Sampan Travel

06/06/2024

“They conceive a certain theory, and everything has to fit into that theory. If one little fact will not fit it, they throw it aside. But it is always the facts that will not fit in that are significant.”

From Sherlock Holmes to Poirot, people have long held a fascination with murder mysteries. One of the most popular tropes in detective fiction is the “locked-room mystery”. This concept revolves around a seemingly impossible crime committed within a sealed or secured space. The detectives are confronted with a baffling scenario: a room locked from the inside, yet containing a victim and no visible means of entry or exit for the perpetrator. Solving the puzzle demands astute deduction as detectives unravel intricate plots, hidden passages and clever contrivances …

Renowned authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie popularized this enigmatic theme, creating suspenseful narratives that challenge both characters and readers to decipher the secrets concealed within the confines of a mysteriously locked room.

Abir Mukherjee’s book Death in the East, the third in his Wyndham & Banerjee crime series set in 1920s Kolkata, is his own tribute to Agatha Christie. He wanted to write his own version of the classic locked room mystery, and ends up fashioning a suitably ingenious solution to the puzzle.

But Abir’s books are more than just clever whodunnits. Set in a time when the British Raj is being brought to its knees by Mahatma Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement, they are a deft exploration of the incongruity at the heart of the British Empire.

“In terms of theme, I wanted to explore the effect of empire on both the rulers and the ruled, and in particular, what happens when a democratic nation subjugates another, both in terms of the impact on the subjugated peoples, but just as importantly, on the psyche of the people doing the oppressing. I think it’s an area that’s been relatively unexamined over the last seventy odd years.”

In February 2025, Abir will lead Sampan’s inaugural Death on the Brahmaputra tour. This is a literary journey in Bengal & Assam. We will dive deep into the history of Kolkata before charting our own private vessel on the Brahmaputra River. Over the course of three mornings, Abir will lead optional literary masterclasses. On our first evening aboard the ABN Sukapha, he will present his take on the “locked-room mystery” before a screening of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile – the inspiration for this tour in the first place.

Come join us. Bookings now open. More below.

https://www.sampantravel.com/journeys/specialised/death-on-the-brahmaputra/

31/05/2024

In February this year, we conducted our first Beyond the Chindwin tour in Myanmar. Dr Robert Lyman (.robert) led our small group through the country, from Yangon to Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin and Bagan.

In our party was a lady whose father had flown over the skies of Burma as an RAF pilot in WWII. This was her first visit to the country and she described it as a “journey of discovery”. It not only gave her background context to her father’s logbook, but also an insight into Myanmar and its people.

For obvious reasons, many who would otherwise join a tour like this, did not in the current climate. Many who had signed up, later withdrew. Right now, this is not a great country to live in if you are from Myanmar. There are many good reasons not to travel to Myanmar.

But Sampan does support responsible travel to Myanmar.

Not only does it support employment, wages and training to those who are living and working here, but also, it gives visitors an education on and an emotional investment in Myanmar. People who travel to Myanmar, become allies of Myanmar. And Myanmar needs plenty of those.

Dr Lyman will be leading our Beyond the Chindwin tour 26 November – 7 December 2024. Please contact us for more information at hello(at)sampantravel.com

https://www.sampantravel.com/journeys/specialised/beyond-the-chindwin-second-world-war-tour-burma/

31/05/2024

One of the reasons Sampan still conducts and strongly supports responsible travel to Myanmar, is because travel builds bridges between countries through the relationships that are formed. The best kind of travel is an education, and the best kind of education is a dialogue.

Any of Sampan’s guests in Myanmar will be sure to know about the situation here long before they arrive (we make sure of that). Once they are here, they continue to learn about what is going on (our guides make sure of that!)

And at times, when on tour, the Sampan team in the office, and our guides on the ground, try to step back and allow the time and space for our guests to interact with the wonderful people of Myanmar themselves, without us. And chat about anything they like.

