Reviewer
David Falconer from Australia.
Cruise Line
Assam Bengal Navigation.
Boat
Destination
Brahmaputra River, India.
# of Nights
10.
Departure Port
Neamati Ghat, India.
Date of Cruise
April, 2023.
The 36-pax Charaidew II. * Photo: Assam Bengal Navigation
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Ratings
(5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=good, 2=poor, 1=terrible)
-Overall Experience Rating: 5
-Food Rating: 5
-Service/Crew Rating: 5
-Cabin Rating: 5
-Itinerary Rating: 5
The top deck of the Charaidew II. * Photo: ABN
In 2019 we cruised the Ganges for 7 nights with Assam Bengal Navigation (ABN) and had such a good time we booked the Brahmaputra Maximum 10-night cruise for 2020 also with ABN. Due to Covid the cruise was postponed to 2021, then to 2022. Finally, we recently returned from Brahmaputra River Cruise from Dibrugarh/Jorhat to Guwahati on the ABN Charaidew II commencing on 1st April 2023.
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, North-eastern India, and Bangladesh. It is the 9th largest river in the world by discharge, and the 15th longest. At about 3,969 km long, the Brahmaputra is an important river for irrigation and transportation in the region.
The average depth of the river is 30m with the average width said to be 5km however is also said to be as wide as 12km to 24km.
There were 20 passengers on this cruise with 16 crew members so once again the service was excellent. Having said that, I suspect that the service would have been the same, even with a full complement of 36 passengers.
Embarkation point for the cruise was Neamati Ghat and we chose to fly into Dibrugarh to take in the countryside on the four-hour drive rather than to fly into Jorhat for a 1.5 hour drive.
Map of the 10-night route. * Image: ABN
Starting from our hotel pick in Dibrugarh up to our transfer to Guwahati airport on completion of the cruise, everything ran like clockwork. The cruise manager Pratik Mazumder was always visible and helpful.
Our deluxe cabin was enormous and included a private balcony which we fully utilized. The ABN Charaidew II is a flat bottom vessel and as such is wider which allows for larger cabins than other vessels.
A deluxe cabin on the Charaidew II. * Photo: ABN
The excursions each day, sometimes two, were well organized by the onboard guide Mohan Borah who is knowledgeable and personable. Each night we assembled in the saloon where Mohan reviewed the day’s events and what to expect the next day. Some nights we were treated to documentaries.
On all our excursions there were always crew to help us on and off the vessel as well as at each excursion point.
Although all the excursions were excellent, there were some standouts:
— The visit to two river villages mixing with the villagers:
One, a Mishing village called Chowguri, was said to have probably never been visited before by tourists.
— Three safaris to various parts of Kaziranga National Park:
Especially the second safari where, on the return to the vessel driving through a tea field, a female tiger was resting only 20 metres from the road.
On the third safari, whilst leaving the park, a mother elephant trumpeting, charged out of the bushes at a jeep two in front of ours and finished within 5 metres of the jeep; quite an experience.
A tiger spotted on the banks of the Brahmaputra. * Photo: ABN
The chefs do a great job and all meals were served in the dining room, apart from one dinner BBQ held on a sandbank.
Breakfast was a pretty standard affair but adequate. Lunches consisted of soup, buffet and dessert. Dinner included all that plus an appetizer.
There was always plenty of choices and no one went hungry.
All the crew were great but cannot be named individually. Unlike the Ganges cruise this cruise included two ladies Adin and Esther (with the enormous smile) in the dining room. Mohan Borah was a standout, and I had a lot of fun with the naturalist, Deep.
Another thing that was very pleasing was that all the crew that we encountered had good English which for us made the cruise even more enjoyable.
Research will show that the river is full of sandbanks which move and change shape on a regular basis. However, none of the research could match the beauty and splendour of the Brahmaputra — it has to be seen to be believed and is totally different to the Ganges/Hooghly rivers.
In summary we totally enjoyed our cruise and would have no trouble in recommending it to anyone.
Number of Small-Ship Cruises Taken (Under 300 Passengers)
4
RELATED: Writer Hema Maira reviews her Brahmaputra cruise aboard ABN’s 24-pax Sukapha.
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HEIDI SARNA
