Brahmaputra River Cruising

Day 01: Arrival / Guwahati

Meet at Guwahati airport and embark on a short sightseeing tour of the city. Drive up Nilachal Hill to see the holy temple. With its tantric rites and animal sacrifice, the more squeamish among us may prefer to content themselves with the exteriors. Visit the poignant Commonwealth War Graves cemetery before embarking on your cruise vessel. We set sail and cruise for about an hour and a half upstream to Kurua on the north bank.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 02: A visit to the village of Khirakata

The Day is spent mostly cruising upstream with jungle-covered hills rising on either side, often battling against strong currents. There is time to pause and visit the north bank village of Khirakata, with its lush green fields of vegetables and corn.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 03: Tullugaon

Leaving the hills behind, we enjoy our first taste of the wilderness experience, with sand banks resembling icebergs on either side. We visit Tullugaon, another bankside village with large sugarcane plantations. We shall see weavers at work in their homes, as well as the production of jaggery out of sugar cane juice. We moor for the night in a lunar landscape of sand islands with hopefully the Himalayas in view, providing a contrasting backdrop in the distance.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 04: Tezpur

Cruise on to reach Tezpur where, after lunch, we will visit the 6th century Da Parbatia temple ruins with its beautifully carved portal. Later, explore the town by cycle rickshaw, stopping at Cole Park with its medieval stone carvings saved from sites all over the region, and passing the bungalow once lived in by Alexander Bruce, a pioneer of the tea industry. Our ship will be waiting at the town’s waterfront for us to reboard.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 05: Nameri National Park

After an early breakfast, drive for some two hours to the Nameri National Park at the foot of the blue hills of Arunachal Pradesh, the old North East Frontier Agency. Here, we take a float trip of around two hours down the Jia-Bhoreli River through the park. There are excellent bird-watching opportunities here (look out for the great Hornbills) and, perhaps, the chance of sighting wild elephants. After lunch, take a village walk before returning to the ship.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 06: SteemerGhat / Kaziranga National Park

Continue upstream, passing below a seemingly endless new bridge across the vast width of the riverbed, to moor at SteemerGhat, a lovely beach backed by jungle-covered hills. In the afternoon, drive to Kaziranga’s Western Range for a jeep safari and to scan the wilderness from an observation tower.

Covering an area of approximately 430 sqkms, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park is home to the world’s largest population of the Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros as well as the Indian Wild Water Buffalo. It has also earned the distinction of having the highest density of Royal Bengal Tigers (one every five sq. km.) making this park an incredibly rich biodiversity hotspot. With its marshy swamps and thickets of elephant grass, this park supports large populations of Indian elephants, Indian bison, swamp deer, and Capped Langurs.

Besides wildlife, Kaziranga National Park is also a birding paradise. A few of the bird species found here are the Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black-shouldered Kite, White-tailed Eagle, Himalayan Griffon and so on.
Kaziranga National Park also frequently draws comparisons to the Serengeti in Africa due to the park's abundance of wildlife and birds.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 07: Kaziranga’s Central Range

Toay, drive to Kaziranga’s Central Range for a morning jeep safari. After lunch take another jeep safari in the little visited Burapahar Range before returning to the boat.
Overnight at the Cruise (B, L & D)

Day 08: Kaziranga Central Range / Guwahati Airport (190 Kms) (04 Hrs Drive)

Early morning drive to the Guwahati airport to board your onward flight.