Additional departures on the recently refitted twenty-four cabin RV Mekong Pandaw have been added.

(TRAVPR.COM) SINGAPORE - August 26th, 2013 - The RV Angkor Pandaw is just back from its first pioneering expedition up the Mekong as far as water levels allowed and a circumnavigation of the vast Tonle Sap Lake.  The ten night expedition starting in Saigon city center was a resounding success.

The sixteen cabin Angkor Pandaw has been specially designed with a shallow draft to get further up river and a low air draft to get under the many new bridges being constructed up river in Cambodia. The ship can thus go where others can not.

Highlights of the expedition were dolphin watching on the upper Mekong, including seeing calf dolphins being trained by their mothers. At the village of Krakor, which had never seen tourists before the entire village met the ship on their canoes. Passengers also enjoyed inviting the Governor of the Province and Chief of Police on board for a drink.

Passengers rode the bamboo train across the Khmer pampas and had great fun visiting the Battambang circus school, where street kids train to become skilled performers.

On the lake rangers took us into the Preak Tuol bird sanctuary where a terrific variety of species were sighted. During the voyage we made a number of impromptu stops at villages for walk abouts that went down well with passengers and villagers alike.

There is a high demand for longer Mekong cruises and we are already fully booked for the Mekong Unexplored offered for 2014. Additional departures on the recently refitted twenty-four cabin RV Mekong Pandaw have been added. And will follow a similar 11 day itinerary, which is new to the area and which includes visits of the dolphins in Kratie, the Tonle Sap Lake crossing and visit to Battambang with its circus and bamboo train. 

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