Brahmaputra Cruise & Tour is a soft adventure that features a 10-night cruise on the Brahmaputra River in the remote state of Assam (shown in red color on the map to the right; map courtesy of Ganeshk / Wikipedia) in northeastern India bordered by the nations of Bhutan and Bangladesh. Brahmaputra Cruise and Tour also includes pre-cruise and post-cruise hotel stays in Calcutta and domestic flights in India. You have an option to book Cruise Only portion of the program. See Day-by-Day Itinerary bellow. The RV Sukapha has an old British colonial charm and comfort. You can relax on the sundeck, watch bird life, and enjoy Indian countryside while your air-conditioned floating hotel (max occupancy is 24 passengers!) takes you from one exciting destination to another. Cuisine onboard is a nice combination of continental and Assamese tradition.
Each cruise day includes shore excursions such as visits to National parks and tribal villages and elephant and jeep safaris.
Pre-cruise and post-cruise stay in the vibrant city of Calcutta frames nicely your safari-like experience of the cruise. A extension to Taj Mahal complex is offered.
Cruise & Tour services include: 13 breakfasts, 10 lunches, and 10 dinners, 3 nights in a 5-star hotel in Calcutta (Oberoi Grand or similar), half-day sightseeing in Calcutta, all luxury and service taxes, 2 domestic flights in India, 10 night cruise in outside cabins, all shore excursions, all transfers, English speaking guides throughout.
Cruise Only portion features: Assam Dance performance, Rhinos in their natural habitat, rare Asian birds, elephant safari, Jeep safaris, remote Assam villages, Mising tribal lunch, cycle rickshaw ride, ancient Indian temples, and cycle rickshaw ride and Cole Park in Tezpur

Day-by-Day Itinerary aboard the RV Sukapha

Day 1: Calcutta
Arrival to Calcutta (also called Kolkata). Transfer to your 5-star hotel (Oberoi or similar). Due to various arrival times no activities are scheduled. Meal are on your own.
Day 2: Calcutta (B,L,D)
A half-day sightseeing tour will include British Victoria Memorial, fine Indian art gallery, St John's Church and a 19th century South Park Street British Cemetery famous for its monuments and epitaphs. Time permitting, the tour will incluide a walk along the Ganges River. The remainder of the day is free to shop and explore Calcutta on your own.
Day 3: Calcutta - Dibrugarh - EMBARKATION (B,L,D)
After breakfast, depart for a short flight to Dibrugarh, a typical colonial town and major American base in WWII. Enjoy a drive to Dikhou Mukh and embark your floating hotel, the RV Sukapha or the RV Charaidew.
Day 4: Sibsagar
Begin your river Brahmaputra adventure with a shore excursion to Sibsagar, a capital of the Ahom Kings of Assam who ruled Assam for more than 700 years until the 1820s. See temples and palaces eleborately decorated by stranged carvings that include crocodiles and erotic caryatids. Return to the ship for lunch and cruise down river to Majuli Island, the world's largest river island. (Photograph by Supratim Deka - Wikipedia).
Day 5: Majuli Island (B,L,D)
Go ashore to Majuli Island. The Indian government has lately nominated the Majuli Island for inclusion in the UNESCO's World Heritage Site List under the "Cultural Landscape" category in 2008. The island is famous for Hindu dance drama performances. Here you will visit Auniati monastery and museum, enjoy a Mising tribal lunch in a bamboo hut, and attend a unique dance performance at Kamalabari monastery in the afternoon.
Day 6: Cruise (B,L,D)
Most of the day is spent sailing leisurely on the mighty Brahmaputra river, though you will have a short visit to a remote tribal village of Jamuguri. Later in the afternoon, Kaziranga National park will be visible on your left. With some luck you will be able to spot wild elephants and other animals. (Photograph by gnozef - Wikipedia)
Day 7: Cruise (B,L,D)
This morning, you arrive at the little temple town of Vishnath to visit an ancient temple. Today is your first safari through Kaziranga National Park. Take a jeep ride through park's Western Range that features woodlands, grasslands and wetlands. You will also be able to view wildlife from a lookout tower.
Day 8: Cruise (B,L,D)
Disembark before dawn and drive to Kaziranga's Central Range for an early morning elephant ride. Kaziranga has a population of over 1000 rhinoceros; it is the best place in the world to see them. There are also good populations of tiger, elephants, sambar, swamp deer, hog deer, wild pig and many bird species. After breakfast, walk through terraced tea gardens and visit a village of Mising tribe. In the afternoon, drive to Kaziranga's little visited Eastern Range for one more jeep safari before returning to the boat.
Day 9: Tezpur (B,L,D)
Cruise under the new bridge to dock at Tezpur. From here travel by road through small towns to visit a tea garden, seeing all the stages of growing and processing tea (actual factory not in operation between December and mid-March). After lunch on board, visit the remains of the 6th century Da Parbatia temple, with a lovely carved portal. Then board cycle rickshaws to wind through the streets to Cole Park with its fine collection of medieval stone statues. Re-boarding your ship, you cruise down to moor for the night near the isolated Singri Hill.
Day 10: Cruising (B,L,D)
The day is spend on the river, traversing a lunar landscape of sandbanks then closing in on the range of hills beyond which lies Guwahati. In the evening the vessel reaches the idyllic Ganesh Pahar.
Day 11: Cruising (B,L,D)
This morning's voyage is particularly pretty, with jungle-covered hills on the south bank. Reaching Guwahati at midday, the boat moors opposite the city and passengers explore Aswaklanta Temple before driving out to the beautiful temple ruins of Madan Kamdev, where erotic carvings are indicative of the tantric tradition in the area.
Day 12: Guwahati (B,L,D)
Cross to the main waterfront for a tour of Guwahati, driving up Nilachal Hill to the Kamakhya Temple. Visit the WWII Commonwealth War Graves, a museum, and the city bazaars before having lunch onboard while cruising to the silk weaving village of Sualkuchi. In the afternoon drive out to Hajo, a place sacred to Hindus, Moslems and Buddhists. Visit a Moslem shrine with extensive hilltop views over the surrounding rural landscape, and a simple Hindu temple with its sacred tank full of great carp, catfish and turtles.
Day 13: Guwahati - DISEMBARKATION - Calcutta (B)
Today, disembark your lovely ship. Walk through Sualkuchi to visit the weaving workshops and observe the whole process of silk fabric manufacturing from cocoon to dyeing and hand weaving into exquisite saris and dress lengths. Transfer to Guwahati airport for your flight back to Calcutta.
Day 14: Calcutta (B)
Depending on your international flight schedule, you may have most of the day free to shop, explore and relax in this exotic city. This is a day to savor all the sensory delights that India has to offer. Transfer to the airport for your flight back home. (International flight not included) or continue your Indian Adventure by adding the Taj Mahal Extension.