Pandaw II was our first ever new build back in 2001. Though our oldest ship she is still young in river terms – her prototype the old Pandaw is now over sixty years old and many ships in this fresh water environment are at least 100 years old. She was built in Rangoon at the Dawbone dockyard, then belonging to the Marine Department. In those days there was no electricity and numerous generators surrounded the growing hull powering the welder’s torches. Timber mills were rare too and great tree trunks would be delivered to the dockside and be cut into planks on the spot. The result was magnificent and still is.

Pandaw II remains the stately queen of our fleet, if not the river. This is the one ship that has not been fully refitted, partly because the crew have treated her with such love and care that she does not need a refit and partly because she is something of a cult ship with a considerable following and we want to preserve the original Pandaw cabin with their real ship’s berths and the old door and window arrangement rather than the French windows of our other P class ships.

The ship has quality mountain bikes for your independent exploration.