Transfer to ship by local bus, Bhamo. Tour Bhamo in the afternoon for an evening walking tour of this important trading town set close to the Chinese border. In the evening we will have more time to explore Bhamo’s bustling markets and Chinese temples.

 

 

Chartering a small country boat, will proceed upstream from Bhamo and attempt to reach small island, located below the dramatic 1st Defile.

Cruise through the 2nd Defile, the most dramatic of the three gorges with cliffs towering over the narrow channel. Stop overnight at a tribal village.

 

 

Continue downstream and passing 2nd Defile, we reach the enchanting colonial town of Katha, setting for George Orwell’s Myanma Days, and little changed since then. Of interested are the fire station’s collection of IFC ship’s bells taken from sunken ships in the Second War. Katha was the final resting place of the old flotilla and here over a hundred ships were scuppered in 1942 in an Act of Denial before the advancing Japanese.

 

 

We continue visit an elephant logging camp at Katha in the hardwood forests of the hills that surround the town and further downstream. Evening we climb the Pagoda Hill at Tigyang with its stunning views of the Irrawaddy.

 

 

We explore by foot the ancient city of Tagaung viewing the fortifications, a famous nat or spirit shrine and the archaeological area and Khan-nyat village with its many Buddhist monasteries and visit the former head teacher's house which also includes his small museum collections.

 

 

We enter the Third Defile and visit the spectacular potteries near Kyauk-myoung where the famous 50 gallon water pots are hand made. We see all stages of manufacture from the throwing of the pots to the week long firing in huge kilns.

 

 

We cast off early in the morning and stop at Mingun to see the largest working bell in the world and the unfinished pagoda that is the largest single mass of brick building in the world. We also visit the Mingun Old People’s Home originally established with the assistance of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in the 1930s. Leisure in the evening at Mingun jetty

 

 

Disembark at Mandalay at mid morning

 

Cruise Price Excludes: International flights, no flights included out of Mandalay for cruise ending in Mandalay, port dues (if levied), laundry, all visa costs, fuels surcharges (see terms and conditions), imported beverages such as wines, premium spirits and liqueurs, fancy soft drinks.