called 'Pandaw 

Owner's Yacht'; not that we get to go in it very 

much as it is usually fully booked. The Kalay 

followed the nine cabin Zawgyi. In December 

the weather is just perfect, the temperature 

ranging from 15C at night to 25C by day. No 

one used the air conditioners and most meals 


were taken outside, though fleeces are a must 

at breakfast time. 

On both the Zawgyi and Kalay every single 

guest, bar one couple, had been with Pandaw 

before, many several times. Everyone was up 

for an adventure and had many a tale of past 

groundings, evacuations and the other dramas 

associated with a Pandaw river expedition. 

Perhaps to some people's regret, this 

expedition went quite smoothly, as, though low 

water, the channels were very clearly defined 

and we never hit the bottom once. Both these 

ships draw just under three feet and being 

small can manoeuvre tight bends. A couple of 

years ago at the same time of year, the water got 

so low that a number of key channels blocked 

and there were queues of boats waiting to get 

through. We had a lot of complaints that year. 

Things have changed now since the 80s 

and 90s. For one thing, there was 3G for the 

entire length of the river. I am not sure that is 

such a good thing as one of the joys of Burma 

river travel was going 'offline'. Likewise, on the 

Irrawaddy you are now 'wired' the whole way. 

As a result, every local you meet, from 

fisherman to ploughman, has a smart phone 

and seems to be on Facebook. New roads run 

parallel to the river and you see cars in the 

village; as with everywhere in Burma today, 

everyone is dashing around on a scooter. Even, 

there is grid power in the larger villages, yet 

despite the march of modernity, the intrinsic 

atmosphere of these Chindwin towns and 

villages remained the same - very friendly, very 

polite and still with their original wooden 

houses, very pretty. 

I am glad to say that the Kan Sayadaw, 

now in his eighties, is thriving. Lots of new 

houses seemed to be under construction 

around the village and he complained to me, 

somewhat ironically, that now the once 

draconian laws of the military dictatorship were 

relaxed, people were cutting down trees for 

wood. However, he had won the argument by 

telling the villagers that tourists want to see the 

trees and the place would not be so attractive 

without them. 

The Chindwin was first explored in 1881 

by two Scots, Fred Kennedy of the Irrawaddy 

Flotilla and Annan Bryce of the Bombay 

Burmah Trading Corporation, who had timber 

concessions up there from the Burmese king. 

Upper Burma was then ruled by King Thibaw 

whilst Lower Burma was British. The IFC ran 

paddle steamers from Rangoon, the colonial 

capital, to the royal capital of Mandalay and had 

agents there and upstream as far as Bhamo. 

The Chindwin, flowing up to the border of 

British India was of considerable strategic and 

commercial interest. However, the main barrier 

to any development of these opportunities were 

the water levels with, as said, an average dry 

season depth of about three feet and in the 

monsoon, a flow rate strong enough to stop any 

ship. 

Fred Kennedy reported back to Glasgow 

where the legendary ship builder Peter Denny 

was one of the company directors. Denny went 

back to his drawing board in Scotland and came 

up with a radical new design - the Kha Byoo. In 

order to maintain trim, the boiler was situated 

in the bow and the paddles on the stern. One 

hundred and seventy-foot-long, it drew just two 

feet! The furnace was wood fired and the 

company went on to set up fuelling stations at 

regular intervals so the ship would not be 

weighed down with its wood pile. The loading 

was done by girls who would sing as they 

daintily stepped down the gangplank with 

stacks of wood beautifully balanced on their 

heads. 

The IFC opened the Chindwin valley to 

trade and this rich hinterland was able to send 

its produce by steamer to market. In fact, the 

Chindwin then, as now, was agriculturally far 

richer than the Irrawaddy valley and had a far 

denser population in the arable flat lands. 

There were oil fields around Mawlaik and of 

course the rich forests, managed on a strict 

conservation basis, yielded many a raft of teak 

logs, floated down river to the great sawmills of 

Rangoon. 

It was up the Chindwin that the British 

retreated in 1942 with the Japanese hot on their 

tail. In some instances, the Japanese would 

enter a town a mere twenty minutes after the 

British had vacated it. IFC ships were used to 

evacuate the British civilian population and 

then used to ferry the retreating army across at 

key points. The ships were scuppered at 

Shitthaung lest the Japanese use them to 

supply their planned invasion of India. In 1943 

the Chindwin was crossed again as part of 

Operation Loincloth, the first Chindit 

campaign that wreaked havoc on the up till 

then seemingly invincible Japanese. And it was 

again down the Chindwin valley that in 1944 

Bill Slim and the 14th Army marched back and 

turned 'Defeat into Victory'. 

