Cruise Description

6 night Holy Ganges River Cruise - Bengal Despatch 4 ex Patna to Farakka

DOWNSTREAM ITINERARY: PATNA TO FARAKKA
DAY 1
​Arrive at Patna by road, rail or air and you`ll be transferred from the airport or railway station to your ship. Embark from 4pm onwards and enjoy dinner on board.

DAY 2
This morning, you`ll take a tour of Patna, visiting the 18th century Gola Ghar granary, the great Sikh gurdwara and the rich collections of the State Museum. Return to your ship and pass near the old East India Company opium warehouses to cruise downstream, mooring for the evening at Barh.

DAY 3
Today brings an excursion to Nalanda, recently included as a UNESCO World Heritage site where visits include the excavated great Buddhist monastery and stupa along with the adjoining museum. Nalanda is also the world`s oldest seat of learning, once welcoming over 10,000 students at its height. Later, you`ll visit the marbled Pawapuri Jain temple in the middle of a lake. You return in the evening to your ship, which will have sailed down to the great bridge at Mokameh, where the naturalist Jim Corbett spent his working life overseeing the ferry crossing.

DAY 4
Today you`ll sail down to Monghyr, with its large Mughal fort and East India Company cemetery, where villagers now live among the grandiose tombs. You`ll also visit Pirpahar Hill, crowned by a fine old mansion, and the Sita Kund hot springs, before continuing your cruise downstream to anchor near Jahangira Island at Sultanganj, a place of pilgrimage with early Hindu carvings in the rock. On shore, another picturesque rock is topped with a mosque.​

DAY 5
Sailing on this morning, you journey along a stretch of the river where Gangetic Dolphin may be seen, to Bhagalpur, a centre of silk production. Here, you’ll visit the elegant 18th century mansion built by Augustus Clevland as well as a silk-weaving village. You sail on, passing close to the island shrine at Colganj, boasting both Buddhist and Hindu cave temples, and a darker past as the former home of the murderous Thug sect. Close to here you visit idyllic Bateshwar with 6th century Hindu carvings and the nearby ruins of an 8th century Buddhist stupa and monastery at Vikramshila. You`ll anchor for the night near the confluence with the Kosi, which flows down from Nepal.

DAY 6
This morning you sail down to Rajmahal, beneath the Rajmahal Hills. Rajmahal is one of those places, so common in India, which feature in no guidebook, yet offer both interest and atmosphere in abundance. Once known as Akbarnagar, the town was founded by the Mughal Emperor Akbar as his eastern capital and Shah Jehan, builder of the Taj Mahal, spent much of his youth here. There are remains of palaces, forts and mosques submerged in vegetation which you’ll explore before continuing on down to the Farakka Barrage.

DAY 7
​For those taking only Bengal Despatch 4, transfer to Farakka station in the morning for a 4hr (approx.) train journey to Kolkata. ABN representatives will meet you on arrival and transfer you to a central Kolkata hotel.

​Those taking Bengal Despatch 5, remain on board for an excursion to Gaur and Pandua.

These itineraries, including cruises and approximate durations, are subject to river and weather conditions.