GWT Delighted to Announce New Corporate Partner
U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar | Photo credit: The Sanctuary Ananda
This week, The Gurkha Welfare Trust is thrilled to welcome our newest Corporate Partner, Sampan Travel. Sampan creates handcrafted journeys through Myanmar and India for those seeking something a little different. Each journey dives deep into remote destinations where you will find yourself immersed in authentic experiences. Established with the purpose to create bridges between guests and local communities, Sampan’s tours are enlightening journeys of discovery.
Founder and Managing Director Bertie, says:
“Through conscious travel, we are determined to help Myanmar and India become not only better places to visit, but also better places to live”.
Compassion for the people and places their guests visit lies at the heart of every journey they deliver and is exhibited by the wide range of tourism awards they have won, with special accolades for their commitment to sustainable and responsible tourism.
Forgotten Allies – Myanmar | Photo credit: Grammar Productions
Since 2020, Sampan has curated Second World War tours through Myanmar and India. These are not standard hop-on-hop-off coach tours. Instead, these are journeys through time and place, looking at not just the battlefields but also the experience of local people. These tours explore how WW2 is remembered today, and how the events of the 1940s led to where these countries are in the twenty-first century.
One such tour, Beyond the Chindwin, is directly supporting The Gurkha Welfare Trust. Led by historian Dr Robert Lyman, this 12-day journey follows General Bill Slim’s Fourteenth Army as they struggled to regain Burma from the Japanese in 1945. Incorporating expert local guides and private film screenings, this tour honours the men that fought in WW2 and looks at what has happened in Myanmar since. While on tour, Rob and Sampan’s local guide will give special attention to the Gurkha contribution to the ultimate success of the Burma Campaign. As well as taking part in the audacious Chindit “Operation Thursday”, Gurkhas were involved in the Battle of Mogaung and marched with General Bill Slim’s Fourteenth Army across the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers in pursuit of the Japanese all the way to Rangoon. Ten Gurkhas were awarded Victoria Crosses during the Burma Campaign, including Tulbahadur Pun at Mogaung and Lachhiman Gurung when crossing the Irrawaddy. For each guest on the tour, Sampan is generously making a donation towards our vital work across Nepal.
Saw Tun Thein and soldiers in jungle | Photo credit: Grammar Productions
Bertie says:
“We are so pleased to formally cement our relationship with the Gurkha Welfare Trust. The GWT’s mission to ensure that Gurkha veterans and the wider community live with dignity, dovetails with Sampan’s own goal of supporting local communities while commemorating a shared history. Through our Beyond the Chindwin tour, Sampan’s guests will both directly support the welfare of Gurkha communities, while also learning more about their history and heritage.”
Sampan’s Beyond the Chindwin tour takes place in November and February of each year, with bookings now open for February 2024. If you are interested in a place on the tour, you can find out more and contact Sampan by clicking on the button below.