Our fellow passengers were a fit bunch, 

preferring to go exploring on our village stops 

by mountain bike. (All our ships carry 

mountain bikes now.) I was amused to see a 

possy of mountain bikes bombing off down 

some jungle track being followed by a tuk tuk 

containing the rather portly local guide. I could 

see that our intrepid passengers were really 

enjoying a feeling of 'exclusivity', being the only 

foreign visitors on the whole length of the river. 

The great thing about the river being so shallow 

is that only very small, ultra-shallow draft ships 

can make it and none of the big white cruisers 

that congest the waterways between Pagan and 

Mandalay can get up here. 

We travelled with our teenage son Toni 

and a friend of his - living proof that these 

expeditions are a great experience for younger 

people. There is just so much to see and do and 

they get a real insight into another culture and 

way of life. Each evening the crew would set up 

a badminton net for a crew vs kids session. 

This would generally disintegrate into a football 

knock around in which locals would join in. We 

had some trainees on board and it was 

suggested to Toni he might do something 

useful and teach them some English. He roped 

them into a marathon Monopoly game, 

conducted in English of course. There were 

great shrieks of mirth emanating from the 

saloon all afternoon. 

It was with a heavy heart that we 

disembarked at Mingkin leaving our guests to 

continue to Mawlaik. We drove back to Pagan 

in just seven hours along a freshly cut 

mountain road, unthinkable a few years ago 

when the river was the only form of 

communication. 

The Kha Byoo runs on the Chindwin 

weekly from September to February 

from Kalewa to Homalin (high water) 

Monywa to Kalewa (low water). 

*Alister McCrae, Tales of Burma. Paisley 1982. 


IN THE 

PIRATE'S LAIR 

MY Andaman Explorer uncovers the roots of British Burma 

Regular Pandaw guests know about our fascination for the rich history of British rule in 

Burma, on whose legacy our pioneering company was built. Over the past 21 years, uncounted 

onboard talks and guided tours have explored this cross-cultural encounter – warts and all. 

What's so exciting about our first sea 

cruise in Burma, our new Mergui 

Archipelago expedition, is that it is our 

first to turn to the earliest chapters of 

that story, sailing the very waters that 

were once the haunt of ‘Siamese White’. 

Siamese who? Forgotten for centuries, Samuel White (c1650- 

1689) was one of the most daring rogues in the history of the East 

India Company. His story – too implausible for fiction – reads like 

an action movie, tailor-made for one of the over-the-top style of a 

Hollywood star, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp or Daniel Day Lewis. 

As a young man, White started off as a Bristol seaman 

seeking his fortune via the East India Company system, evolving 

since 1600. Like others he quickly understood that in a faraway 

land where anything goes, vast fortunes were best earned by 

circumventing the rules. But as the extortionate greed, violence 

and threats turned to murder and mayhem and an apocalyptic 

climax, White ended up as a kind of Jacobean Mr Kurtz. 

That we know so much about White is thanks to the book 

Siamese White (1936, reprinted 2008) by Maurice Collis, an Anglo- 

Irish administrator-turned-literary man. Collis (1889-1973) was 

himself based in Mergui, and his own chequered career in the 

Burma service is an interesting story in itself, which we hope to 

return to. Suffice to say here that anyone booked, or considering 

booking our a journey in to the pirate-infested history of the 


Mergui Archipelago will find Siamese White essential background 

reading. 

Most of us think of British involvement in the East as an 18th 

and 19th Century phenomenon, but by the mid-to-late 17th 

Century there was depth and sophistication in the East India 

Company's commercial and quasi-diplomatic activities in the 

Indian Ocean. This was the era of James II, periwigs and tricorn 

hats, slightly predating the age of Robinson Crusoe. Collis's tale of 

"a freeman of England making a fortune in the whirligig of 

eastern politics" reads like a Boys' Own adventure, but it is more 

historically significant than that. Scholars still cite this book as one 

of the best sources of information on the early European 

encounter with Southeast Asia. 

the Indian/European doorway to the Thai capital Ayudhaya 

(modern day Ayutthaya), which in turn was an entrepôt for 

Western and Middle Eastern trade with China and Japan, Through 

his brother's connections with a better-known Western adventurer 

the Greek-born Constantin Phaulkon, "mandarin" in the court of 

the Siamese King Narai, White became, nominally at least, a 

servant of this "heathen prince" at Ayudhaya, who at this time was 

overlord of the Indian Ocean coast. 

No known images of White survive (the picture to the left is 

of a contemporary British adventurer) but his outline is clear 

enough from Collis's book. He was a piratical opportunist, 

working to outmanoeuvre the Muslim traders who previously subcontracted 

trade relations for the Siamese, while making the most 

of his official status to cut cosy deals with friend and foe alike. 

