Live from Uniworld's India and the Sacred Ganges - Feb 6, 2017

[jpalbny]

Tuesday, February 14th, Overnight in Murshidabad

 

I went with the Keralian Seafood Soup for my next course.

 

 

Chris had Carrot Broth.

 

 

Entrees were Tandoori Chicken Tikka Masala for me,

 

 

and Grilled Salmon. Chris liked the fresh dill on top.

 

 

Dessert was Pistacio Ice Cream for me (yum),

 

 

and an Apple Tart.

 

 

So far the food has been delicious on board. Not as spicy as the food at the hotels, but still very good. And even though I'm eating pretty much every menu item that the chef recommends, Chris appreciates the chance to try the local food for lunch, and more tame stuff for dinner.

 

After dinner, we managed to stay awake for the movie, Outsourced. It was a cute movie, and very amusing to see the stereotypes that Indians have about how Westerners perceive them. It's about a US corporate type who is sent to Mumbai to turn around a struggling call center. All the usual gags about getting sick from street food, etc. And of course he falls for one of the local girls.

 

But they served popcorn, which of course we needed to have after that large dinner... And some more wine.

 

It was a late night, and we finally got to bed around 11. Tomorrow we start at the usual 8:30. I'm sure we won't sleep in.

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Murshidabad.

 

Despite the late night, we were up and ready to go around 6:00, so we were right on time for breakfast.

 

They had smiley potatoes on the buffet this morning, which were very cute, and made us smile too. The mini-omelet on the left was a good appetizer, with some spicy sauce, of course...

 

 

I had the Eggs Benedict today, from the cooked to order menu. I think the recipe took at least a stick of butter...the Hollandaise didn't quite come together right, so you could see that the dish was drowning in a sea of butter. But the ham and eggs were delicious.

 

After loading up on all that butter, we disembarked. We were at a real boat dock today, so we had a bridge to walk up, and it let us out on the main street of Murshidabad. Here's the Ganges Voyager II from the main street.

 

 

Today the plan was to go for a horse cart ride to the Katra Mosque. I felt bad for the poor horse who had to pull me, after that breakfast!

 

 

We went for the horse cart today. There were also some electric carts.

 

 

The guy behind us looks ready to go. The horses didn't look too bad here. We've been to places (Egypt) where the horses look sickly and underfed, to the point that you feel terrible making them pull you. Not so much here.

 

 

Off we went, through the streets of the town, and then into the suburbs.

 

 

The mosque ruins are about 2km from the river dock. The ride was pleasant, and the horses occasionally would race each other to try to get there first. I could have used the exercise that a walk would have provided, but we sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Edited April 10, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Katra Mosque, Murshidabad.

 

We arrived at Katra Mosque and hopped out of our horse cart. It was built by the Nawab Murshid Quli Khanin in 1723. The mosque is built within a quadrangle, much of which still stands fully intact, though some of the mosque was destroyed in an 1897 earthquake.

 

It was a short walk to the west wall of the quadrangle, then we headed around to the south. I'm at the southwest corner here, looking north at one of the surviving minarets. There were four octagonal minarets, one on each corner of the quadrangle, but only two survive. Notice the holes - for muskets!

 

 

Walking along the south wall. All four walls are similar in that they have small domes on top, and two storeys of cells (small rooms). The outer wall of the second storey is not intact in this part of the south wall.

 

 

A Hindu temple to Shiva is here, on the grounds, near the south wall. The entrance is on the other side of the fence.

 

 

At the Southeast corner now, looking at the other intact minaret on the southwest corner. In the foreground, you can see the foundation of the ruined minaret in the southeast corner. The towers stood 70 feet tall and had domed roofs, before the earthquake destroyed them.

 

 

A close up of the second storey rooms and the domes overhead. This part of the east wall was relatively intact.

 

 

We climbed the steps and went through the entry gate in the east wall. Sujoy encouraged us along.

 

 

Onward to the mosque, which is situated on the upper level, within the quadrangle.

Edited April 10, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Katra Mosque, Murshidabad.

 

The ruins of the mosque stand in the center of the quadrangle. There were originally five domes on the roof, including a larger one in the center, but only two of them remain.

 

 

From here, you can see into the second storey of the cells within the wall of the quadrangle. They are tiny, supposedly only 20 square feet (1.8 square meters) in size. Good thing our cabin is bigger!

 

 

Inside the mosque ruins. And another tour group...I think I recognize those folks!

 

 

The mihrab, facing west. I'm so used to the mihrab facing east, but we are so far east here that Mecca is back to the west!

 

 

Back down the stairs for another surprise. The tomb of Murshid Quli Khan lies under the staircase. An inauspicious resting place for the first Nawab of Bengal, and also the founder of Murshidabad. But apparently he wanted it that way.

