5 stops over 8 days

Guwahati
Sualkuchi
Tezpur
Nameri
Kaziranga

Three safaris in Kaziranga, including the rhino-dense Bagori range
Muga silk on the loom in Sualkuchi’s back lanes
Rafting the clear Jia Bhoroli below the Arunachal foothills
The sixth-century Da Parbatia doorframe at Tezpur
Tea tasting at Hathikuli, organic and next to the park

Day by day

What actually happens

Length: 8 days
Stops: 5
Pace: Active
From: ₹4,25,000

1D

Guwahati

Arrive and board at Pandu

You are met at Guwahati airport and driven straight to Pandu ghat, where the ship lies alongside. Cabins are ready by two. The Brahmaputra here is nearly ten kilometres wide in places, and the first thing you notice is how little noise it makes. Safety briefing at six, dinner at eight, and a short sail upstream to anchor off Aswaklanta.

Night: Overnight on board
2B L D

Sualkuchi

Silk looms at Sualkuchi

Sualkuchi weaves muga, the golden silk that only Assam produces, and almost every house on the main lane has a loom going by seven. You watch a mekhela chador take shape, thread by thread, at roughly a metre a day. Afterwards, the Hayagriva Madhava temple at Hajo, where Buddhist pilgrims from Bhutan come to a Hindu shrine without anyone minding.

Night: Overnight on board
3B L D

On the Brahmaputra

A day of chars and dolphin

No landing until late. The ship works upstream between char islands that the river rebuilds every year, past mustard in flower and men cutting thatch. Gangetic dolphin surface off the bows around eleven if the water is right. Ashore in the afternoon at a small Kachari village, where the headman’s wife will almost certainly hand you rice beer.

Night: Overnight on board
4B L D

Tezpur

Tezpur and the Da Parbatia door

Tezpur claims to be the oldest town in Assam and has the stonework to argue it. The Da Parbatia doorframe, carved in the sixth century with two river goddesses, is the finest early sculpture in the North-East. Then Agnigarh hill for the view over the Kolia Bhomora bridge, and back aboard for supper — masor tenga, sour fish curry with tomato and lemon.

Night: Overnight on board
5B L D

Nameri

The Jia Bhoroli at Nameri

An hour north to Nameri, where the Jia Bhoroli comes down clear and cold off Arunachal. You raft the gentle stretch on rubber pontoons — no white water, plenty of ibisbill and merganser on the shingle — then walk the sal forest with a park guard. Tea at four on the Balipara verandah, and back to the ship at dusk.

Night: Overnight on board
6B L D

Kaziranga

Into Kaziranga from Silghat

The ship berths at Silghat overnight. Two safaris today: the Kohora range after an early cup of tea, when rhino come out of the beels to feed, and the Agoratoli range in the last hour of light for hog deer, capped langur and, if you are lucky, a tiger’s alarm call working through the grass. Lunch aboard between.

Night: Overnight on board
7B L D

Kaziranga

Bagori range and a tea garden

One more safari, this time the western Bagori range, which holds the highest density of rhino in the park and a good chance of eastern swamp deer. By ten you are out. The rest of the day belongs to tea: a walk through Hathikuli’s pruned rows with the estate manager, a tasting of first and second flush, and a farewell dinner on deck.

Night: Overnight on board
8B L

Silghat to Guwahati

Disembark for Guwahati

Disembark at Silghat after breakfast. The road to Guwahati runs four hours through Nagaon and Jagiroad, past fish markets and paddy still being threshed by hand; there is a lunch stop arranged. Transfer to the airport for your onward flight. Departure day — we will hold a day room in Guwahati if your connection is a late one.

Night: Departure day — no overnight

What the price covers

Seven nights aboard a shallow-draught Brahmaputra vessel, all cabins outward-facing
Full board from dinner on Day 1 to lunch on Day 8
Three jeep safaris in Kaziranga, with permits and naturalist
Rafting on the Jia Bhoroli and a guided walk in Nameri
All shore excursions, guides and monument entrance fees
Airport transfers and the Silghat to Guwahati road transfer
Tea, coffee, drinking water and soft drinks on board