He built up a vast fortune through daring coastal raids, naked 

piracy and cooking the books, while constantly plotting his escape 

with his loot from his palatial lair in Mergui back to Britain. He 

was never more than a few steps away from a sticky end at the 

hands of the British or the Siamese, both of whom he habitually 

double crossed. A Siamese-style sticky end, as gruesomely detailed 

in this book, was certainly one to be avoided. 

The climax to all this came in 1687 where the crazed escape 

plans of the debauched and nearly cornered White, who had long 

since thought nothing of beheading people on the spot, drunkenly 

precipitated chaos to a mass slaughter of the 60-strong foreign 

community in Mergui. This is just one of the many forgotten 

chapters in the lurid and fascinating history of this little-known 

corner of Asia. 

Without spoiling the ending, there are many extraordinary 

aspects to White's career, not least that it is so well-documented. 

White had a sidekick called Davenport, who faithfully wrote down 

what White said. Along with the non-stop action, it all reads as 

vividly as a TV mini-series scripted by Daniel Defoe: 

A word of caution: This being a true story rather than fiction it 

is quite convoluted, full of red herrings, obscure motives and 

White: "If ever a King's Captain or Lieutenant of 

them all comes ashore and tells me that I must go 

to Madras and should pretend a power to force 

me thither, I'll be the man that will pistol him upon 

the place with my own hands, and wipe my arse 

with his Kings Commission." 

WHO WAS SAMUEL WHITE? 

A daring, and wholly unscrupulous adventurer, White was 

a master of the cut-throat culture of "interloper" trade around 

Tenasserim, the west coast of the Kra Isthmus. This strategic 

territory changed hands incessantly and bloodily between Siam 

and Burma through the centuries. It is now the Burmese province 

of Tanintharyi, the locus of the first coastal expedition of MY 

Pandaw Explorer. 

Starting off as a small cog in complex trade network, White 

quickly achieved gangsterish greatness. At that time Mergui was 

undeveloped characters (not to mention innumerable confusing 

misprints). But as a portal into the daily life, colour and atmosphere 

of the first British engagement with Burma, it is unsurpassed. 

Pandaw's guides will have a lot 

of material to work with as the MY 

Andaman Explorer takes its 

passengers right back to the earliest 

roots of British Burma. 


FINDING 

FLAVOUR 

Meet the top Aussie chef who transformed Pandaw's gourmet galley 

Enjoyed Pandaw's onboard food offering recently? If so, you should know who to thank. 

His name is Stuart 

Hickman, a 47-year-old 

Welsh-Australian chef 

with a passion for the 

tastes of Southeast Asia 

and an inspiration for 

our team of talented cooks. As Pandaw's 

food and beverage manager, Stuart's 

obsession with sharing new and exciting 

flavours is matched by his passion for 

training up a new generation of young 

local talent. 

In over two years with Pandaw, this 

culinary force of nature has used his 

decades of globe-trotting experience to 

overhaul our food and drink operation. 

Now he is hard at work compiling a 

mouth-watering Pandaw cook book, due 

out soon. 

Provisionally entitled Flavours from 

the Rivers of the Orient, the new 

publication will be crowd-sourced from 

Pandaw's stable of chefs, gathering up the 

best recipes for meals and canapes, based 

on the diverse local cuisines from all the 

areas through which our unique fleet is 

privileged to travel. 

Just hearing him enthuse about 

"layers of flavour" – verbally dishing up a 

"caramelised watermelon, feta salad with 

pickled cucumber and ginger mint 

dressing" for example – leaves you feeling 

(a) hungry and (b) respectful: Here is a 

man who loves his food and cares that 

Pandaw passengers get the best. A guestfocused 

advocate of "theatre cuisine", he 

sees it as part of the onboard experience 

to focus passengers on the cooking and 

preparation of what they are about to 

receive. 

The son of Welsh émigré hoteliers 

from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, 

cooking and catering are in his blood. 

He learned his trade in Australia, before 

venturing on a spectacularly diverse 

international career that has taken him 

from a "boutique cruise ship" on the 

Barrier Reef to the ski slopes of Andorra 

to the luxury super yachts of Majorca, to 

feeding 200 miners in the remotest 

outback of Western Australia. 

Having worked long stints in senior 

roles in upmarket locations in Phuket and 

Singapore, and married to Tangmo, a 

Thai, he knows Southeast Asia and its 

natural larder better than most, and has 

acquired the diplomatic skills to be 

effective in a testing multi-cultural 

environment. He talks about the 

importance of patience, tact, and the need 

for "two spoons of sugar to one spoon of 

vinegar" when it comes to motivating our 

diverse kitchen crews. 

