10 Night Cruise sailing from Mandalay to Prome aboard Katha Pandaw.

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Upstream Upper Mandalay
Embark the ship at Shwe Kyet Yet Jetty, Mandalay in the morning for luncheon stream upstream and moore overnight at a jungle village north of Mandalay.

Day 2: Pottery Village and Mingun
Arrive to Ngwe Nyein village. Visit the spectacular potteries nearby, where can see manufacturing stages of the famous 50 gallon, handmade water pots and return downstream to visit Mingun to view the Pagoda and largest working bell in the world.

Day 3: Mandalay, Ava and Amarapura
We tour central Mandalay visiting the Mahamuni Pagoda and Shwe-im-bin teak carved monastery. We move on to explore the ancient capitals of Ava and Amarapura, visiting the teak Bagaya Kyaung, Menu Ok-kyaung and crossing the U Bein Bridge.

Day 4: Yandabo Potteries Village
Yandabo is a very small rural village that specialises in pot making. We visit the Pandaw School and the new dispensary both built with past donations from Pandaw passengers.

Day 5 : Pagan Monuments
We tour a selection of the 3,000 listed monuments in this important World Heritage Site and visit lacquer workshops.

Day 6: Tan Kyi Taung Mountain and Sale
Ascend Tan-chi-taung mountain by foot or by WWII jeep for the spectacular sunrise over Pagan. In Sale we visit a number of teak monasteries including the Yout-saun-kyaung with its spectacular wood carvings and we explore an area of splendid colonial-style houses.

Day 7: Taung Ba Lu School and Magwe Gold Bricks
If river conditions permit, morning visit to Taung Ba Lu School project sponsored by Noble Caledonia and Pandaw Cruises. In the afternoon, we climb the river bank and wind our way through a labyrinth of passages and paths to reach the magnificent Myat-thalon Pagoda. This pagoda is constructed with solid gold bricks.

Day 8: Minhla Forts
We visit Minhla and Gwechaung, two Italian built forts constructed to keep the British at bay from Royal Myanmar. We climb the Gwechaung hill for the view.

Day 9: Thayetmyo Frontier Post
This pleasant colonial town once guarded the border between Royal Myanmar and British Myanmar following the 2nd Anglo Myanma War of 1855 and many of the buildings including the covered market date from this period. We visit the market, see the colonial houses and ride out by horse and cart to see the countryside and golf links.

Day 10: Prome and the Ancient Pyu
Visit the 5th-8th century archaeological site of Thiri-ya-kittiya, former centre of the Pyu civilization with a fascinating museum of early Buddhist artifacts and sculpture.

Day 11: Prome / Yangon
Disembark at Prome

River Conditions Warning!

The rivers you will sail on are subject to seasonal rises and falls of water level, in some places as much as 30 metres. Water levels can change dramatically overnight and a sudden rise can impede our progress upstream considerably and even prevent us from passing under certain bridges. A sudden fall can result in our being unable to get into certain places or go as far upstream as we would hope. Groundings on sandbars are not infrequent and are part of the excitement of any Pandaw expedition. Published itineraries are indicational only and subject to sudden change. In such events alternative itineraries will be provided and we do our best to ensure that if a stop is missed we make up for it with another stop. Passengers are thus forewarned and expected to be flexible and patient. River cruising in Asia can be a dramatic and adventurous experience - not like cruising the controlled waterways of Europe or America. Note also that we operate in areas with little or no developed infrastructure and subject to the strictures of local officialdom. Be prepared for this and it is all more the fun!