The pictures below are from a recent “morning with the goats” in Bagan. Two of our guests woke up early one morning and were taken to a goatherding village. They met one of the families that looks after dozens of goats, met the goats also, and then joined all of them on the morning walk amongst the temples. As the sun rose over the splendid Myanmar horizon, they learnt more about the lives of the goatherds (and, probably, the lives of the goats, too.) It was followed by picnic breakfast, while the goats had their own breakfast - the local Bagan plumb is a favourite.

31/05/2024

We are very proud to have re-certified ourselves as proud members of Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct, training our team and partners and informing our guests so to protect children from exploitation.

🎉🎉We are proud to announce that Sampan Travel has successfully completed all the steps required for membership in The Code. This significant achievement underscores the company's unwavering commitment to ethical tourism and child protection in Myanmar.🌏

22/05/2024

Several weeks ago, Sampan teamed up with our good friends over at , to support the young readers of !

Through their social media channels, Third Story Projects asked anyone in Myanmar running, using or supporting a children’s library (community libraries, mobile libraries, school libraries … !), to upload a photo of the library in action, with the chance to receive a book package worth MMK 100,000.

Third Story Project then chose 10 libraries – 10 lucky winners – and dispatched the books across the country! In the end, libraries in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Bago and Tanintharyi regions all received books.

Congratulations to the winners and may the books be often-read, well-thumbed and much loved for years to come!

Third Story Project creates children's books with a positive message for children in Myanmar, written and illustrated by Myanmar writers and artists. Find out more via the link below (and in our bio), by reading the interview Sampan conducted with one of their founders several years ago.

https://www.sampantravel.com/magazine/third-story-project/

Sampan was able to fund this project due to our membership of

20/05/2024

Small guests list. Big portions.

Supper Club returns to downtown Yangon this May. We will be celebrating the cuisine of southern Shan State, including Shan water mustard salad, deep fried star cakes and steamed river fish in banana leaf.

Come join us.

The Supper Club will take place at lunchtime, kicking-off at 12 noon on Sunday 26 May 2024. As ever, it will take place in a heritage apartment in downtown Yangon.

RSVP essential!

+95 (0) 9440 647 312

[email protected]

20/05/2024

Several weeks ago, Sampan teamed up with our good friends over at Third Story Project to support the young readers of !

Through their social media channels, Third Story Projects asked anyone in Myanmar running, using or supporting a children’s library (community libraries, mobile libraries, school libraries … !), to upload a photo of the library in action, with the chance to receive a book package worth MMK 100,000.

Third Story Project then chose 10 libraries – 10 lucky winners – and dispatched the books across the country! In the end, libraries in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Bago and Tanintharyi regions all received books.

Congratulations to the winners and may the books be often-read, well-thumbed and much loved for years to come!

The Third Story Project creates children's books with a positive message for children in Myanmar, written and illustrated by Myanmar artists. Find out more via the link below, by reading the interview Sampan conducted with one of their founders several years ago.

Sampan was able to fund this project due to our membership of The Conscious Travel Foundation.

https://www.sampantravel.com/magazine/third-story-project/

10/05/2024

We are taking a literary journey through Bengal and Assam led by Abir Mukherjee. Sampan's Supper Club returns to downtown Yangon, and Murshidabad celebrates Bengali New Year. All in Sampan's latest newsletter. https://mailchi.mp/f17da04ade48/birds-of-jatinga

12/04/2024

In February this year, we conducted our first Beyond the Chindwin tour in Myanmar. Dr Robert Lyman led our small group through the country, from Yangon to Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin and Bagan.

In our party was a lady whose father had flown over the skies of Burma as an RAF pilot in WWII. This was her first visit to the country and she described it as a “journey of discovery”. It not only gave her background context to her father’s logbook, but also an insight into Myanmar and its people.

For obvious reasons, many who would otherwise join a tour like this, did not in the current climate. Many who had signed up, later withdrew. Right now, this not a great country to live in if you are from Myanmar. There are many good reasons not to travel to Myanmar.

But Sampan does support responsible travel to Myanmar.