Overseeing nine ships over the 

cruise season, it is his job to ensure that 

the best ingredients are sourced, that the 

menus are refreshed regularly, and that 

food preparation and hygiene standards 

are consistent. 

"the idea of the Pandaw cook 

book is to focus on the local 

cuisine, with submissions 

from each of our chefs. " 

Stuart tells me. "We are 

sharing what's going on in 

the kitchens along the routes 

we take, we include some of 

the favourites of european 

cuisine and contemporary 

cuisine all developed with 

love and passion." 

Stuart's job is made all the more 

challenging in Burma, the company's 

heartland, by the lack of an indigenous 

restaurant culture (though there are some 

stand out eateries like Yangon's Le 

Planteur, where he sources Pandaw's 

superlative imported wine list). 

Another challenge is that Burma, in 

comparison with neighbouring Thailand, 

is not the easiest place to obtain the great 

ingredients that a chef of his calibre 

demands. "I have to say that Myanmar 

cuisine compared to other Asian cuisines 

is relatively bland and unexciting." Stuart 

says. "My challenge is to take Burmese 

staples and make them more palatable to 

the Western diner" he says. "For example 

their curries are very oily, as they use that 

to infuse the rice." 

He is frank about the challenges of 

sourcing produce that meets his 

standards, challenges he takes pride in 

overcoming. "Agricultural diversity hasn't 

really developed in Myanmar as it has in 

Thailand. For example you just have one 

lettuce variety, iceberg. You don't get 

beautiful, succulent summer leaves that 

are available in Thailand. And with all 

these buffalo around, why don't they have 

a decent buffalo mozzarella?" 

"They do have delicious seafood, 

particularly what they call seabass which 

is a kind of is white snapper. And the 

famous Irrawaddy river prawn, which is 

like a like a fresh water langoustine." 

Given all of the above, Stuart's knack 

for sourcing the best local and imported 

ingredients is thus at a premium. 

Constantly on the hunt for the best 

flavours and the best prepared meats and 

vegetables, he is a tireless market-goer 

who know all the good suppliers and 

importers. 

"A true chef uses their imagination. 

You can always develop new techniques 

and new recipes. Its only your 

imagination that holds you back." 


There isn't a chef in the world who 

doesn't enthuse about their passion for 

local produce, but what strikes most about 

Chef Hickman is his determination that 

Pandaw has a positive impact on Burma's 

tourism and food service industries. He is 

a relentlessly committed trainer. 

"Some of the younger chefs coming 

up the organisation have had a lot more 

exposure and training than the older 

generation, and indeed a couple of my 

chefs have worked overseas, for example 

in Dubai. Those who have worked abroad 

have a higher level of understanding and 

training. We have got a good core crew of 

chefs, and we are bringing them on." 

"I have noticed that some of the chefs 

are taking the ball and running with it. 

We have young fresh blood on board the 

ships, and I have shown them that I am 

willing to promote within the company, 

and two younger commis chefs have 

become head chefs, one of them is taking 

over on a ten-cabins ship, he's only 33, 

and he's young and vibrant in his 

cuisine." 

In due course we'll be posting some 

of Pandaw's favourite recipes from 

Stuart's new publication, and if you have 

any questions about our food offering, 

ingredients, or are in search of any Asian 

cookery tips, he would be happy to advise. 

Drop him a line at stuart@pandaw.com. 

He'll get back to you whenever he can! 


DOLPHIN 

DELIGHT 

New opportunities to see the Mekong's favourite inhabitants 

Pandaw's special relationship with the Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) has got a 

great deal closer on the Mekong river. Our newly revised schedule for the ever-popular Classic 

Mekong expedition now includes the opportunity to get up close and personal with one of 

Southeast Asia's most elusive and charismatic river-dwellers. 

This has been yet another 

another world first for 

Pandaw, for 21 years the 

unchallenged pioneers of 

Southeast Asian river 

cruising. No other Mekong 

cruise offers passengers the opportunity to 

observe these dolphins. This conservationsensitive 

opportunity underlines our status 

as the cruise company closest to - and most 

in tune with - the fabulous natural history 

of Southeast Asia. 

Confusingly named the Irrawaddy 

dolphin after Pandaw's other great river, 

this rarer Mekong subpopulation of 

dolphins is native to the river in Cambodia 

and Laos. As their Latin name denotes, 

they differ from marine dolphins by their 

snub-nosed features, which makes them 

look a bit like torpedoes as they power 

through the water. Over the decades 

various human interventions in the 

Mekong – good, bad and ugly – have 

drastically reduced their number to less 


than 100 in a 118-mile stretch of the river, 

earning them the International Union for 

the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s 

classification of "critically endangered". 

