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One of the Pandaw River Cruise fleet // (c) 2010 Pandaw River Cruises |
Pandaw River Cruises has cancelled its Varanasi to Kolkota, India, riverboat sailings on Ganges River after an inaugural season marred by setbacks.
Paul Strachan — who started the company with cruises in Burma and expanded to Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia using luxury, colonial-style riverboats — said extreme variation in water levels and shifting sandbanks damaged ship propellers and made navigation impossible.
“We had always known that the logistics of operating in India would be challenging. We took up the challenge to provide our Pandaw passengers with the sort of adventure they would expect from us,” said Strachan. “The passengers who sailed onboard the Bengal Pandaw gave us mixed reviews. Most of them loved the ‘wildness’ of the trip while others found the trip not living up to the standards of our other Pandaw cruises.”
Another factor is that key Pandaw staff, including chefs, were denied work permits for India. Despite that roadblock, the recent cruise I sailed on was viewed as a great success by most passengers who agreed that it was a wonderful way to see India up close.
The company, founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, and now based in Singapore, is looking at possible new routes in Laos and Indonesia.
Pandaw River Cruises
www.pandaw.com
