12 KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 4, 2013 www.katherinetimes.com.au

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HOT DEALSDREAM CALIFORNIAMy Holiday Centre has an eight-night California package thatincludes savings of more than$800 per person as well as $1500worth of add-ons. The MyCalifornia package coverseconomy return airfares to LosAngeles and return domesticflights to San Francisco, returnairport transfers in Los Angeles,an arrival transfer in SanFrancisco, two days’ car hire,breakfast daily, four nights at theBeverly Hilton in LA, two nights atthe Palace Hotel in San Franciscoand two nights in the Sonomawine area at the Hyatt VineyardCreek Hotel and Spa. The cost is$2990 per person twin share,departing Brisbane, Sydney,Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth.Valid for booking until December20 and travel January 17-26,February 2-23 and March 1-31.❑ www.mycalifornia.com.au

SURFERS VIEWSSoul Surfers Paradise is thenewest hotel in the Mantra stable.It was formerly the luxury SeaTemple Surfers Paradise. Mantrahas a deal going on the 77-storeyproperty offering four nights in atwo- or three-bedroomapartment for the price of three.Under the deal, stay four nightsin a two-bedroom Beach ViewApartment from $479 per night(minimum spend $1437), or stayfour nights in a three-bedroomBeach View Apartment from$709 per night (minimum spend$2127). The offer is valid for saleand travel until March 31.

EUROPE ON TRACKInternational Rail is taking 20 percent off a range of Eurail passesbought before December 31. Thediscounted passes include firstand second-class travel. Anexample of the passes on sale isthe Eurail Global Pass, whichallows 10 or 15 days of travel overa two-month period through 24countries in Europe. Discountedpasses are valid for travel untilMarch 31. BritRail passes are also20 per cent off if purchased byFebruary 14.❑ www.internationalrail.com.au

STAY BY THE SEAFive nights for the price of fourare included in a Fiji island resortaccommodation deal throughTravel Associates. The stay is atToberua Island Resort in a DeluxeOceanfront Bure with breakfast,lunch and dinner daily and returnNausori airport (Suva) transfers.The rustic private island propertyhas only 15 bures, a gym, pooland a private beach. It is off theeast coast of Viti Levu. The dealis priced from $1585 per person,twin share and is valid for saleuntil January 31 and for travelMarch 17 to August 19.❑ www.travelassociates.com.au

Mandalay by river boatA new way to explore a country stillsteeped in old ways has emerged,writes LLynne Whiley.

His bold, elaborate headwear andchestplate are crafted in ancientpatterns, topped with a sequence of

feathers, and he wears a finely woven redand green shawl draped from his shoulder.

Yes, he nods, you can take photographs.Then he whips out his smartphone to

capture images of me and it’s laughter allround as this Naga chief and his relativeswelcome us to their village for a deliciousmeal washed down with home brew.

We’re near Homalin, a gateway port to thevast teak forests and jade mines of Myanmaron the little-visited Chindwin River, on thefirst cruise of a new luxury vessel, the 50-passenger Orcaella.

A tributary of the mighty Irrawaddy River,the Chindwin winds below the Himalayanfoothills in Myanmar’s lush north-west,close to the Indian border. It’s a river wherewhirlpools, rapids, and channels that shifteach season can test the skills ofexperienced mariners.

We’ve boarded the ship at Mandalay andwill end the journey at the dusty plains ofMyanmar’s dazzling ancient capital, Bagan,spending 11 nights in airconditionedindulgence in between.

Orcaella’s owner, the Orient-Expressgroup, is synonymous with cruising theIrrawaddy and brings a wealth of localknowledge to the 700-kilometre Chindwinadventure. We witness an intimatenovitiation ceremony of young monks, visittemples, villages and markets andaccompany locals to beautifully-builtpagodas dotted along the river.

Bankrupted by military dictators andshunned by the west until the Burmese armyrelinquished direct control in 2011, thecountry has emerged from isolation with anelectric energy about it as citizens debatetheir democratic future.

ON BOARDPurpose-built in Yangon, at 65 metres longand with a draft of just 1.4 metres, theOrcaella is the largest cruising vessel on theChindwin.

The pool and sundeck sit behind thebridge, there is a gym nearby and there’s alsoa restaurant, spa, salon and kids’ games areafor the 50 passengers.

In the restaurant, Myanmar’s nationaldishes, including mohinga fish soup and

green tea leaf salad are highlighted. Upstairs,the bar doubles as a space for guest lectures,which on this cruise include talks aboutBurmese literature and practicalnaturopathy.

Discussions range from the country’spolitical landscape to birth control practicesto Buddhism in home life to the dictatorshipdecades to the vast business interests of themilitary today. Such diverse, witty, publicconversation in a country where for decadesthe military persecuted people for speakingout is well received by passengers.

ON SHOREIn upper Myanmar, 1000km from Yangon,tourists are rarely seen. Each time theOrcaella’s captain drops anchor or ties up toa mango tree, we draw a welcoming crowd.

We travel by truck, minibus, four-wheel-drive and tuk-tuk on roads that range frompotholed tracks to new bitumen, and crossWorld War II-era Bailey bridges as well as farmore modern ones.

A day after leaving Mandalay, wedisembark at Monywa to visit the epicThanboddhay Pagoda, a pastiche oftempledom that dates to the 12th centuryand whose main stupa has hundreds ofthousands of Buddha statues.

In a hall in the temple grounds, hundredsof nuns sit in rows, chanting.

Further along a dusty road the LaykyunSekkya - the Standing Buddha - comes intoview, the centrepiece of a site filled with

statues, bodhi trees planted in precise,symmetrical lines, and pagodas.

The following day at Moktaw, we walkwith villagers across their paddocks to amonastery being circled by musicians andthe families of boys about to undertake therituals of shinbyu, becoming novice monks.

The boys shiver as they wash, theirshaved hair falling into cloths held by theirparents. Later, freshly robed, they sprintaround the village with pride.

A few days later, we dock at Sittaung, aone-teashop village where the poverty isplain to see. I’ve seen women and childrenhauling baskets of coal and, en route to anelephant camp, see women and childrenshifting rocks in road construction.

The disparity between life on board andon shore is stark.

The hills behind Sittaung lead to theIndian border, and as an elderly manstretches his arm and points, an interpretertells us the British retreated here, leaving asthe Japanese occupied Myanmar in WorldWar II.

The British arrived in 1824, ruling until1948 when Myanmar gained independence.

The Orcaella’s passengers dine one balmyevening in the forecourt of Mawlaik’s golfclub - an old building and grounds put tonew use - said to be the oldest course inMyanmar and once despised as a gatheringspot for military leaders and their cronies.

Inside the club house, the rules are stilltacked to the wall; outside the ship’s crew setup linen-covered tables dressed withcandles and lanterns, before cooking on thespot.

On another evening, while the ship is atanchor in the middle of the Chindwin, aBurmese businesswoman and communityleader who is cruising with her children,speaks of the nation’s journey “fromsuperstition to constitution”.

In a country where the day of the week onwhich you are born, your birthdate andelements of the lunar calendar are said toinfluence character from birth, and whereancient “nat” spirits still have currency, itwould seem the journey is a long one.

Then she and I join other passengers andcrew on the top deck to participate in aritual too colourful, superstitious andancient to resist - writing a wish on paper,attaching it to a long, firelit Shan balloonand sending the balloon into the night skyabove the river.

❑ The writer travelled courtesy of Orient-Expressand Singapore Airlines.

Cruising ... womenwith goods for themarket (above); aNaga chief atHomalin; and thegreat StandingBuddha nearMonywa.

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