From Varanasi to Dibrugarh by river

On 28 February 2023 a white three-deck ship tied up at Dibrugarh, in upper Assam, and a trip that had sounded slightly unreal when it was announced was suddenly complete. MV Ganga Vilas had sailed all the way from Varanasi.

The long way round

The ship left Varanasi on 13 January. Over the next seven weeks it covered about 3,200 km and crossed 27 river systems, travelling down the Ganga through Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, through the Sundarbans and across Bangladesh by way of Dhaka, and then up the Brahmaputra into Assam.

It entered Assam in mid-February and worked its way upstream past Guwahati and Kaziranga before reaching Dibrugarh. Along the whole route the passengers stopped at around 50 places, from river ghats and old towns to national parks and World Heritage Sites.

A small ship

Ganga Vilas is not a big vessel. It has 18 suites and room for 36 guests, and it was built in India. On the first voyage, 32 travellers from Switzerland had signed up for the whole journey.

Why we liked this one

For most of history the Brahmaputra was the main road of Assam. Tea, timber, pilgrims and mail all moved by boat. The cruise was a reminder that the river is still the best seat in the house: sandbars that shift every season, fishermen at dawn, the hills of Arunachal on the horizon on a clear day.

You do not need a luxury suite to see it. A ferry to Majuli, a sunset boat at Guwahati or a morning on the water at Dibrugarh will show you the same river for the price of a cup of tea.