 

 

We headed back, along the north wall, towards the northwest minaret.

 

 

There were a few vendors selling trinkets but none were too aggressive. We hopped into our waiting horsecart, for the ride back into town.

Edited April 10, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad.

 

During the nice relaxing trot back to town, we had a chance to admire some colorful houses. By now, we were used to the lawn ornaments, and didn't give them a second glance.

 

 

Some of the were quite nicely painted and colorful.

 

 

A little more traffic now that it's 9:30. Rush hour?

 

 

Back in town, we were let off at the entrance to the Nizamat Fort area. We walked towards the Hazarduari Palace, enjoying the beautiful sunny day. This palace is newer; it was completed during the 1830s. We're going to tour the museum inside.

 

 

First, a view of the clock tower and the imambara (congregation hall), which are also within the fort complex.

 

 

We had a 30 minute guided tour of the museum. They are quite strict about electronic equipment and cameras; we had to leave everything outside. I had my backpack, so it was easy to load everything inside and leave it with the ship's staff. They set up a tarp on the lawn, where we all put our things for safekeeping during the tour.

 

There were some interesting exhibits here including arms and armor, portraits of Nawabs and British Governors, landscape paintings and other art, carriages and a silver howdah, a beautiful chandelier, and some huge billiards tables. Obviously, no pictures.

 

From here, we could take a horse cart back to the boat, or a short (1/2 km) walk along a road lined with market stalls to get to the boat on our own. We walked, but we didn't see anything too interesting to purchase. We were back on the boat by 10:45 or so.

 

We went out again at 11:00 for a different (optional, but included) market visit. This took us deeper into town, anout 1 km by electric cart, to a large market where they were selling food and textiles. More interesting, especially the fruit and vegetables that were for sale. I saw a bitter gourd, which I'd eaten earlier in the trip. It was really unusual looking! These sweets caught my eye, but we didn't need to buy anything, considering how much they were feeding us already.

 

 

At one of the shops, I purchased some spices to take home, where they can join the others in hibernation. They are probably going to be souvenir items, rather than something I'll cook with, but you never know. Two boxes - one Garam Masala and one Kashmiri Red Pepper - cost less than a dollar, so I got some coins back in change from my 100-Rupee note.

 

When we were done, we grabbed an electric cart back to the boat, and got ready for lunch.

Edited April 10, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Cruising the Hooghley

 

While we were eating lunch, we cruised north along the river to our next stop in Baranagar. After lunch we wandered around on deck to take in the sights. This interesting pink wall and gate made for a nice photo.

 

 

More bathing and clothes washing along the way. Pretty much every set of stairs with river access is in use as we go by.

 

 

Every 5 minutes or so, we passed a ferry dock. There were really no bridges across the river, so they were necessary. They were usually more crowded than this one. Perhaps they had taken a lunch break too?

 

 

Colorful houses along the riverbank, in this town called Jiaganj.

 

 

Someone has already finished the wash cycle and is drying the laundry now. I feel a little guilty, as we have 2 free bags of laundry included with our cruise, for being past guests of Uniworld. All I had to do was stuff my clothes into a bag. We're pretty spoiled.

 

 

More people, taking a break to wave at us. Everyone was happy to see the boat sail by.

 

 

So yesterday I had followed up with my TA via e-mail about our AMEX Platinum privileges. She contacted Uniworld, who contacted the ship, and our Champagne and chocolates had appeared in the room last night. Along with it was notification that we were entitled to OBC, in the amount of $150 each.

 

That presented another problem, though, but a good problem. There really wasn't much of anything to use the OBC on. The included wines were fine, and the onboard boutique didn't really have anything we were interested in. We've never really been into spa stuff, and I couldn't convince Chris to go get her nails done, or something like that.

 

Furthermore, there were no optional tours on the cruise portion of this trip. So, we asked the hotel manager if some of the OBC could be applied to the optional tours that we had taken during the land portion of the trip.

 

Hm. He thought about it, and wasn't sure at first. He explained that the cruise and the land portions were run by different subcontractors; though each reported to Uniworld, they were separate entities. But he promised that he would look into it, and get back to us with an answer. He reminded us that we could look at the wine list, or get a massage.

 

We'll have to think about it. There is so much wine to drink already, and we also have two extra bottles in the room now. Our livers will turn into foie gras if we keep this up!

Edited April 10, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Cruising the Hooghley

 

A bit further north in Jiaganj, we saw a more typically crowded ferry boat.

 

 

In another 10 minutes or so, we were anchored in the river just south of Badanagar. It's more rural in feel here. Less crowding along the river bank.

 

 

These kids in their canoes were really checking us out.