Now these freshwater relatives of the 

killer whale and Australian snubfin 

dolphin, which have close and distant 

cousins in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, 

the Philippines and Thailand, are closely 

monitored by various global and local 

conservation charities, with whom 

Pandaw's dolphin-watching activities are 

co-ordinated. 

Previously we have offered 

passengers the chance to observe these 

famously shy mammals on our Mekong 

Unexplored cruise, but thanks to our local 

knowledge, the technical capacity of our 

unique craft to navigate challenging 

passages of the Mekong, and the hard 

work of our scheduling and logistics 

teams on the ground in Cambodia, we 

can now expand our offering to cover all 

passengers on the July-March Classic 

Mekong cruise. 

Irrawaddy Dolphins have lived 

closely with the river-dependent peoples 

of the Mekong basin for millennia, and 

considerable folklore has grown up about 

their practical help to fishermen – 

supposedly herding fish into their nets – 

not to mention their spiritual significance 

as reincarnations of significant people. 

Pandaw has its own special 

experience of the Mekong dolphins' 

cousins on the Irawaddy itself. Paul 

Strachan, the company's founder, 

remembers the Christmas Cruise of the 

RV Kalaw Pandaw in 2014 where a pod of 

dolphins was accompanying the ship 

downstream when she ran aground 

(thankfully a rare occurrence!). 

"The dolphins had been swimming 

alongside us for miles, and we felt that 

they were doing it to show us where the 

right channel was. When we hit a 

sandbank their movements seemed to be 

guiding us to where we were supposed to 

be, they were saying: ‘No, you've got it 

wrong, we said this is the right way.' There 

were lots of witnesses to this, so it's not 

just me imagining it, it was amazing... 

absolutely amazing." 

All of which makes it intolerable that 

unethical or careless fishing practices with 

electric current and dynamite, pollution 

and other man-made crises are driving the 

dolphins of the Mekong to the brink of 

extinction. By allowing our 

passengers to see them in 

carefully controlled 

conditions at close quarters 

we at Pandaw will be doing 

our bit to raise their profile, 

and further the cause of 

their survival. 

All in all, it's no 

wonder we are so thrilled at 

the prospect of making a 

near-certain sighting of the 

Mekong dolphins a regular 

part of our itinerary during 

high water season. For 

more information and 

booking see our itinerary 

page. 


DAMNED 

IF THEY DO? 

The great Xayaburi debate 

Almost everyone who has joined a Pandaw expedition appreciates the importance of preserving 

Asia's great river valleys. We want the same unspoiled panorama we enjoy from 

the comfort of our decks to be enjoyed by our children and grandchildren. 

And we know from mailbag how much our guests 

deplore the invasion of modern detritus into this 

ancient landscape, like the plastic rubbish 

thrown into the water that threatens the beauty 

of even remote locations. 

On a far more complex level is the issue of 

Laos's Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong, one of the most controversial 

renewable energy projects in the world. This issue is less amenable 

to easy condemnation than discarded bottles and buckets, and 

Pandaw passengers have a unique opportunity to consider one of 

the great environmental issues of the age at close quarters. 

This $4billion, 1.3MW hydro-electric mega-structure, is 

intended by the cash-strapped government of the Lao People's 

Democratic Republic (to give the country its full title) to transform 

a landlocked country, otherwise bereft of natural resources. Along 

with other megastructures, like the proposed Don Sahong dam 

close to the Cambodian border, the dams are meant to transform 

Laos into the self-styled "battery of southeast Asia". 

This is not a simple issue, and easy condemnation should be 

resisted, not least because, as in other countries, the Mekong 

dams make navigation of the river more manageable for river 

traffic, Pandaw included. More importantly, the Laotians might 

reasonably object to richer countries, and self-righteous NGOs, 

laying down the law on what they can and cannot build in their 

own territory. 

They would argue that this massive development, largely 

financed by Thai bankers, is a notable expression of the right of 

one of the world's poorest countries to develop its tiny economy 

($12.3bn GDP – a mere 3% of Thailand's GDP) and lift more of its 

6.7 million populace out of poverty. 

That anyway is the business plan, but inevitably things are 

not that clear cut. Laos (largely supported by Thailand) has 

pressed on with the development of the dam in the teeth of strong 

opposition from local farmers and fishermen not just in Laos, but 


more acutely in the 

downstream Mekong nations 

of Cambodia and Vietnam. 

