Four years ago I had the pleasure of cruising on the Brahmaputra , one of the largest rivers in the world, charting a course from the glaciers of south western Tibet to the Bay of Bengal. Our 7 night cruise started from Jorhat.
To embark on the Sukapha we cross over by bamboo gangplank on to the slightly curving roof of a `country boat` then down some steps into the open sided cabin, having to climb over struts to get to the seating along the sides. On reaching the Sukapha we go through the whole process in reverse, stepping from the curved roof straight on to the deck where we are met by ‘Hospitality assistants’ offering us refreshing glasses of fruit juice, before we go up a flight of steps to the cabins. We are informed that dinner will be at 2000 hours, so just time to freshen up before descending into the dining room.
Here we find two tables laid up and have our first opportunity to meet the other guests. We had an interesting assortment of passengers, 4 from the USA, 2 from Australia, 2 Italian, 3 British and 2 Indian and we all got on well together. In the evening , prior to dinner, we each obtained our own drinks and gathered round in wicker armchairs and settees set round a table and discussed the day’s activities and everything else under the sun.
The saloon is quite spacious with a bar in the corner. Free tea and coffee are on tap throughout the day and one can help oneself if there is no assistant there. There is plenty of light and French windows open out on to a narrow deck area. As with the cabins the walls are not wood but strips of bamboo, which is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. This not only looks most attractive, being very light in colour, but is helping to protect the environment. The fabric of the curtains and the furniture is woven by local women.
The cabins are a good size and contain twin beds or a double bed, a decent sized wardrobe, albeit not for European length dresses, There were three capacious drawers under the bed, one containing the life jacket, On our first evening we were mustered on deck to be shown how to put on the life jackets). We were also introduced to the crew, who were all excellent, smiling and courteous.
At 2300 hours each night the generator is turned off to save electricity. A good idea but a little disconcerting if one is reading in bed and suddenly finds oneself in darkness, usually at an exciting moment in the book ! However there is a stand by light, but this is certainly not bright enough to read by. Probably just as well as breakfast is at 7.30 each morning. The beds are comfortable and conducive to slumber. The generator is switched on again about 0630 hours each morning.
The bathrooms have a good sized shower, washbasin with cupboard underneath and a lavatory. All cabins are air conditioned but this is individually controlled and I turned mine off and opened the window. Mosquito net in place.
Breakfast was buffet style with a chef there to make omelettes or fry eggs. Plenty of cereal, fruit, porridge, toast, tea or coffee. We will not starve on this cruise.
The day was sunny and most of us were up on deck in the morning, relaxing, reading, and conversing. Lunch was at 1300 with some delicious local fish. Apparently the Brahmaputra is full of fish and everywhere we go we see men throwing their nets.
We all relaxed on deck again after lunch until we were called for our first excursion at 2.30. This is to a small town called Vishnath and with our guide Bijoy we walk from the country boat to see a seventeenth century Shiva temple, also a more modern one and the big meeting place, where the elders and townsfolk gather about once a week to sort out any complaints or difficulties. As is usual in India we now have a large audience of children, the less shy coming to shake our hands and say hello, the others hide behind their mothers. I often wonder how they see us, these strange pale people dressed in funny clothes. We have been warned not to give any money to the children as they are, so far, unspoilt by tourists and just like to greet us and follow us around. We walked right round the small town (I would have called it a village) stopping at one point to have some very good tea from a shopkeeper in a kiosk, before a pleasant short walk back to the country boat, where we embarked and chugged back to the Sukapha.
So tranquil it is on the great river that one feels timeless as day succeeds day. The engines are not intrusive and there is little on the river. Not like the Nile with the large river boats cruising up and down. We see the occasional fisherman with his nets, which is a picture in itself.
We set sail again after we embarked. At 1930 I joined the others for another delicious dinner. Everyone agrees that the food is very good. It is always buffet which does mean that one can take the amount one wants and not have an overcrowded plate. After dinner there was a surprise dancing display by the local villagers on the sand, which was very colourful and enjoyable.
We are all looking forward to a morning spent cruising and there are already quite a few on deck before breakfast to see the Gangetic dolphins diving in and out of the river. After a light lunch we moor at Dhansisi Mukh and set off in the country boat at 14.30 then trekking through sandy, muddy fields to the local village where we were welcomed and escorted round vociferously by the children. We walked round for an hour, during which time many photos were taken of the children, although it was very difficult to separate out one or two especially photogenic ones, as the minute you aimed your camera the whole lot ran forward to get in the picture.
We then made tracks for the country boat which gave us another half hour’s rather muddy walk. We clambered aboard for the 20 minute journey to the Sukapha. By this time a shower was everyone’s priority.
The only trouble being that the boiler would not cope with all the showers going at once and it had previously been suggested that we stagger our shower times. A little bit tricky going round to everyone asking when they were going to take their shower, so some of us had tepid water. No problem.
The usual format for the evening is pre dinner-drinks in the saloon, 1930 dinner and some of us back to the saloon for coffee. We have got so used to an early rising that by ten most people were in bed. Just time for an hours read before lights out. But this evening we have a surprise barbeque on the sands after our regular briefing for the next day. We do not even have to queue for our meal. The hospitality assistants came round to us all, sitting in a semi circle, with the different foods Tikkas, Kebabs, Dhal and Naan which the cooks were busy on the barbeque Very good they were too. They had also moved the bar outside so we could have drinks to accompany the meal.