Not only does it support employment, wages and training to those who are living and working here, but also, it gives visitors an education on and an emotional investment in Myanmar. People who travel to Myanmar, become allies of Myanmar. And Myanmar needs plenty of those.

We would like to thank the British Chamber of Commerce Myanmar and EuroCham Myanmar for continuing to support Sampan and other responsible businesses still operating in Myanmar.

https://www.sampantravel.com/journeys/specialised/beyond-the-chindwin-second-world-war-tour-burma/

11/04/2024

Last week our client Charlotte Carty led 19 bold souls to walk 124 kilometres in 39 hours in memory of her grandfather.

More below ...

Get the latest updates on North East 8NE8- News That Matters, Stories That InspireFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ne8_official/ ...

26/03/2024

In a few days time, Sampan is leading a group of 26 bold souls as they trek 124 kilometres non-stop from to Jessami, recreating the march of the Assam during , 80-years to the hour prior.

In 1944, the Japanese began their "march on Delhi", crossing over the Burmese border and entering into Manipur and the Naga Hills.

The battle of Jessami involved a small garrison of the First Assam Regiment, originally sent to the area to simply patrol for information.

It ended up being a crucial battle, postponing the Japanese advance and allowing the Allies time to bolster defences at Kohima.

The Commanding Officer of the First Assam Regiment was Lt Col William Felix "Bruno" Brown. The Assam, despite being vastly outnumbered, held out against one of the main lines of advance of the Japanese troops into India, battling for five days, having been ordered to fight to "the last man and the last round". This order was eventually withdrawn.

Brown led the withdrawal from Jessami to Kohima, a distance of 96 kilometres (as the crow flies, 124 kilometres along tracks) along small Naga tracks. The men started at midnight on 1/2 April and arrived in Kohima 39 hours later at 15:00 on 3 April 1944. Two hundred and sixty men made it back to bolster the Allies’ defences in the town.

The 39 Hour Walk commemorates the journey of Brown and his men from Jessami to Kohima. The exact route that Brown took is not known. The group was fractured, but a large body of men was led to Kohima from Jessami by Brown.

This trek was the idea of the granddaughter of Bruno Brown. "It's about passing on the torch of remembrance for the next generation," she says.

More below.

Charlotte Carty will recreate a 77-mile journey her grandfather made in India in 1944.

24/03/2024

“They conceive a certain theory, and everything has to fit into that theory. If one little fact will not fit it, they throw it aside. But it is always the facts that will not fit in that are significant.”

 

At Sampan we are excited to announced our latest - and our most mysterious ... - journey through India.

 

*Death on the Brahmaputra: A Journey through Bengal & Assam with Abir Mukherjee*

 

This is a literary journey through India for anyone, but particularly suited for those who love to read and those who want to write. Abir is a best-selling crime author, whose Wyndham & Banerjee series is set in 1920s Kolkata. Abir will accompany the group throughout the 11 days of this journey, and offer three literary masterclasses aboard the splendid ABN Sukapha of

 

This journey begins in Kolkata: first city of the British Raj and birthplace of Indian nationalism. It’s in 1920s Kolkata that Abir sets his “Wyndham & Banerjee” detective series:

 

“It’s a fascinating city, unique in many respects and in the 1920s, it was the premier city in Asia, as glamorous and exotic a location as anywhere in the world. The history of Calcutta is the history of the British in India. Their presence still cries out from its streets, its buildings and in its outlook.”

 

This journey includes a 7-night private cruise on the Brahmaputra River in Assam, aboard the ABN Sukapha of

 

Excursions will be made to Kaziranga National Park, the Jorhat tea gardens, and Majuli – the world’s largest river island. Over the course of three mornings, Abir will lead optional literary masterclasses. On our first evening aboard the ABN Sukapha, he will introduce the concept of the “locked-room mystery” before a screening of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

 

More info here (link also in bio): https://www.sampantravel.com/journeys/specialised/death-on-the-brahmaputra/

 

Contact us to see the full itinerary. enquiries(at)sampantravel.com

 

Photos courtesy of Assam Bengal Navigation, Martin Jenberg & Remi Clinton.