They are furious about 

the impact that this manmade 

obstacle is said to be 

having on the primeval 

passage of this great body of 

water, said to host more 

biodiversity than any river 

other than the Amazon. More 

particularly they fear the 

potential devastation to the 

ancient patterns of fishing 

and agriculture that stem 

from arresting the river's 

flow and the creation of a 

massive reservoir. There is a 

credible risk of mass 

extinction of species of 

migratory fish, unable to 

reach their spawning ground, as well as devastating agricultural 

damage as the nutrient-rich silts that have always flowed down the 

river are blocked. 

Given that Pandaw passengers are in the privileged position 

of being able to see the dam up close (the dam's locks are a very 

tight fit and considerable challenge to the skill of Pandaw's 

captains) we like to think that our passengers, many of whom have 

influential voices in their home countries, will help to ensure that 

the continuing international debate is a well-informed and 

balanced one. 

As Alex Stafford, the rivers expert of the conservation charity 

WWF puts the case against: 

We like to think that our passengers on our expeditions The Laos 

Mekong and The Mekong: From Laos to China will make up their 

own minds. 

Incidentally, it's not just environmental issues that have been 

stirred up by this construction project. As well as being an 

environmental issue, the Xayaburi Dam has also been a massive 

source of diplomatic tension, all but destroying the Mekong River 

Commission, a well-meaning international quango set up (and 

handsomely financed) with Western Aid. The MRC's attempts to 

arrest or delay the development, pending further investigations, 

was a dismal failure, leading some to believe that the body was a 

toothless talking shop, barely worth its inflated annual running 

costs. 

Where will this all end? As a company that cares passionately 

about the Mekong "the mother of waters", we will be watching the 

debate closely. Our belief is that the many wonders of this 

extraordinary nursery of diversity will be able to overcome the 

imposition of this amount of concrete and steel. 

"Large hydropower projects in the wrong sites, 

are having a major negative impact on the 

biodiversity, ecosystem integrity and economy of 

the Mekong River and its tributaries. We believe 

there are better ways to provide power and 

income to the people of the region that don't 

compromise fisheries and the fertile Mekong 

delta." 

"We hope that travellers on Pandaw vessels will 

recognize the incredible beauty and biodiversity 

of the Mekong River and speak out in favour of 

sustainably developing its resources and 

maintaining its ecological integrity." 



TO THE LAND OF 

ETERNAL SPRING 

Pandaw pioneers spectacular Mekong route to China 

The Champa Pandaw, which has 14 teak-finished 

staterooms, was specially built to withstand the 

strong currents and challenging navigational 

conditions of the Upper Mekong and deliver 

Southeast Asia's first ever "four country" river 

expedition. 

Running from Oct-April, Pandaw's 14-night 

cruise The Mekong: from Laos to China operates upstream and 

downstream between the Lao capital Vientiane and Jinghong in 

China, via moorings in Thailand and Burma. 

The cruise is the latest in a long line of pioneering river 

expeditions from the company which, since its foundation in 1995 

has led the way on high-end experiential cruising on the rivers of 

Asia. Champa Pandaw is the latest edition to Pandaw's growing 

fleet of unique, colonial-era ships. Built and finished to the 

highest levels of engineering and craftsmanship 17 of the ships 

currently ply Asia's waterways, including the Irrawaddy, the 

Chindwin and the Mekong rivers. 

Paul Strachan, Pandaw's founder said: 

Tony Deng, Managing Director on China Kindness Tour, 

Kunming, Pandaw's partner in China said: 

"the arrival of the Champa Pandaw marks the 

beginning of a new era on Mekong River, and it’s 

an honour to be playing a part. We are very 

pleased to be partnering with a company of 

Pandaw's reputation on the Mekong in China. We 

see this as an important way of opening up 

Yunnan Province, which is, to high-end 

experiential tourism." 

"Bigger than the entire country of the 

netherlands or denmark, with a population of 

45 million, Yunnan Province has so much to offer 

the traveller, from glorious mountain scenery, 

fabled cities such as Lijiang, dali and Zhongdian, 

also known as ‘Shangri-La'. It is also home to 

over 50 ethnic minorities". 

"It has been a long-held dream of ours to offer 

travellers the chance to journey on a Pandaw ship 

on the Upper Mekong all the way to China, so 

today marks a major milestone in our history". 

"We have faced many challenges developing this 

new and exciting route into Yunnan Province and I 

would thank all our team and partners for their part 

in overcoming the difficulties to make it happen." 

"exploring the Upper Mekong on a four country 

river expedition from Laos to thailand, Burma to 

China is a fascinating and unforgettable off the 

beaten track adventure, and passengers make the 

trip knowing that they entering exciting new 

territory." 

