Burma/Myanmar river cruises

[travelinjudy]

For those going to Myanmar who may not have seen it, there is an outstanding documentary called "They Call It Myanmar" that is on Netflix. There is also a website "Theycallitmyanmar.com" that gives info on the documentary. The documentary is a "must see" for anyone going to Myanmar!

[H2Otstr]

Curious about flights to Burma. Can someone post their route and flying times? We are not going until Nov 2014, so I have no clue what our flight will be like.

[EKML]

Curious about flights to Burma. Can someone post their route and flying times? We are not going until Nov 2014, so I have no clue what our flight will be like.

 

Don't know if our schedule will be of much help to you since we're leaving from Hawaii. From NC you'll probably have to fly to LAX or SFO first, then on to NRT.

 

But our schedule may give you an idea of the rest of the route:

 

UAL flights-

Lv HNL 10/15, 10:20am, Arr NRT 1:25pm 10/16-8hr 5min flt.

Layover NRT 5hrs.

Lv NRT 6:30pm, Arr BKK 11:15pm 10/16-6hr 45min flt.

 

Stop over in Bangkok overnight.

 

Bangkok Airways-

Lv BKK 10/17 4:45pm, Arr RGN (Yangon) 5:35pm.

 

Hope this lets you know what to expect-it will be a long trip!

[H2Otstr]

EKML, thank you.

[Arizonasunshine]

Curious about flights to Burma. Can someone post their route and flying times? We are not going until Nov 2014, so I have no clue what our flight will be like.

 

We are leaving out of Phoenix, stopping in Bangkok for a few days than Siem Reap for four days than meet up with Viking (our cruise/tour operator) in Bangkok to start our trip to Myanmar. Our schedule to Bangkok is

 

US24 leaving PHX @8:45 AM arrive LAX( Los Angeles)@ 9:13 AM

NH5 (All Nippon Airways) leaving LAX @11:30 AM arrive NRT(Narita Japan)@ 4:25 PM 1 day later(crossed the International Date Line)

TG 677(Thai Airways) leaving NRT@5:30 PM arrive BKK(Bangkok) @10:30 PM

 

You would probably fly to New York or the West Coast and take one of the non stops to Tokyo, Korea or China than go on to somewhere in SE Asia(Bangkok, Singapore, or Hong Kong) for the final leg to Mynamar.

 

Our trip starts and ends in Bangkok, Viking is handling of all the flights to and from Mynamar.

 

Living in South Carolina you could go through either Europe, or the West Coast. When I was working on our flights I thought about coming back through Europe, I would like to go around the world at some time, but the trip back was about ten hours longer going that way, mostly due to longer layovers.

[H2Otstr]

Arizonasunshine, we also start and end in Bangkok. We are taking the pretrip to Angor Wat. When we flew to China we went via Chicago.

[balfour]

My husband and I are going on the Viking Mandalay :)in January 2014. The 30 cabin boat looks like the Pandaw ones. The 16 day trip begins and ends in Bangkok. I'll let you know what it was like on our return!

[balfour]

Arizona Sunshine ...... Just read your earlier post! looks like we'll be on the same journey! Post trip we're going to Siem Reap and then Puckett. See you at the hotel in Bangkok.

Gail and John, Toronto

[deec]

we will take our first river cruise in 2014 Budapest/Amsterdam with viking.

 

Seriously considering Burma cruise next...will Viking give us much of a discount as a past cruiser? GCT seems a good alternative....seems silly but disn't want to consider the GCT ships on the European Rivers because of the single and/or fold out beds.

 

I think we may be a little late in beating the crowds to the European rivers and dont want it to happen again in Burma.

 

What are pros/cons about month is best to do this cruise?

 

thanks to all on these boards for your valuable information and sharing your experiences.

[EKML]

Just got back from our Vantage Burma river cruise. Think the best time to visit Burma is during this time of the year when the rainy season is over, and before it gets too hot. Also would go soon, before the country gets overwhelmed by visitors. Right now the country is unspoiled, begging is minimal, and visitors are welcomed curiosities.

 

I thought that Vantage did an excellent job on presenting a good picture of the region and the local people. But I think the tour was difficult for those who had mobility problems since we had to walk on some steep, muddy and slippery paths. And the busy schedule was tiring for the older travelers. But we did have some older people (up to 90 years old), and several with canes who kept up with the group most of the time-with no complaints. They just stayed back if they needed a rest.

 

Another concern was stomach ailments. Think that the majority of the group came down w/upset stomachs, but usually only for a day or two. But this was an inconvenience, and those with weak stomachs have to be extra careful. Come prepared w/some medications just in case. The country is still rather primitive with many of the remote villages with out running water or electricity. And toilet facilities in the small towns are very poor.

 

But this is a trip that should not be missed. I felt that the temples in Burma were even more impressive than Angkor Wat. Although the temple complexes may not be as large, these temples were much more numerous, and in better shape since most are still being used by worshipers. Also, the people are very friendly, and are happy to see visitors. I think they were more curious about us visitors then we were of them.

[HDS]

I can now answer the question I posed to start this post. I can relate my experience of a river cruise in Myanmar, with Pandaw Cruises, and it was brilliant from start to finish. So was our independently organised pre-cruise in Yangon and post-cruise in Lake Inle and Yangon.