 

 

After 15 or 20 minutes, they gathered the courage to swim over to visit the sampan, up close and personal!

 

 

I guess it wasn't as exciting as they expected. Or they got scolded. After a little while, they headed back.

 

 

But a few minutes later, we had more visitors. Looks like the first group is loading up. Better get moving!

 

 

It was time to head ashore for the afternoon excursion. More terra cotta temples to see here, though not as many, nor as famous, as the ones in Kalna. We weren't sure what else was in store.

 

But the crew members were really excited about this afternoon's excursion. They had a little time off to go play cricket on one of the local fields. They were beside themselves with excitement over this. It was great to see.

Edited April 10, 2017 by jpalbny

[mimmy52]

So glad you found time to post again! Your review is very interesting.

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Baranagar.

 

We hopped on the sampan, and motored over to the pier, just north of the town. Here, we pulled up next to the local ferry and walked across to get to the river bank.

 

 

Our crew was all ready to go! The guy on the left was the bartender in the upstairs lounge, but I can't remember his name. The third fellow from the left was Mahendra, the chief housekeeper.

 

 

At the dock, we were introduced to the local variety of dried dung, AKA dung-on-a-stick. Portable...for all your barbecue needs.

 

 

More of it.

 

 

As we headed into town, there were old temples here and there along the way. This was a nice specimen.

 

 

A close up of some artistic details on one of the temples.

 

 

But these weren't the best temples here. We headed on, past the cricket field, to the Char Bangla temples.

Edited April 11, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

So glad you found time to post again! Your review is very interesting.

Thanks, mimmy. It was quite the whirlwind tour. I am learning a lot about it, as I write this review! We saw so many things in two weeks, yet I feel that we barely scratched the surface.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Baranagar.

 

One more of the old temples, before reaching Char Bangla.

 

 

The Char Bangla (Char means four) temple complex was built in 1760 by Rani Bhavani. It consists of four similar temples, each facing inward, and arranged in a square configuration. An example of one of them, from within the central courtyard:

 

 

And some of the impressively detailed terra cotta work, with scenes from the Hindu epics.

 

 

 

 

 

There were a few curious kids checking us out while we visited the temples. It looked like school was starting to let out.

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Baranagar.

 

The kids, hanging out by the temple gate, checking out the tourists.

 

 

We walked a little further into town and our guide took us into the local secondary school for a quick visit. Here are two students, probably wondering why this group of strange people are in their schoolyard!

 

 

I couldn't read the lunch menu. I wonder if it was similar to ours on the boat?

 

 

It was a fun visit. The kids, and even the teachers, were wide-eyed with amazement at seeing us. They were taking our pictures with gusto, and I think they took more of us than we took of them. We felt like celebrities!

 

The Ganges Voyager II looks pretty, anchored here on the river.

 

 

A few scenes from the village street. These goats have found an afternoon snack. The grain is set out to dry in the sun, but how much of it will be left after these two get finished?

 

 

A man with his supply of firewood. Much more appealing than dung-on-a-stick.

 

 

That was just about all for the quick visit to Baranagar. We started back to the dock to catch the sampan home.

[FuelScience]

J.P.

 

I'm really loving your review. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and post. This is an "exotic" river cruise that few of us will ever take, and it's great that you're taking the time to walk us through it with so much detail. Thanks!!

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Baranagar.

 

Lots of the kids followed us on the way back out of town. Since the school taught English, they all wanted to speak a little to us.

 

 

It was a fun walk, with lots of waving, handshakes, and high fives to go around. Some of the littler kids were more reserved, but just as cute.

 

 

We had the option to stay longer, and watch the cricket match.

 

 

But since we don't know much about cricket, we decided to head back. Here's a map of where we docked, and anchored.

 

 

The docking point is on top. Next down is the cricket ground. The Char Bangla complex is marked, as is the school that we visited. The dot in the river is where we anchored.

 

Back on board by 4:00, for a little rest, then a few laps around the boat before the River Heritage Club party. The weather is gorgeous here today, well into the 80s with sunshine. We were feeling particularly glad to be here, as I saw that there had been a huge snowstorm back home, with a foot of snow last Friday, and a few more inches due tomorrow. We sure got lucky, being away now!

 

When we went down to our suite to change for the party, we found that some snacks had been delivered! Good thing...it would be tragic to wait until 7:00 for our next meal! Someone was so hungry, that he couldn't wait for the picture before taking a bite!

 

 

The party was attended by about 20 guests. It was outdoors on the back deck, but there were mosquitos out as well, so we had to use some bug spray. The party was low key; we knew pretty much everyone by then, but we did get an opportunity to chat with a few folks that we hadn't yet spent much time with.