Pandaws' four-country river expedition allows passengers to enjoy 

discovering charming villages and experience stunning scenery 

amidst pristine jungle. Highlights include the Golden Triangle, 

spectacular defiles, the Tat Kuang Si waterfall, and the very 

emerald green waters of the Mekong in China's Yunnan province. 

The journey includes overnight stops in Vientiane, Luang 

Prabang, Chiang Saen and Jinghong. 

Built in a specially created shipyard on the Burmese Mekong, 

using a methodology and design based on Pandaw's unparalleled 

knowledge of local riverine conditions, the Champa Pandaw was 

designed with ultra-low draft and extra powerful engines 

generating 1400 horsepower, almost twice the power of other 

ships in the Pandaw fleet. 


OUR TEAM 

One of the reasons we have 

the highest repeat 

passenger rate in the 

business (45% of 

passengers have been with 

us before), is not just the 

unique design of our ships or the beauty of the 

rivers we pass through, but the warmth of our 

crews. 

With an average ratio of one crew per 

cabin, all our teams are dedicated to your wellbeing 

whilst on board. As a family business, 

everyone at Pandaw feels proud to be part of 

something special. Since we started over 

twenty years ago, we are now working with the 

children of our original colleagues. 

In the developing countries we work in, 

to be a Pandaw team member is to be part of a 

real elite. This shines through as our highly 

motivated crews perform their duties. That is 

why our Pandaws are maintained to such high 

levels; not because of management systems, 

duty rosters or other western management 

techniques, but out of pure love for these 

gorgeous ships and what they do. 

Though we support our clinics and 

educational projects with a percentage of 

your ticket price, we believe that we make a 

far bigger contribution to these economies 

through training and development of skills 

amongst our employees. 

In the twenty plus years since we 

started the business, over 2,000 crew have 

passed through our ranks. Nearly all have 

raised themselves up to buy their own home 

and send their kids to college. Nearly all 

support extended families of up to a dozen 

members, covering education and health costs. 

Currently, we directly employ about 500 

people and indirectly, as many again. Multiply 

that by the number of dependents and you will 

realize going on a Pandaw is not an act of selfindulgence! 


STAFF PHOTO COMP 

Htein Win Kyaw who captured some 

great moments on RV Kalaw Pandaw!! 

Wah Wah from Pandaw Bagan office, 

‘village charity schools in Htaunggyi’ 

Win Myo purser 

on board the RV 

Zawgyi Pandaw 

captured naga 

tribal dance 

with guests 

Nay Lin Htet ‘beautiful photo of a 

couple working in their field’ 


R.V. CHAMPA PANDAW 

R.V. LAOS PANDAW 

R.V. ANGKOR PANDAW 

EXPEDITIONS 

OVERVIEW 

For over twenty years Pandaw has specialised in exploring the remote rivers of Southeast Asia 

which only our small shallow-draft ships can navigate. Embrace adventure and discovery in the 

comfort of personalised attention on board our timeless hand-crafted teak and brass ships. 

THE MEKONG FROM LAOS TO CHINA 

LAOS MEKONG 

16:18 Page 6 

Jinghong 

Mangfeilong 

Monastery 

BURMA 

Tachilek 

Chian Saen 

THAILAND 

 

Pak Lai 

Ban Paklay 

Pandaw River Journey 

CHINA 

Pak Beng 

Menglun 

Botanical Gardens 

 

Pak Ou Caves 

NORTH 

VIETNAM 

Luang Prabang 

Vientiane 

LAOS 

 

B U R M A 

Chian Saen 

 

T H A I L A N D 

Pak Lai 

Ban Paklay 


C H I N A 

Pak Beng 

 

Pak Ou Caves 

N O R T H 

V I E T N A M 

Luang Prabang 

Sanakham Vientiane 

L A O S 

 

Vientiane to Jinghong - 14 nights 

Sail the Upper Mekong River all the way from Vientiane to China 

on a pioneering expedition through Laos and Thailand to China's Yunnan 

province. 

No single supplement on selected dates 

Vientiane to Chiang Sean - 10 nights 

Travel from Laos to Thailand through dramatic mountainous scenery, 

rapids and stunning gorges, visiting remote tribal villages enroute, with 

a 2-nights stop at the world heritage site Luang Prabang. 