24/03/2024

“They conceive a certain theory, and everything has to fit into that theory. If one little fact will not fit it, they throw it aside. But it is always the facts that will not fit in that are significant.”

At Sampan we are excited to announced our latest - and our most mysterious ... - journey through India.

*Death on the Brahmaputra: A Journey through Bengal & Assam with Abir Mukherjee*

This is a literary journey through India for anyone, but particularly suited for those who love to read and those who want to write. Abir is a best-selling crime writer, whose Wyndham & Banerjee series is set in 1920s Kolkata. Abir will accompany the group throughout the 11 days of this journey, and offer three literary masterclasses aboard the splendid ABN Sukapha.

This journey begins in Kolkata: first city of the British Raj and birthplace of Indian nationalism. It’s in 1920s Kolkata that Abir sets his “Wyndham & Banerjee” detective series:

“It’s a fascinating city, unique in many respects and in the 1920s, it was the premier city in Asia, as glamorous and exotic a location as anywhere in the world. The history of Calcutta is the history of the British in India. Their presence still cries out from its streets, its buildings and in its outlook.”

This journey includes a 7-night private cruise on the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Excursions will be made to Kaziranga National Park, the Jorhat tea gardens, and Majuli – the world’s largest river island. Over the course of three mornings, Abir will lead optional literary masterclasses. On our first evening aboard the ABN Sukapha, he will introduce the concept of the “locked-room mystery” before a screening of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

Contact us to see the full itinerary. enquiries(at)sampantravel.com

https://www.sampantravel.com/journeys/specialised/death-on-the-brahmaputra/

A literary journey through Bengal & Assam with Abir Mukherjee, including seven-night luxury cruise on the Brahmaputra River.

21/03/2024

In 1944, the Japanese began their "march on Delhi", crossing over the Burmese border and entering into Manipur and the Naga Hills. The battle of Jessami involved a small garrison of the First Assam Regiment, originally sent to the area to simply patrol for information. It ended up being a crucial battle, postponing the Japanese advance and allowing the Allies time to bolster defences at Kohima.

 

The Commanding Officer of the First Assam Regiment was Lt Col William Felix "Bruno" Brown. The Assam, despite being vastly outnumbered, held out against one of the main lines of advance of the Japanese troops into India, battling for five days, having been ordered to fight to "the last man and the last round". This order was eventually withdrawn.

 

Brown led the withdrawal from Jessami to Kohima, a distance of 96 kilometres (as the crow flies) along small Naga tracks. The men started at midnight on 1/2 April and arrived in Kohima 39 hours later at 15:00 on 3 April 1944. Two hundred and sixty men made it back to bolster the Allied defences in the town.

 

In April 2024, Sampan will be leading a group of 26 bold souls, as they look to recreate the Assam's withdrawal from Jessami to Kohima, 80 years later - to the hour. The group will attempt to complete the 124 kilometre route in 39 hours.

 

More here and here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-68622047

06/03/2024

At the end of April 1945, the British Indian Army were in pursuit of the Japanese across Burma. B and C Companies of the 4th/8th Gurkha Rifles were positioned to block the Japanese escape route at the village of Taungdaw, on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River in central Burma. When the Japanese arrived, the two Gurkha companies were surrounded and their lines of communication cut.

On the night of May 12, Havildar Lachhiman Gurung was manning the forward post of his platoon when more than 200 Japanese attacked the company position. The brunt of the assault fell on Gurung’s section and, in particular, on his post, which dominated a jungle track leading up to his platoon’s position.

Had the enemy been able to overrun it and occupy Gurung’s trench, they would have secured control over the whole of the field before them.

One gr***de landed on the edge of Gurung's trench. He seized it and hurled it back. Another gr***de followed suit, this time dropping directly into the trench. Gurung grabbed it and flung it back. A third gr***de descended, landing just ahead of the trench and it detonated in his grasp, resulting in the loss of his fingers, severe injuries to his right arm, face, body, and right leg.

