Day 1. Arrive Patna by road, rail or air (transferfrom airport or railway station to ship is included in the cruise cost). Embarkon your cruise ship from 4pm onwards, and enjoy dinner on board.

Day 2.  This morning we take a tour of Patna,visiting the extraordinary 18th century Gola Ghar granary, the great Sikhtemple and the rich collections of the State Museum. Returning to our shipmoored near the old East India Company opium warehouses, we cruise down tospend the night by the bridge of boats at Fatwa.

Day 3. Today there is a choice of excursions, eitherto the Jain and Buddhist monuments at Rajgir Hill and the Buddhist monasteriesat Nalanda, or on further to Boddh Gaya itself, the site of Buddha’senlightenment and of the bodhi tree under which he sat. Surrounding the greatMahabodhi temple are the temples and monasteries of many Buddhist cultures,Japan, Bhutan, Tibet, Thailand, and others.

We return in the evening to our ship which will havesailed down to the great bridge at Mokameh, where earlier the naturalist JimCorbett spent his working life overseeing the ferry crossing.

Day 4. Today we sail down to Monghyr. Monghyrpossesses a fine Mughal fort, as well as a big British cemetery dating back tothe days when it was a retirement settlement for the East India Company. Weshall also visit the Pirpahar Hill, crowned by a fine old mansion, beforecontinuing our cruise downstream to anchor near Sultanganj and JahangiraIsland, a place of pilgrimage with early Hindu carvings in the rock. On shore, anotherpicturesque rock is topped with a mosque.

Day 5. We sail this morning along a stretch of theriver where Gangetic Dolphin may be seen, to Bhagalpur, a centre of silkproduction. We shall hope to locate the massive 18th century monument toAugustus Cleveland before continuing on down to visit the island shrine atColganj, with both Buddhist and Hindu cave temples, and once a centre of themurderous Thug sect. We anchor for the night near  the confluence with theKosi, coming down from Nepal. Close to here we may be able to visit the villageof Antichak and ruins of the 8th century Buddhist monastery of Vikramshila.

Day 6. We sail downstream this morning to Rajmahal,beneath the Rajmahal Hills. Rajmahal is one of those places, so common inIndia, which feature in no guidebook and yet offer both interest andatmosphere; once known as Akbarnagar, the town was founded by the MughalEmperor Akbar as his eastern capital. Shah Jehan, builder of the Taj Mahal,spent much of his youth here. There are remains of palaces, forts and mosquessubmerged in vegetation which we shall explore before continuing on down to thegreat Farakka Barrage.