Brahmaputra River Cruise

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This is the ship in which we did the Brahmaputra Cruise. It is a 7 days 8 night Upstream Cruise on MV Mahabaahu. Day 1 is arrive at Guwahati, Kamakhya Mandir, board ship, Peacock Island and SAIL. We missed seeing the Gangetic dolphins.

Holy man at Kamakhya Temple Guwahati.

Early morning sun-rise Brahmaputra. Morning yoga followed by talk on the importance of Assam, from a geo-political perspective. Post tea we enjoyed a talk on ''Brahmaputra and Tribal Life''.Anchored in a deserted island and sat around a bon fire to enjoy barbequed snacks.

The "marker" boat that accompanies our vessel. All cruise vessels must be accompanied by a pilot and a marker boat that marks the channel which is safe for the ship.

Blue sky at Brahmaputra. Day 3 visit to Silghat, tea garden and jute mill. Morning talk ''Tea and Jute Industry in Assam''. Evening enjoy cultural program.

How can you pass through Assam without visiting a tea estate. Visited tea garden and jute mill during the day.

Workers at a tea garden opening their "Jan Dhan" accounts.

This is a folk dance of Bihar performed by the children of Biharis who work on the tea garden.

Day 4 visited Kaziranga National Park and Weaver''s village at Bishwanath Ghat. Rhinoceros in Kaziranga. We move around the park on elephants and later jeeps. U can see rhinos, tigers, swamp and hog deer, large number of birds. Returned by lunch and relaxed post lunch.

Kaziranga: Bar-headed geese, migrants from Siberia. Best time to visit Assam is October to April. Kaziranga is open from Nov 1 to 30th April.

Artisanal creations of Biswanath Ghat. Visit the Shiv Dol and offer pranams to Shivji.

Weaving magic. We walked through the village and enjoyed it.

Villagers come out to say good bye to us.

Inhabitants of the villages on the banks of the river. Villages often get submerged in the monsoon.

Bamboos that have to be taken to the market are lashed together and floated down the river. The cargo becomes the transport. It appears that the merchants even live on board the raft.

Cow-dung patties for the fire. The cow dung is mixed with some kind of hay and dried on the bamboo.

A shot of our ship.

When the channel is deep enough, and it does not have to be marked, the marker boat is lashed alongside the ship and tags along!

The swimming pool on the M. V. Mahabaahu. Day 5 is Dhansiri Boat Safari. Post lunch is a talk on Majuli - a centre of Vaishnavite culture.

Evening hues.....in olden times this was a lighthouse and a lamp used to be lit and placed atop the pillar.

Another spectacular sunset on the Brahmaputra.

The ship drops anchor near a sand bank. We stop the night there (you cannot sail at night). The next morning, Yoga is on the "beach".

About one kilometre away, on the sandbank, I saw this lone buffalo, and took this picture at 500mm, hand-held.

Day 6 is Mishing village and Majuli. A Mishing lady in profile. All Mishing women are expert weavers.

Mishing live on the banks of the river in Chang ghars'' houses with a raised platform. They are built on stilts because of the river that inundates the land during the monsoon. This is how one enters and leaves one''s home. We enjoyed talk on ''Sibsagar and the Ahom civilization'' before visiting Majuli Island.

Welcome to Majuli Island, one of the largest riverine islands in the word. Majuli was separated from the mainland and became an island about 200 years ago as a result of an earthquake. There is no permanent bridge connecting the island to the mainland. If you want to take your car across, you have to do it by ferry.

A dance-drama depicting the Rama Sita story from the Ramayana. To see pics of Kamakhya Temple Click here

A dance performance on Majuli island. Day 7 NEAMATI GHAT/ SIBSAGAR/ Home Hosted Lunch. We start our day-excursion to Sibsagar, the ancient city and capital of the Tai-speaking Ahoms who came in the 13th Century AD.

A cute child that we met enroute. Sibsagar town literally means ''the ocean of Lord Shiva’ as it is built around a huge man made water tank ordered by the Ahom Queen. The Shiva Dol, constructed in the year 1734 is believed to be the highest Shiva temple in India. We visit The Talatal or Kareng Ghar, the palace of the Ahom Kings and the Rang Ghar, an amphitheatre, a place of entertainment or important meetings for the Royals and their guests.

The golden langur on Peacock Island that we visited on day 1. Day 8 NEAMATI GHAT/ Jorhat /Departure. Assam Tourism and private operators undertake this cruise. To know more Click here

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