Despite his wounds, Gurung continued to load and fire his rifle with his remaining hand, maintaining a relentless barrage against the onslaught. Wave after wave, the Japanese attempted to overwhelm their position, but Gurung steadfastly repelled them, refusing to cede ground. Despite repeated enemy attempts, Gurung and his unit held their ground until relieved on May 15th.

Gurung later reflected, "I had no choice but to fight; it was my only option. I sensed death looming regardless, so I decided to face it standing tall. All I could focus on was holding them back. I'm grateful that my actions aided my fellow soldiers, but they too would have acted similarly."

Gurung's bravery earned him the Victoria Cross, bestowed by Lord Louis Mountbatten during a parade at the Red Fort in Delhi on 19 December 1945. Partiman Gurung, Lachhiman's father, then around 74 years old, undertook an arduous 11-day journey from his village in Nepal to witness his son's decoration ceremony.

Lachhiman Gurung was born on 30 December 1917, in Dakhani village, located in the Tanhu district of Nepal. He enlisted in December 1940 and, following basic training, joined the 8th Gurkha Rifles. Despite his stature - standing just under 4 feet 11 inches tall - Gurung was below the minimum height requirement and would not have been accepted during peacetime.

Despite his injuries, he continued to serve with the 8th Gurkha Rifles, eventually transferring to the Indian Army after India gained independence in 1947.

In August 1995, Gurung was honoured with a reception at 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister, John Major, who presented him with a cheque for £100,500 for The Gurkha Welfare Trust

Sampan's Beyond the Chindwin tour is in support of The Gurkha Welfare Trust, which continues to support the Gurkha communities and preserve their rich heritage of bravery and sacrifice.

In addition to making a donation in the name of each guest on tour, historian Dr Robert Lyman and our guide Ko Sai Kenneth weave the story of the Gurkhas into their narrative of the Burma Campaign of WWII. Throughout the journey, Rob and Sampan's local guide pay tribute to the Gurkhas' significant role, such as assault on Mandalay Hill and the crossings of the Irrawaddy River, as mentioned above in the exploits of Lachhiman Gurung.

In addition to Lachhiman Gurung, nine other Gurkhas received Victoria Crosses during the Burma Campaign. Today, the Gurkhas' legacy in the Burma Campaign is evident in Nepali restaurants and teashops found in regions like Myitkyina, Mandalay and Maymyo.

06/03/2024

In a collaboration between Third Story Children's Books and Sampan Travel, we are out to support the young readers of !

For those running, using and supporting libraries around the country, we are asking you to upload a custom photo of the children's library in action, with the chance to receive a gift book package worth MMK 100,000.

Third Story Children's Books will choose 10 libraries across the country to receive the books. The selection will be based on the pictures and captions.

Community libraries, mobile libraries, school libraries are all invited to participate.

Please read the details of the contest rules in the post below.

📸ကလေးပျော်စာကြည့်တိုက် ဓာတ်ပုံပြိုင်ပွဲ📸

ကိုယ့်ရဲ့ကလေးစာကြည့်တိုက် ပုံကို
ဓာတ်ပုံလှလှလေး ရိုက်တင်ပြီး
ကလေးစာအုပ် တစ်သိန်းဖိုး လက်ဆောင်ရယူပါ😍😍
(၁၀ နေရာတိတိ ရွေးချယ် ပို့ပေးမှာပါ)

အနယ်နယ်အရပ်ရပ်က ကလေးစာကြည့်တိုက်၊စာဖတ်ခန်းများ ၊ ရွေ့လျား စာကြည့်တိုက်များ၊ ကျောင်းစာကြည့်တိုက်များ အတွက် သဒ်စတိုရီ နဲ့ Sampan Travel တို့ ပူးပေါင်းပြီး
social media ဓာတ်ပုံပြိုင်ပွဲလေးတစ်ခု စီစဉ်ထားပါတယ်။

