ID :
22085
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 16:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/22085
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RAJANG RIVER CRUISE SET FOR JULY NEXT YEAR BY EDWARD SUBENG STEPHEN
SIBU (Malaysia), Sept 30(Bernama) -- A Myanmar-based company is
planning to begin its inaugural Rajang River cruise here in July next year.
The Irrawaddy Fotilla Company said on its website that the cruise
along Malaysia's longest river will be part of its Pandaw River
Cruises.
The company is the largest river cruise company in South East Asia.In
1995, it was the first to pioneer an exploration of some of the region's major
rivers and tributaries.
These included the Irrawaddy and Chindwin in Myanmar, the Mekong and Tonle
Rivers in Cambodia and the backwaters of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
A brand new five star ship, the four-deck RV Orient Pandaw, made in
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City will be used for the Rajang cruise.
The 55-metre long ship has 30 luxury state rooms. It also has its own
treatment plants for desalination, desedimentation and purification using UV and
osmosis in addition to a microbiotic treatment plant for sewage.
The Pandaw ship series, replicas of the original Clyde-built steamers,
have an ultra shallow draft to enable them to moor where other larger ships
cannot.
The ships can also penetrate remote and otherwise inaccessible areas while
being specially designed to cope with constantly changing river
conditions.
The Rajang cruise, a duration of nine days and eight nights, begins here
with stops at Kanowit, Kapit and Nanga Mujong in Balleh before moving on to
the Pelagus Rapids, Song, Sarikei and Tanjung Manis towns.
The cruise is planned for thrice a month.
It will also stop at longhouses, logging camps, the vestiges of the Brooke
White Rajah era such as the Fort Emma in Kanowit, Fort Sylvia, the Pelagus
Resort in Kapit, fruit and pepper farms, traditional songket textile
workshops and other places of interest along the way.
Each passenger will have to fork out US$2,250 for the cruise.
According to the Irrawady Fotilla Company, the Rajang River at 640km is
rarely visited by travellers on account of its inacessibility and the lack of
tourist facilities.
The river, with rainforest on both sides, is navigable on a Pandaw ship for
at least 250km till the Pelagus Rapids and further on its main tributary, the
Balleh River.
Meanwhile, Sibu Sarawak Tourist Board(STB) executive, Rudy Anoi told
Bernama that the Irrawaddy Fotilla Company managing director Paul Strachan had
last month travelled up the Rajang River for a study of its potential and to
make preparations for the maiden cruise.
"He also held a meeting with STB chief executive officer Gracie Geikie
and local tour operators on the possibility of co-operating with them," he added
--BERNAMA
planning to begin its inaugural Rajang River cruise here in July next year.
The Irrawaddy Fotilla Company said on its website that the cruise
along Malaysia's longest river will be part of its Pandaw River
Cruises.
The company is the largest river cruise company in South East Asia.In
1995, it was the first to pioneer an exploration of some of the region's major
rivers and tributaries.
These included the Irrawaddy and Chindwin in Myanmar, the Mekong and Tonle
Rivers in Cambodia and the backwaters of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
A brand new five star ship, the four-deck RV Orient Pandaw, made in
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City will be used for the Rajang cruise.
The 55-metre long ship has 30 luxury state rooms. It also has its own
treatment plants for desalination, desedimentation and purification using UV and
osmosis in addition to a microbiotic treatment plant for sewage.
The Pandaw ship series, replicas of the original Clyde-built steamers,
have an ultra shallow draft to enable them to moor where other larger ships
cannot.
The ships can also penetrate remote and otherwise inaccessible areas while
being specially designed to cope with constantly changing river
conditions.
The Rajang cruise, a duration of nine days and eight nights, begins here
with stops at Kanowit, Kapit and Nanga Mujong in Balleh before moving on to
the Pelagus Rapids, Song, Sarikei and Tanjung Manis towns.
The cruise is planned for thrice a month.
It will also stop at longhouses, logging camps, the vestiges of the Brooke
White Rajah era such as the Fort Emma in Kanowit, Fort Sylvia, the Pelagus
Resort in Kapit, fruit and pepper farms, traditional songket textile
workshops and other places of interest along the way.
Each passenger will have to fork out US$2,250 for the cruise.
According to the Irrawady Fotilla Company, the Rajang River at 640km is
rarely visited by travellers on account of its inacessibility and the lack of
tourist facilities.
The river, with rainforest on both sides, is navigable on a Pandaw ship for
at least 250km till the Pelagus Rapids and further on its main tributary, the
Balleh River.
Meanwhile, Sibu Sarawak Tourist Board(STB) executive, Rudy Anoi told
Bernama that the Irrawaddy Fotilla Company managing director Paul Strachan had
last month travelled up the Rajang River for a study of its potential and to
make preparations for the maiden cruise.
"He also held a meeting with STB chief executive officer Gracie Geikie
and local tour operators on the possibility of co-operating with them," he added
--BERNAMA
