If you’re looking for a river boat cruise with a difference this is the one for you!  Firstly it’s in Sarawak, much less well known than its neighbour Sabah in the north of Borneo, which is now a well-trodden tourist destination. Sarawak’s charm lies in its lack of exposure to the tourist industry.  Life is at a slow pace and it is much as I remember this part of the world when I lived in Singapore in the late 1950s.

 Secondly, this cruise is an adventure undertaken in considerable style. The ‘Orient Pandaw’ lives up to the pictures in the brochure and on the Pandaw website. It is a replica of an old colonial steamboat, small (30 cabins), well-designed with a high quality finish. Cabins are air-conditioned (essential in the Tropics).You can sit on the promenade deck outside your cabin or lounge on the covered sundeck watching the world go by. What is lacking, present in Pandaw boats in Cambodia, Vietnam and Myamar, is an air-conditioned bar/lounge. This has been removed to provide more cabins on the main deck. This was sorely missed during very high humidity and when we experienced torrential showers.  What ‘made’ the cruise was the friendliness of the staff and excellent service they provided. They couldn’t do enough for us.

 My 17 fellow passengers were an interesting group of well-travelled Australians, Canadians, Germans, Japanese, an American and an ex-Brit living in Kuala Lumpur. We all got on well and sat in different combinations for meals in the dining room. You can order a table for two if that’s what you want.  We all changed for dinner, but it was ‘smart casual’ and not at all ‘dressy’. Peter, the Sarawak chef, never failed to come up with a delicious variety of menus which reflected his culinary competence in Sarawak, Asian and Western dishes. If you don’t like spicy food you can pre-order what you want each morning.

 The river level was exceptionally low on this cruise (it has since risen I’m reliably informed). It had not rained for a month so the ship’s purser and our guide, Louis, from Kuching, used every ounce of ingenuity to ensure that we experienced a full and varied programme. We received a warm welcome from the Iban people we met along the Rajang, Baleh and Katibas rivers. Most of them had seen few Western tourists before. Their generous hospitality and willingness to share the little they had was humbling. Be prepared to venture up the rivers in small, local craft – not made for the much larger and heavier Westerner! It’s part of the experience. The Rajang is a working river with timber camps on its banks and logs floating down stream. The tributaries are quiet and atmospheric, though the bird and animal life is usually further inland.

 I enjoyed a kaleidoscope of experiences. We visited 4 longhouses in eight days (the Iban warriors practiced head-hunting until about 70 years ago), joining in the traditional welcome ceremony in one longhouse and meeting the local M.P. in another. Visiting the local market was a highlight of excursions. The amount and variety of fruit, vegetables and fish was amazing. We visited a primary school, rubber and pepper plantations and a textile cooperative. We bought local bead jewellery, textiles and bamboo & rattan basketwork. One of the highlights was a picnic on the banks of the Baleh River where our chef, Peter, and his staff, cooked us a traditional Iban bamboo pot lunch of rice and chicken. 

 I could have spent more than two nights in Kuching on my post-cruise extension. It’s a delightful city and well worth visiting. The Hilton, where I stayed, has wonderful views of the city and the Sarawak River. Old buildings have been preserved and the city has a colonial feel, a throw back to the White Rajahs – the Brookes who ruled Sarawak for a hundred years. You can wonder through the shops without being hassled. What a relief!  The Bako National Park is beautiful, but difficult walking terrain. The orang utans at Semenggoh Nature Reserve are a must to visit.

 Altogether a highly recommended holiday.