The next day was one to which we have all been looking forward, even though we were up at 5.15 and after tea or coffee, suitably attired in warm clothes, left at 6.00 for Kaziranga National Park. 25 minutes in the country boat and twenty minutes walk to the waiting jeeps. We usually have to clamber up a steep slope during our walks. We drove through in open sided jeeps, and stopped on the outskirts of the Park to pay our camera fees 500 rupees for a camera and 1000 rupees for a video camera. Rather pricey, especially for me as soon after we entered the Park my battery went flat and still not having got too familiar with a digital camera I had forgotten to bring my charger. Alas and alack. However I had managed to go all over the ship taking photos so at least I have those.
Kaziranga in itself turned out to be rather a disappointment. We saw very little game. Three white rhino, an eagle or two and a couple of storks. Nothing really exciting and we only saw elephant at the village we stopped at on our return from the Park, so they were domesticated ones. The whole excursion took five and a half hours.
Next day¸ we leave at 8.30 complete with life jackets, in the country boat to yet another village. I must admit I had reservations, after all a village is a village and all have curious children and animals strolling through. But I went along and was pleased that I did. It was only a short walk from the boat and there was something different about it. Definitely ‘upmarket’ if that expression can apply to a village. The houses were bigger and better, the gardens neater, the children much better dressed and well behaved, though still curious of course. And there were no animals wandering around. We had an enjoyable walk through, talking to some of the villagers, then on to an adjoining village, a poorer one more like the previous ones we had visited. The contrast I found startling and interesting. Altogether we strolled along for two hours before returning to the country boat, but not straight back to the Sukapha.
We stopped at a ‘desert island’ and the gang plank was put in place, though ending in some mud. e wonder why we have been taken here, there is absolutely nothing, but wait, now we see some fishermen at the end with their nets. We are being given a demonstration. It certainly does not look easy to hold the net and then twist it round and let it open out on the river. It is quickly drawn in again, the fish are so plentiful and there is usually something in it, even though it may be a few tiny sprats! We have been having delicious fish nearly every night, all from the river and very fresh.
It was colder and windy today and on our return most went to the saloon before a delicious lunch at 1 pm. It was a restful afternoon for everyone until 1700 hours when the chef gives a cooking demonstration, which is well attended. A good way of rounding it off would have been to give out recipes for what he has been cooking as it is quite difficult to remember all the spices and herbs and the amounts he used. Usual pre-dinner drinks, a good dinner and an early night.
Heavy rainfall during the night and the deck is very wet next morning. It would seem to be the start of the monsoon season. After we leave the Sukapha she just has the return journey to Guwahati with nine new passengers (all British and in a group), before sailing for Kolkata, where she and her sister ship will be cruising on the River Hooghly during the summer.
Today we leave at 8.20. We are going to visit Majuli, the largest river island in the world, and large it certainly is. Four jeeps await us for another bumpy ride, but this time justified, along a single track country road set up above the agricultural land each side. A little bit dicey when passing other vehicles though this was not very often.
Drove through a village and up to a 333 year old monastery, where 450 monks reside we are told by the local guide. In the central hall a monk was seated in the centre of the vast floor clashing cymbals. This would go on from 8am to 11am and be repeated in the evening. Later we saw that he had been joined by another monk and by the time we left there were four of them there. I do not know whether it is planned like that or they join in when the spirit takes them.
We also went round the residential quarters, where seven or eight monks share rooms and also a kitchen. These are all built in a block, some have pictures on the walls and some are bare. We were able to walk through some of the quarters and saw the beds, which had no mattresses but just a sheet on bare boards and another sheet to cover them. Not the height of luxury ! There is often washing (certainly Persil is not known here) on the line outside each quarter. Quite a few of the monks were standing in their doorways just watching us. They would seem to be self -sufficient. We walk through the village and back to the jeeps.
On joining the Sukapha, she sails across to the other bank and moors at Neamati Ghat, where we will stay until our departure on Saturday.
We all feel rather sad that there is no more cruising, which is so very enjoyable. A rather cloudy morning for our drive to Sibsagar , once the capital of the kings of Assam , where we visit Tolatol Ghar, the palace built in 1699 and wander all over it. Quite vast and set in gardens which at one time must have been spectacular. Unfortunately the heavens opened and for the first time the umbrellas have not been brought from the ship and we all get soaked. It stops in time for us to visit a monastery which is approached by marble flooring, very slippery after the downpour and we all walk rather tentatively in our bare feet. Worth the visit though as there are many offering being made at the end in a small darker room and effigies of several different gods. Most interesting to watch.
As a few people wanted to shop we stopped for a while in the busy shopping street, which was quite interesting. Then back to the ship for our final night for which a special meal had been prepared and we all sat together at a horseshoe shaped table. There were no speeches though and no presentation of gratuities as these are all individually put in an envelope at the end of the cruise, to save tipping as we go along, and put in a box at the bar. After dinner we settled our bills in the saloon. We parted sadly to our respective cabins as this was the last night of a most enjoyable voyage.
Breakfast at 7.00 next morning as we leave at 8.00 for Dibrugarh Airport to fly to Delhi and then back to Heathrow, many having another flight home. Fond farewells after a really happy holiday.
Molly Bales
Life President
About Molly Bales
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Molly Hammond, later to become Mrs Bales, joined the company as George’s secretary in May 1948. Mrs Bales is now the Life President of the company and our present MD Mandy Nickerson is the daughter of George and Molly Bales. 