RV CHAMPA PANDAW 

RV LAOS PANDAW 

14 deluxe cabins 


CLASSIC MEKONG 

Page 1 

HALONG BAY AND RED RIVER 

18/01/2017 16:19 Page 9 

Siem Reap 

Kampong Trolach 

Phnom Penh 

Tan Chau 

Chau Doc 

CAMBODIA 

 

 

Wat Hanchey 

Chong 

Koh 

Dolphin 

Grounds 

Kratie 

Kampong Cham 

VIETNAM 

Red River 

Lo River 

Tien Du 

Hung Lo Temple 

VIETNAM 

Viet Tri 

Ly Nhan village 

Duong Lam 

Village 

Hanoi 

Hoa Binh 

Thay & Tay 

Stork Island 

Phuong Pagoda 

Da River 

Red River 

lower Red River 

Kinh Thay River 

Luoc River 

Thai Binh River 

Tuan Chau Island 

Ninh Giang 

Gia Luan 

Halong Bay 

 

Sa Dec 

Saigon 

Pandaw Journey 

Land Content 

Cai Be 

My Tho 


Saigon to Siem Reap - 7 nights 

Journey through the Mekong Delta, stopping at Phnom Penh, and up 

the Tonle River. In high-water season visit Kratie and the Mekong river 

dolphins. 


Halong Bay to Hoa Binh - 10 nights 

Explore the highlights of northern Vietnam by river, from Halong Bay 

and its dramatic limestone islands, navigate the Song or Red River and 

the Da or Black River with a 2-nights stop in Hanoi city centre. 


MY MEKONG PANDAW 

RV ANGKOR PANDAW 



30 Pandaw Flotilla News - www.pandaw.com 

Book at pandaw.com | email: information@pandaw.com

R.V. KALAW PANDAW 

R.V. ZAWGYI PANDAW 

R.V. ZAWGYI PANDAW 

R.V. KINDAT PANDAW 

MANDALAY PAGAN PACKET 

THE MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO 

 

 

 

Mingun 

Sagaing 

Mandalay 

Amarapura 

& U Bein Bridge 

Yandabo 

Kyun Pila 

Island 

Lampi Marine 

National Park 

BURMA 

Naung Wee 

Island 

 

Pagan 

Salay 

Pakokku 

BURMA 

T HE 

A NDAMAN 

SEA 

Cockscomb 

Island 

THAILAND 

Kawthaung 

Ranong 



Pagan to Mandalay - 7 nights 

Discover the vastness of the Irrawaddy River between the historic 

royal capitals of Pagan and Mandalay and explore the small towns 

and villages of lost Burma on the way. 


Kawthaung to Kawthaung - 7 nights 

This 1963 classic motor yacht with only ten suites is the first ship to 

explore the Mergui Archipelago. Sails weekly out of Kawthaung. 


RV KALAW PANDAW 

MY ANDAMAN EXPLORER 



CHINDWIN 

A VOYAGE TO NAGALAND 

Toungdoot 

Sitthaung 

Mawlaik 

Homalin 

 

 

Nagaland Khamti 

Toungdoot 

Sitthaung 

Kindat 

Mawlaik 

 

Homalin 

 

Mingkin 

Monywa 

 

 

Mandalay 

Kalewa 

Mandalay 

B URMA 

 

 

B URMA 


Flights 

Land content 

Rangoon 


Flights 

Rangoon 

Monywa to Homalin - 7 nights 

The Chindwin is one of the most beautiful rivers of Southeast Asia, 

carving its way through mountains, monuments and forests. Visit little 

known towns enroute to Homalin, the capital of Nagaland and close to 

the Indian border. 


Kalewa to Homalin - 7 nights 

In the high water season we go further north beyond Homalin deep 

into Nagaland. The scenery of dense jungle, high cliffs and deep gorges 

is stunning. 


RV ZAWGYI PANDAW 

RV ZAWGYI PANDAW 



THE IRRAWADDY 

THE UPPER IRRAWADDY 

 

Sale 

Magwe 

Thayetmyo 

Kyauk-Myoung 

 

 

Yandabo 

Pagan 

Inle Lake 

Prome 

Mingun 

Mandalay 

BURMA 

 

Khanyat 

Kyauk-Myoung 

 

 

Katha 

Tagaung 

 

Mingun 

Mandalay 

Amarapura 

Yandabo 

Myanaung 

Danupyu 

 

 

Pagan 

BURMA 


Rangoon 


Rangoon to Mandalay - 14 nights 

A fortnight on the 'Road to Mandalay', from Rangoon to the old capital, 

seeing all Burma, in the best tradition of the Irrawaddy Flotilla's mail 

steamers. 


Pagan to Katha - 10 nights 

From the magnificent temples of Pagan past the treasure of Mandalay, 

we penetrate the real upper Burma all the way to Katha with its colonial 

vestiges and nearby elephant camps. 


RV PANDAW II 


RV KINDAT PANDAW 

Book at pandaw.com | email: information@pandaw.com 


PANDAW 

W W W. PA N DAW.C O M

Flotilla News 2017

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?