The only stomach ailments were in a few passengers from refreshments foolishly taken at a random roadside cafe before boarding the boat. The food on the boat was varied and delicious and caused no problems whatsoever. We brought our considerable supply of medications home unused, except for Malarone (malaria prophylaxis).

I agree that the banks were steep (there were no docks at all) but at every stop the crew cut steps for us and handed us up and down, whether we required assistance or not.

I will be reviewing the cruise in the CC reviews section and our land content on Trip Advisor. In summary Pandaw's program, guide, crew, food, 32 passenger ship (only 15 on this trip) and their care and attention to passengers are as good as any cruise or land tour I've taken and a long way better than most.

We are very privileged to have visited this magnificent country of welcoming, friendly people before hordes of tourists arrive.

[amyr]

Thanks EKML and HDS for reporting back. I'll look forward to your reviews, both here and on Trip Advisor. HDS, where on Trip Advisor will you be posting it? I see reviews in various places over there, sometimes on the message boards, sometimes in the destination areas. Hard to sort it sometimes.

[HDS]

Amyr,

My reviews are a work in progress as is the sorting of my photos. On Trip Advisor I am reviewing the hotels, restaurants andattractions we visited independently pre- and post-cruise. These are in the Myanmar hotel, restaurant and things to do sections. I guess that is the destination areas.

I haven't found a TA spot for cruises or for local travel agents so I hope people post questions on the Myanmar board that let me recommend Pandaw and our Myanmar agent, Exotic Voyages.

We spent a few days in Florida's glorious Everglades last year. Driving from there around the gulf to New Orleans is high on our bucket list.

Edited November 19, 2013 by HDS

[LewiLewi]

I can now answer the question I posed to start this post. I can relate my experience of a river cruise in Myanmar, with Pandaw Cruises, and it was brilliant from start to finish. So was our independently organised pre-cruise in Yangon and post-cruise in Lake Inle and Yangon.

The only stomach ailments were in a few passengers from refreshments foolishly taken at a random roadside cafe before boarding the boat. The food on the boat was varied and delicious and caused no problems whatsoever. We brought our considerable supply of medications home unused, except for Malarone (malaria prophylaxis).

I agree that the banks were steep (there were no docks at all) but at every stop the crew cut steps for us and handed us up and down, whether we required assistance or not.

I will be reviewing the cruise in the CC reviews section and our land content on Trip Advisor. In summary Pandaw's program, guide, crew, food, 32 passenger ship (only 15 on this trip) and their care and attention to passengers are as good as any cruise or land tour I've taken and a long way better than most.

We are very privileged to have visited this magnificent country of welcoming, friendly people before hordes of tourists arrive.

Hi HDS,

We want to plan a trip to Myanmar in March. We would also like to combine an Irrawaddy river cruise with a land tour, so that we can enjoy both. Do the Pandaw ships have large glass sliders so that you can see the river from your bed? What company did you book your trip with? We're the hotels deluxe and comfortable?

Thank you.

[HDS]

Good morning LewiLewi,

 

Our cabin (Pandaw Katha) did have large glass sliders which opened to a shared deck. Can't comment on views from the bed. As soon as I woke I was up, dressed and on deck where I had a cup of tea and 360' views of the enchanting river. Check out the Pandaw website http://www.pandaw.com which shows deck plans of the boats they run on the Irrawaddy/Chidwin and the Mekong, itineraries and lots more about the company.

The boats are replicas of the old colonial river steamers, beautifully panelled in polished teak. The cabins are small with adequate storage and ensuite bathrooms.

The attention to our comfort, special requests and needs from our crew and guide were outstanding and made our trip very special.

The cruise can be booked direct with Pandaw or through travel agents. I booked the cruise portion through our Australian TA because she could get Pandaw to "hold" the cabin for a week while we sorted out our land content.

Pandaw, like river cruise companies everywhere, have a disclaimer that itineraries are subject to river levels. March is toward the end of the dry season. We chose October, at the end of the wet hoping the river would be high.

We didn't do an organised land tour, we are not large group tour people. I booked some hotels online and used local agent Exotic Voyages (based in Vietnam with a branch in Myanmar) to arrange internal air, transfers, some private guiding and hotel bookings for places/dates where all the websites and internet bookings agents showed "no availability". Exotic Voyages did all that we asked for. They and other local agents are discussed on Trip Advisor's Myanmar forum.

After an introduction by our guide and driver, we were very comfortable exploring Yangon on our own by taxi, on foot, circular train and ferry. We didn't have much time for independent exploring in our other destinations but certainly felt safe walking or hailing cabs on the street (in places that had cabs).

The hotel used by Pandaw in Yangon, Chatrium Royal Lake, is 4/5 star and had all we expected of an international 4/5 star hotel. I booked through the hotel website and have reviewed it on Trip Advisor's Myanmar hotels section. I will be reviewing our other hotels and guest houses on Trip Advisor ASAP. They had the qualities I specified,well-situated, comfortable, clean, en-suites, good breakfasts. Welcoming, helpful staff and good wifi access were bonuses. They did not claim to be deluxe.

[FL DUCK]

EKML, thank you.

We are flying IAD to Dubai to Bangkok with Emirates Air .........good schedule, price

 

AAF VB FL