Asia 2011 Travel Planner - (Page 10)

RIVER CRUISING BORNEO, CAMBODIA, CHINA, MYANMAR & VIETNAM Left: Clients on an Avalon Waterways China cruise will have the chance to view a noodle-making demonstration. Center: Life on board a Pandaw cruise. Right: The RV Orient Pandaw cruising the Rajang River on the Into the Heart of Borneo program. From the sultry and exotic Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia and the seemingly benign and mystical Irrawaddy in Myanmar, to the immense and bustling Yangtze in China, as well as the rainforest-clad Rajang in the heart of Borneo, there’s a wealth of cultural treasures and unforgettable travel experiences awaiting travelers on the rivers of Asia. And now there’s also a wealth of river cruise companies lining up to take your clients across the breadth of Asia, promising to develop some of the hottest products in Asia over 2011 and 2012. One of the oldest river cruise companies in Asia is PANDAW RIVER CRUISES (800-798-4223; pandaw.com), which opened its doors in 1995 in Myanmar as a revival of the old Irrawaddy Flotilla Company that had ﬁrst been established by Scots merchants in 1865 and which, by 1920, was running over 650 paddle steamers on the rivers of Burma. In 1942, the company scuttled the entire ﬂeet when the Japanese invaded to prevent them the use of their ships. Today, the company has six beautifully crafted Pandaw ships in operation on the Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia—operating since 2003—the Irrawaddy in Myanmar and this year, on the Ranja in Borneo. They built the ships themselves in their shipbuilding yard, all hand-ﬁnished in brass and teak by traditional craftsmen, giving them a colonial character along with contemporary luxury and comfort. On the Mekong, explains Thomas Markwell, v.p. of sales & marketing for Pandaw River Cruises, “We were the ﬁrst ones in 2003 that started marketing in the U.S. and Canada to a limited extent and even now, Pandaw is not exactly a household name by any stretch of the imagination. But the idea of cruising the Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia was not even a thought a few years ago. But very quickly, it’s turned into almost what I’d call a mainline destination because river cruisers who have done the Danube, the Volga, the Maine and the Rhone, they’re looking for something else—they’ve covered them all, which is hard to believe but they have and they’re doing it twice and now they’re asking, ‘What else do you have?’” What else they have in addition to the Mekong is the 8-night Into the Heart of Borneo program, where travelers start off at a wildlife rehabilitation park and view the endangered orangutan before ﬂying to Sibu for their 8-night cruise through jungles, visiting unique native villages and markets along the way, including an indigenous people who were still practicing headhunting well into the 1950s. The response to this unique cruise, Markwell says, “In Borneo in the last year, it’s been incredible, there’s been a big surge— especially in group bookings in the last six months—there’s a lot of contracts and it’s been coming around very well. But, of course, the Mekong has been doing the best.” continued on page A12 A10 recommend.com http://www.pandaw.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Asia 2011 Travel Planner

Map of Asia
A Quarter of Gourmet Getaways
River Cruising
The Two Faces of Asia
Shopping
Luxury India
Cosmopolitan Japan
Thailand Spa Hideaways
Eco-Adventure
Getting There

Asia 2011 Travel Planner