Hooghly River Cruise

Why Join This Cruise:

• A unique chance to explore The Hooghly, an intimate, meandering waterway through the rice fields and mango orchards of rural Bengal


• The cruise is billed as a historical tour, but it is also a journey through present-day Bengal - in itself a trip back in time.


• Amid the scythes, bullock carts and houses built with cow dung, you will see next to no sign of the technological revolution sweeping other parts of India


• Having been the main thoroughfare of the early East India Company, the river has many nostalgic colonial buildings on its banks


• Travel in style aboard a small, intimate and comfortable boat, accommodating a maximum of just 24 guests, ensuring a very personalised experience


• Spacious, well-appointed cabins with private en-suite bathrooms and all air-conditioned


• Experience local Bengali culture, still little-known, which produced marvellous temples covered with intricately carved terracotta panels


• Includes a visit to the site of the battlefield of Plassey, where Clive laid the foundations of Empire in India


• End-point of the cruise is the ruined medieval city of Gaur, one of the greatest pre-Mughal Islamic monuments in India


• Starts in finishes in Calcutta, regardless of whether you travel up or downstream, making the logistics quite straight forwards


• Most visits are undertaken by jeep, on foot or using cycle-rickshaws with a local Bengali guide accompanying all cruises


• In the summer months on The Hooghly there is lots of blossom and fruit, lush greenery, and some rain


• Plenty of opportunity to relax and take it rural life as you leisurely slide down river. A very gentle introduction to India


• A very attentive crew

Trip Overview
The Hoogli is an intimate waterway, bordered by villages and rural landscape of jute fields and mango orchards. The emphasis here is on monuments and culture, whether Hindu, Muslim or Colonial. This 7-night cruise operate in the summer months from Kolkata to the Ganges or back, with one way by ship, one way by rail. Highlights are the ruins of the medieval city of Gaur, Murshidabad, capital of the Nawabs of Bengal, delightful Bengali terracotta temples, and the colonial trading stations of the British and other European nations to the north of Calcutta.


Daily Itinerary

HUGLI UPSTREAM ITINERARY

Day 1 Calcuatta/ Embarkation
You are collected from your hotel after breakfast. A morning sightseeing tour of Calcutta takes you to the white marble Victoria Memorial with its fine picture collection, St John's Church, the atmospheric South Park St Cemetery and down Chowringhee past Ochterlony's Column, Government House, Writers' Buildings and other Calcutta landmarks. Embark midday on either "Charaidew" or "Sukapha" and sail up to visit the old Danish colony of Serampore. Cross to Barrackpore, land and take a walk through the cantonment past the Semaphore Tower, Government House, the Temple of Fame, and Flagstaff House, its garden housing many of the British statues removed from central Calcutta.

Day 2 Chandernagore/ Kalna
Sail up to Chandernagore, a French possession until 1950, and visit the 18th century church and Dupleix's House containing a small museum. Drive on to visit the Dutch cemetery at Chinsura and the Portuguese church at Bandel where you reboard your ship and cruise upstream, leaving urban sprawl and cruising through the night to a mooring near Kalna.

Day 3 Kalna/ Matriari
Land at the country town of Kalna and take cycle rickshaws to see a group of some of Bengal's most attractive terracotta temples, as well as the unique Shiva temple with concentric rings made up of 108 shrinelets. Continue on through the countryside to Mayapur, its skyline dominated by the vast new ISKCON temple which we are able to visit. Perhaps visit also the older and humbler temples as well as the giant banyan tree at Nabadwip on the opposite bank before sailing on through the night to a mooring near Matiari.

Day 4 Matriari/ Murshidabad
This morning visit the brassworking village of Matiari where you can see the whole primitive process of beating out brass water pots and other vessels. Later cruise on to a rural mooring close to the battlefield of Plassey where you will visit the commemorative obelisk. It was here in 1757 that Clive's defeat of Siraj-ud-Daulah changed the course of Indian history. Cruise on until after dark, to moor at Murshidabad.

Day 5 Murshidabad/ Hazarduari Palace
Land and travel by cycle rickshaw to the Khushbagh, a peaceful Moghul-style garden enclosing the tombs of Siraj-ud-Daulah and his family. Continue a little way upstream to where the Nawab's great Hazarduari Palace, built by an English architect in 1837, dominates the waterfront. Inside are an extensive collection of pictures, china, weapons and other objects. Visit also the great Katra Mosque and drive out to two amazing buildings of the late 18th century, the Nashipara Palace and Katgola Palace. Both were built in classical Georgian style by rich local merchants and represent the other side of the coin of the "White Moghul" period when English and Indian cultures came close to fusion. Overnight on a riverbank mooring close to Hazarduari Palace.

Day 6 Baranagar/ Jangipur
Moor at the delightful sleepy village of Baranagar with three gorgeous miniature terracotta temples to which you walk through the fields. This is rural India at its most idyllic. Continue up the Hugli, here a charming waterway twisting and turning between banks lined with jute fields and mango orchards. Carry on to moor at Jangipur.

Day 7 Jangipur/ Gaur
A full day excursion by road takes you across the Ganges barrage to Gaur, near the town of Malda, or English Bazaar. This quiet, deserted place was once one of India's great cities, first under the Hindus in 12th century, then as the muslim capital of Eastern India from the 14th to the 16th century. There are plentiful remains of mosques, palaces and gateways and you visit a number of the most interesting.

Day 8 Gaur/ Disembark/ Calcutta
Early morning transfer to Jangipur station for a 5 hr train journey to Calcutta. Midday arrival at Howrah and transferred to central Calcutta.

**Please note: On alternate departures this itinerary operates in reverse and cruises downstream with the train ride at the beginning of the trip


The Boats
The following boats operates this particular cruise:

RV Charaidew & RV Sukapha

Cruise dates for Summer 2009

Weekly departures every Saturday between mid July to end September:

Upstream departures:

19th - 26th July
2nd - 9th August,
16th - 23rd August
30th August - 6th September
13th - 20th September

Downstream departures:

26 July - 2nd August
9th - 16th August
23rd - 30th August,
6th - 13th September
20th - 27th September

Please call for an availability update on your preferred travel dates.

Guide Price

£760.00 per person + 3.09% tax based on 2 people sharing a cabin

Single occupancy supplement: £370.00 + 3.09% tax

What's included?

• 7 night/ 8 day cruise on full board basis


• Accommodation in a double cabin with private ensuite bathroom


• All guided excursions


• Rail tickets Kolkata - Farakka or vice versa depending on the direction of your cruise


• Transfers in Kolkata

What's not included?

• All flights and travel arrangements getting to and from the points of embarkation/ disembarkation


• Any additional accommodation, excursions or services pre or post cruise


• Beverages on board


• Laundry


• camera fees at monuments


• Gratuities

Pre/ post Cruise Extensions
For those wishing to extend their stay in India and explore more of the sub-continent, we can certainly help you with these arrangements.

Please Click here for extension ideas or contact our India specialists for details of pre and post cruise extensions.

To discuss this trip, for further details or to check boat availability, please either:

Call 01285 880981
Email voyages@steppestravel.co.uk

Steppes Travel cruise destinations include: Alaska, Amazon, Antarctica, Arctic, Baja Mexico, Galapagos.