စာကြည့်တိုက်ကို ကလေးများ အသုံးပြုနေကြပုံ၊ စာဖတ်နေပုံ သို့မဟုတ် အခြား စိတ်ကူးရသလို စာကြည့်တိုက် စာဖတ်ခန်း အား သရုပ်ဖော်ထားတဲ့ ပုံကလေးတွေနဲ့ တစ်နေရာကို တစ်ပုံ
နှုန်း ယှဉ်ပြိုင်နိုင်ပါတယ်။

ဆုရွေးချယ်တဲ့အခါ -
✅ရုပ်ပုံကိုသာမက
✅ပုံစာ caption ကိုပါ
ကြည့်ပြီး ရွေးချယ်မှာမို့ စာကြည့်တိုက်ရဲ့ အမည်၊ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်၊ လည်ပတ်ပုံ တို့ကို ထင်ဟပ်တဲ့
ရသမြောက်သော ပုံစာထိုးနိုင်ဖို့ အားပေးပါတယ်။

🎯 မတ်လ (၈) ရက်နေ့နောက်ပိုင်း ပုံတွေကို ထည့်သွင်းမစဉ်းစားတော့လို့ စောစောတင်ကြပါနော်။

ရုပ်ပုံနဲ့ ပုံစာ ကို
◾စာကြည့်တိုက်၊စာဖတ်ခန်း တို့ရဲ့ page မှာဖြစ်စေ၊ ◾စာကြည့်တိုက်တာဝန်ရှိသူရဲ့ personal profile မှာဖြစ်စေ public တင်ပြီးတော့ link ကို ယခု ပို့စ် ရဲ့
comment မှာ လာရောက် မန့်ပေးပါ။
သဒ်စတိုရီ အယ်ဒီတာအဖွဲ့ရဲ့ အကြိုက်ဆုံး ၁၀ ပုံရွေးပြီး စုစုပေါင်း ၁၀ နေရာထိ ပို့ခအပြီးအစီး
စာအုပ်လက်ဆောင် တစ်သိန်းဖိုးပို့ပေးမှာပါ😍😍။

ပြိုင်ပွဲဝင် ရုပ်ပုံကို လက်ကိုင်ဖုန်း နဲ့လည်း ရိုက်ကူးနိုင်ပြီး
မည်သည့်အရည်အသွေးနဲ့မဆို ပါဝင်နိုင်ပါတယ်။
ရုပ်ပုံ နဲ့ ပုံစာ ကို တင်တဲ့အခါ -
#ကလေးစာပေ #ကလေးစာအုပ် 'sBooks #ကလေးပျော်စာကြည့်တိုက်

ဆိုပြီး hashtag #များ ရေးပေးပါ။

📱ကဲ .... comment မှာ လာတင်မယ့် ပုံ link လေးတွေကို သဒ်စတိုရီအဖွဲ့သားတွေက စောင့်နေပါပြီ။

#ကလေးစာပေ #ကလေးစာအုပ် 'sBooks #ကလေးပျော်စာကြည့်တိုက်

02/03/2024

We are sailing along the Brahmaputra River with Abir Mukherjee, deep into Assam to the village of Jatinga, where birds drop out of the sky and something malevolent lurks. - https://mailchi.mp/574c5f6b55b9/death-on-the-brahmaputra

27/02/2024

Sampan is looking for someone to lead our operations in India. This will incorporate looking after our guest in India, working with our partners and creating new travel experiences.

We are looking for someone ideally from North East India (therefore with strong, innate knowledge of the place) with some experience in the tourism industry. More details below. Applications to hello(at)sampantravel.com

26/02/2024

North East India is not the same as India on the plains. 

Connected to the rest of the country by a narrow strip of land referred to as the “chicken’s neck”, North East India is remote. North East India is culturally distinct. North East India is *different*. 

And therein lies the adventure. 

There are many reasons that travellers choose to visit North East India. From its turbulent and complex history. Its charming hill stations. The gorgeous national parks. 

At the centre of it all are the people of North East India themselves. 

