ASSAM DESPATCH 7

This This 4-night cruise provides a fascinating taster of Assam, with visits to villages and to the rarely-visited Orang National Park, where you will ride on elephants through the jungle in search of the Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros. It is also available as a 3-night one-way cruise up to Orang with road transfer onwards to Kaziranga.

Day 1
Met at Guwahati airport and taken on a short sightseeing tour of the city. Drive up Nilachal Hill to see the holy Kamakhya temple. With its tantric rites and animal sacrifice, the more squeamish may prefer to content themselves with the exterior. Visit the poignant Commonwealth War Graves cemetery. Finally walk through a local market 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.

Day 2
The day is spent cruising upstream, with hills rising on either side. Battling against strong currents, we reach an idyllic stop at Ganesh Pahar, where we can explore a delightfully serene hinterland lying under jungle-covered slopes.

Day 3
Leaving the hills behind, we enjoy our first taste of the wilderness experience, sand banks like icebergs on either side. We may make a short stop to visit a bankside village, creating a sensation as we do. We moor for the night in a lunar landscape of sand islands, with hopefully the Himalayas in view and providing a contrasting backdrop in the distance.

Day 4
Rising early, we take to our country boat for another cruise up a side stream, this time into the Orang National Park. Here in this rarely visited park we mount elephants or take jeeps and ride through forest and grassland looking for rhino, deer and other wildlife. Those departing today are picked up from the park and driven on to Kaziranga. The rest return to the ship, head downstream again, and moor for the night close to Ganesh Pahar.

Day 5
We make the scenic approach to Guwahati, with jungle-covered hills rising to either side. We dock at around 1000 hrs, and are transferred to the airport for an afternoon onward flight.