Cruising slowly up the Hooghly in pictures
Christine Osborne, 75, is a freelance travel writer and photojournalist. In 2013, she self-published Travels with My Hat: a lifetime on the road, an account of working as a single woman in some of the world’s most off-beat destinations including Yemen, Iraq and Pakistan.
Cruise holidays are all the rage Down Under. One million Australians – a majority of them retirees – enjoyed a cruise last year. In 2017, 200 cruise liners are scheduled to visit Sydney.
During the Golden Age of cruising (1947-60) the Queen Mary was literally queen of the seas, but competition for custom among shipping companies sees cruise ships getting bigger and ever more innovative.
The current Big Daddy – Harmony of the Seas owned by Royal Caribbean – has capacity for more than 6000 passengers and gimmicks such as an ice-rink, climbing walls and a robotic bartender to mix your sundowners.
This number of passengers fills me with horror, my ideal cruise being a small ship plying a quiet inland waterway, mooring here and there to visit historic sites and observe rural life.
Scouring the internet, I found cruises up the Irrawaddy, down the Mekong and along the River Kwai, but a seven-day cruise on the Hooghly River from Kolkata caught my eye.
Operated by Assam Bengal Navigation, the Rajmahal carries only 40 passengers in 18 twin and
4 single cabins. Built in Kolkata, the 50m long vessel was everything I was looking for.
The bar served Schweppes for my G&T, meals were a mix of English and (lightly spiced) Assam cuisine and my cabin overlooking the river, had a comfortable bed and ensuite. Laundry was cheap and a small spa centre offered various treatments.
Each evening in the salon we learned of sightseeing arrangements for the following day. Visits to sites such as Barrackpore, centre of British administration in Bengal and Chandernagore, a French possession until 1950 and the Khushbagh, a serene Mughal-style garden.
A highlight of stops along the Hooghly was Plassey, a rural village where in 1757 Clive’s victory over the Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah changed the course of Indian history.
But everywhere we stopped held interest. Especially Kalna and Baranagar known for small terracotta temples carved as intricately as hand embroidered lace. Visits to weaving and brassworking centres were also on our itinerary when we were welcomed back to the Rajmahal with cool towels and fresh fruit juices.
The cruise whichdoes not operate during mid-summer in Bengal (July-August) is unsuitable for wheelchair users, but with no single supplement charge, it is ideal for solo travellers. $8 a day is suggested as a tip for the attentive crew members.
You can make a booking through, www.activetravel.com.au.
50 METRES LONG, THE RV RAJMAHAL OPERATED BY ASSAM BENGAL NAVIGATION, BEGAN SERVICE ON THE HOOGHLY IN 2014.
HERE WE ARE LEAVING KOLKATA WITH THE ICONIC HOWRAH BRIDGE SPANNING THE HOOGHLY. 100,000 VEHICLES AND 150,000 PEDESTRIANS CROSS IT DAILY
THE HOOGHLY IS SHALLOW NEAR THE RIVER BANK, SO WE TOWED A TENDER, HERE MOORED IN THE OLD BRITISH CANTONMENT OF BARRACKPORE.
OVER COCKTAILS EACH EVENING, WE HEARD OUR SIGHTSEEING ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FOLLOWING DAY
SEAT FOR SENIOR CITIZENS IN THE OLD BRITISH CANTONMENT OF BARRACKPORE, FIRST STOP ON THE HOOGHLY CRUISE.
A SCENE IN CHANDERNAGORE, A FORMER FRENCH POSSESSION WITH TRADITIONAL COLONIAL STYLE ARCHITECTURE AND AN 18TH CENTURY CATHOLIC CHURCH.
IN KALNA WE VISIT A UNIQUE SHIVA TEMPLE MADE UP OF 108 SHRINES. THE OUTER CIRCLE WHERE WE ARE SITTING HAS 74 AND THE INNER ONE A FURTHER 34.
VILLAGERS IN MATIARI HAVEN’T HEARD OF COAL OR WIND POWER. COW DUNG IS COLLECTED, DRIED THEN USED FOR COOKING AND WARMTH
A RURAL WOMAN ROLLING BIDIS, THE CHEAP CIGARETTE SMOKED BY THE POOR MADE FROM TOBACCO FLAKES WRAPPED IN LEAVES FROM THE INDIAN EBONY
MINIATURE TERRACOTTA TEMPLE IN BARANAGAR CARVED WITH GODS FROM HINDU MYTHOLOGY AND SCENES OF LIFE IN THE MID-EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
EITHER SIDE OFTHE HOOGHLY ISCULTIVATED WITH DATE PALMS, TURMERIC AND MUSTARD. HERE FISHERMAN LAY NETS NEAR FARAKKA WHERE I DISEMBARKED AND CAUGHT A TRAIN BACK TO KOLKATA: 560 KILOMETRES.
Find more from Christine at her blog Travel with My Hat.
Image credit: Christine Osbourne