International River Cruise Operator Pandaw Cruises has launched an exciting new cruise expedition to the Irrawaddy Delta. The ‘first of its kind’ seven night cruise aboard the stunning Katha Pandaw, will set off from Yangon and take passengers on a unique journey through the wetlands, creeks and channels of the delta.
The Katha Pandaw is boutique luxury vessel offering 16 cabins with a maximum capacity of 32 passengers. Cabins features all the expected modern amenities including ultra-comfort beds with premium mattresses and imported linens, individually controlled AC and en suite bathrooms with spa-branded amenities. On board dining includes daily semi-buffet breakfast, semi-buffet lunch, and seated theme dinners served by a local master chef heading an experienced international culinary team.
The Irrawaddy delta covers a vast area of over 1000 square miles in Lower Myanmar. Once a vast uninhabited wetland, large swathes of the area were cleared and cultivated in the 19th Century, when the British annexed the region. Soon after, the delta became known as the rice basket of Asia, supplying rice across the Indian Raj, and as a result many towns flourished as trading centers. By the early 20Th Century, over a hundred steamers navigated the waterways of the delta, connecting towns and villages. These waterways formed a complex labyrinth of channels, some big and some small, that only the most experienced pilots could fully understand.
Today, the delta remains Myanmar’s bread basket, and retains much of its sleepy charm with picturesque towns, markets, temples, churches dotted across the waterways as testaments to its colonial history. There are also several wildlife sanctuaries where diverse bird life thrives.
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