'Exclusive Travel Experience with Myanmar Tourism Services'

Road to Mandalay River Cruise
With its inaugural voyage in January 1996 the Road To Mandalay marked a new venture for the famed Orient-Express. With the Union of Myanmar (formerly Burma) gradually reopening its doors to the outside world, the Road To Mandalay became the ideal way to explore the undiscovered beauty of this long-hidden land.

The ship itself originally began life as a Rhine cruiser in Germany and made her maiden voyage on 6th July 1964. Originally built to very high standards for its day, the ship was purchased by Orient-Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises in 1994 following a period as a floating hotel in Dresden.

The ship underwent a major refurbishment programme at Lauenberg/Hamburg at a cost of US$6 million. This mostly consisted of reducing the number of cabins from 98 to 72, and installing decorations that blend contemporary designs with traditional Burmese, plus a state-of-the-art sewage system to preserve the purity of the Ayeyarwady River. Once the refurbishment was completed the ship was transported, courtesy of a specialist transporting ship, via the English Channel and the Suez Canal to Myanmar, arriving towards the end of 1995. The Road To Mandalay was unloaded in Yangon and, after attracting a great deal of local interest, sailed up the Ayeyarwady River to Mandalay.

Once in Mandalay local craftsmen added final decoration and fittings including locally woven furniture for the Observation Lounge, and carvings for the Restaurant. Local antiques were also sought and carefully chosen to provide a true Burmese atmosphere on board.

The inaugural cruise departed Mandalay on 31st January 1996 and arrived in Bagan on 5th February 1996, guests included HRH Prince Michael of Greece, Helena Bonham Carter, HRH Princess Michael of Kent and HRH Princess Marina of Greece.

Today the Road To Mandalay continues to ply the waters of the Ayeyarwady River giving passengers the opportunity to see this fascinating and ancient land while traveling in traditional comfort.

RV Pandaw 1947 II the River Cruise
WHY " AYRAVATA " RIVER CRUISES ?
The name of IRRAWADDY (AYEYARWADDY) River is believed to derive from the Sanskrit term " airavati " ,meaning "Elephant River".

In Hinduism, Airavata is a white elephant whom the god Indra rides. It has four tusks that are like mountains. He also stands at the entrance to Svarga, Indra's palace.

In a cave at Bhaja not far from Mumbai [Bombay] that was the site of a Buddhist monastery around 200 BCE, there is a stone relief showing Indra, king of the gods. He is seated upon Airavata [or Ayravata] his elephant. This Divine Elephant is thought of as the progenitor of all earthly elephants and is inderstood as the embodiment of the huge clouds pregnant with the monsoon rains.

THE STORY OF THE RIVER VESSEL " PANDAW "
The RV Pandaw and other 5 similar so called "class P " design vessels was commissioned after the end of the Second World War by the Inland Water Transport Board of the Union of Burma government with the technical expertise of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company at that time acting as Agents to the I.W.T. Board.
RV Pandaw was built in Scotland on the Clyde by the famous ships builder Yarrrow & Co on 1947 with the same design of the pre-war Quarter Wheeler steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company. After being boarded up in order to protect her from the sea waves, she left Scotland for the delivery voyage to Burma on 1950. On the 12th January 1951 she started to serve the Inland Water Transport(Irrawaddy Flotilla was nationalized on the 1st of June 1948) on the route Mandalay-Bhamo for both cargo and passengers transportation. In the 1998 she was converted into a 16 cabins luxurious river cruise vessel by the revived Irrawaddy Flotilla Company founded by the Historian Mr.Paul Strachan. IFC has operated the vessel in the rivers of Myanmar for 5 years until 2003 In the second half of the 2003 Interconnection Co. Ltd signed the charter agreement with IWT and the RV PANDAW underwent a major renovation at the Yangon Dalla Dockyards. As far as the Hotel side is concerned new furniture has been specially designed and new Food and Beverage equipment have been bought.

HISTORIC TECHNICAL DETAILS
The principal original dimensions of these 6 class "P" vessels were 130 feet by 34 feet and the design draft was 4 feet. The carrying capacity was 476 passengers and the cargo capacity was 210 Tons. The propulsion system was originally fitted with Quarter wheels propelled by slow speed diesel-engine.The engine, reverse reduction gear box seated in forward of amid ship and worm gears box, paddle wheels fitted in extreme aft of the vessel for even keel condition. The light draft of the vessel is 2 feet only and fully loaded condition is nearly 4 feet. The hull form is box shape with round bilge, spoon bow and cut up stern for paddle wheels access. According to the spare parts scarcity, the main engine and propulsion system was reinstalled with outboard propulsion system after thirty years of service. That was over 1980, our Rv Pandaw 1947 was major repaired in Dalla Dockyard and re-engines with Hydromaster Outboard propulsion system. The main engine is a Dorman 250Hp and transmission is Hydromaster produced in UK. At that time the hull structure was renovated and the engine room converted into cargo hold and a new propulsion system was installed in the extreme aft of the vessel. The new length is now 148 Feet, breadth and width same as before. Due to the re-powering, the vessel could be able to carry more passengers and cargos due to weight saving. Seventeen years after re-powering the vessel was converted into a tourist pleasure cruise vessel in the Myanma Shipyard (Sinmalike) by the revived Irrawaddy Flotilla Company Ltd. And during their management docking was performed annually at the Dalla Dockyard. In the 2003 under the management of Interconnection Co Ltd the ship underwent to major refitting.

RV PANDAW 1947 VESSEL SPECIFICATIONS

• Year of Construction: 1947(by Yarrow & Scotland)
• Renovation as Pleasure Cruise Vessel: 1997 (By Irrawaddy Flotilla Company)
• Last Refitting / Renovation: 2002-2004 (by IWT and Interconnection Co.Ltd)
• Length: 148 ft (45 Mt)
• Beam: 34 ft (10.3 Mt)
• Design Draft: 4 ft (1.2 Mt)- Light Draft 2 ft (0.6 Mt)
• Engines: 2 x 250hp Dorman with Hydromaster propulsion
• Generators: 2 x 95 kva Danyo Gensets (Voltage 220V)
• Cabins: 16 deluxe cabins with own shower/wc
• Size: 3.65 Mt x 4.26 Mt
• Passengers: 32
• Crew / Hotel Staff: 22
• Water: desedimentation and full water treatment plan
• Reverse Osmosis System for the Kitchen
• Treatment plant
• Fire Protection: 21 Smoke Detectors, 4 Heat Detectors, 8 Manual alarms stations, Electronic Control Panel Silent Knight (Made in USA)-20 Fire Extinguishers 8 Fire Hose Cabinet.