Get ready to be welcomed. Prepare for unexpected encounters. Arrive with an empty stomach. 

North East India continues to beguile us. Come join us here.

Photos of the hills of Meghalaya (Rajesh Dutta), boys in the Naga village of Kigwema (), Tsongmo Lake in Gangtok (Sahil Pandita), a Naga man in traditional dress (.miachieo) and novice monks in Sikkim (Pratap Chhetri).

Find out more here: https://www.sampantravel.com/north-east-india/

03/02/2024

We have visited Candacraig, the most famous - and haunted? - building in Pyin Oo Lwin. Dr Robert Lyman is leading us through Myanmar on our Beyond the Chindwin tour, and Paul Theroux travels over the Gokteik Viaduct.

More here in our monthly newsletter: - https://mailchi.mp/b13ad7abdf46/s2ep0jrdwb

31/01/2024

In 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand & Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first ever to summit Everest.

 

Hillary & Tenzing went to the Himalayas under the auspices of the British Empire, but weren't heroes of the British Imperial kind, tight of jaw, stiff of upper lip. Instead they were just two cheerful, courageous fellows doing what they liked doing and did best. Neither went in for unnecessary bravado.

 

When Hilary returned from the summit, his first words to his fellow New Zealander George Lowe, were:

 

"Well, George, we've knocked the bastard off!"

 

Years later, Tenzing's son, Jamling, approached his father for his blessing to climb Everest himself. He didn't get it. "I climbed Everest so you wouldn't have to."

 

After Tenzing has passed away, Jamling did summit Everest. At the peak, he felt he was "touching his father's soul".

 

"I sensed my father's presence. He was watching me, proud of me. I was sharing with him the view that he and Hillary were the first people on earth to experience."

 

In April this year, Jamling will be leading a small group of us up the Goecha La Pass in Sikkim. On this 7-day trek we will hike through rhododendron forests and see 15 “big peaks” before reaching the Goecha Pass, at 4,760 metres. Expect prayer wheels. Expect blue sheep. Expect Kanchenjunga. Expect tales from Jamling about his father.

 

We have a couple of places left. We would love for you to join us.

 

Writing, almost half a century after Tenzing & Hillary summited Everest, Jan Morris, who was on the 1953 expedition, wrote:

 

“I liked these men very much when I first met them on the mountain, but I came to admire them far more in the years that followed. I thought their brand of heroism – the heroism of example, the heroism of debts repaid and causes sustained – more inspiring than the gung-ho kind. Did it really mean much to the human race when Everest was conquered for the first time? Only because there became attached to the memory of the exploit, in the years that followed, a reputation for decency, kindness and stylish simplicity. Hillary & Tenzing fixed it when they knocked the bastard off.”

 
Photos: RGS, Gaurav Bagdi, Sukant Sharma.

24/01/2024

The Calcutta Bungalowis an immaculately restored 1920s townhouse representative of a golden era in Calcutta’s architecture. The hotel was conceived by city resident Iftekhar Ahsan and lovingly decorated by celebrated local designer Swarup Dutta.

This 6-room hotel in North Kolkata is a love letter to the city. Each room has been designed in a different fashion to celebrate Kolkata’s chequered and diverse history and culture. Books on the city have been placed in each room and top-quality Bengali cuisine is served in the restaurant.

The original building was designed in the classical style, despite being built in 1926 when most buildings were designed in art deco. So in this way it captures the golden era in Calcutta’s construction history.

Read more below:

An immaculately restored 1920s townhouse. This 6-room hotel is a love letter to the city. Each room different. Each room exquisite.

21/01/2024

Our walking tour of downtown teases out the stories and secrets of a city with a turbulent history. As well as visiting the Secretariat and the principal colonial buildings in downtown Yangon, our guide will take you to lesser known and lesser frequented locations which nonetheless have stories to tell. Come with an empty stomach.

More info here (link also in bio): https://www.sampantravel.com/journeys/experiences/streets-yangon/

Contact us at hello(at)sampantravel(dot)com

Photos by Ben Small.