 

Of course, the dangerous part of these gatherings is that everyone is so well-traveled, and you come away from these parties with a dozen new destinations to visit! Afterwards, we went in for the port talk before dinner.

Edited April 11, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Wednesday, February 15th. Baranagar.

 

Dinner tonight was relaxed and leisurely. Since we have no morning tours tomorrow, we could stay up late if we want to. Here is tonight's dinner menu:

 

 

And the other page. Every night there is a two-page menu, but I've only been showing you one side. The other side has three sections. First, the chef's recommendations (local treat of the day). Then the vegetarian options, and finally, the "Traveling Lite" options. Note that these are not additional items, just suggested combinations of items from the main menu.

 

 

I started off with the Indian Vegetable Dumplings.

 

 

Then I had the soup, but who wants a picture of soup? The Indian Prawn Stir Fry was worth a picture, though.

 

 

And the Indian sugar syrup soaked Donut was quite tasty as well.

 

 

During dinner, the ship had returned to Murshidabad to dock overnight. We were back in the same location as we had been yesterday night, and this morning. Since I forgot to post a map then, here it is now.

 

 

The evening was free tonight; there were no activities planned. We decided to get some sleep. We must have been pretty tired, as we both slept well tonight.

Edited April 11, 2017 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

J.P.

 

I'm really loving your review. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and post. This is an "exotic" river cruise that few of us will ever take, and it's great that you're taking the time to walk us through it with so much detail. Thanks!!

 

Thanks for following along. Luckily, I only have a few days left.

 

It was a really fun trip, even if it wasn't as physically demanding, or as active, as the trips that we usually try to take. But the sights, and the food, were so different than we have experienced on our usual trips. And the crew provided the usual excellent service that you'd expect from Uniworld. So the forced relaxation had its advantages.

[SuiteTraveler]

What a fantastic review! I have always thought I'd like to do this cruise, but now I'm sure of it! Thank you so much for the great photos and for taking pictures of the menus and food!

[Gourmet Gal]

To each his own. I agree, what a fantastic, thorough review! It was very interesting but in my case it has convinced me that I will never go to India. Thanks JP Albany!

[Got2Cruise]

This was a most enlightening blog. Almost like the old school National Geographic.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[jpalbny]

What a fantastic review! I have always thought I'd like to do this cruise, but now I'm sure of it! Thank you so much for the great photos and for taking pictures of the menus and food!

 

To each his own. I agree, what a fantastic, thorough review! It was very interesting but in my case it has convinced me that I will never go to India. Thanks JP Albany!

 

Interesting! I'm glad that this is providing enough useful information so that you can make an informed decision. For us, it was more of a leap of faith, hoping that Uniworld would provide a similarly great product outside of Europe. I'm glad it turned out well for us, but it would have been an expensive way to find out otherwise.

 

So, even though our personal bias was that we loved it, if you don't think it's for you, then that's the right choice. We met a few fellow passengers who weren't enjoying themselves so much. It was sad to see, though they were in the minority.

 

The food was so good. But after two weeks of it, we came home and immediately went to the local pub and had some huge hamburgers! :')

 

This was a most enlightening blog. Almost like the old school National Geographic.

 

Thanks! It was quite the land of contrasts.

[jpalbny]

Thursday, February 16th. Scenic cruising to Mayapur

 

It was a relaxing morning, as we actually slept late and got to breakfast around 8:00. Afterwards, we did our usual thing, and parked ourselves out on the open back deck while enjoying the scenery.

 

This looked like some dredging work going on. We weren't really sure. There was seemingly a pump going, and some water flowing from the pipe.

 

 

And later on, some fishing. It looks like some kind of fish dam here.

 

 

The local cow wash.

 

 

More happy people greeting us. The brightly colored clothing was a visual treat, everywhere we went.

 

 

The morning was very relaxing. We stayed out for a good amount of time, and used the time to label pictures and take notes while watching the scenery.

 

There were a few activities (trivia, henna painting, etc) but we liked our unstructured activity much better. We decided that it was a good opportunity to open the bottle of Champagne that had come with our AMEX Platinum cruise privileges. Nothing too fancy, but a nice gift.

 

 

After lunch, there was more time to relax as we approached Mayapur, though we did have to suffer through the disembarkation talk. How depressing!

 

We arrived early, a little before 2:30, and could see the massive temple complex from our anchorage location in the river. The construction is running a little behind schedule, as it was supposed to be completed last year. So we can't tour the big temple yet.

 

 

Before going ashore, we have a cooking demonstration to attend. That should be fun! We haven't eaten in an hour or so...

[jpalbny]

Thursday, February 16th. Mayapur

 

We headed in to the cooking demonstration. The staff had brewed some nice tea for us, to go with the food.

 

 

And these are the dumplings that we were going to make. We got to eat them first before trying to make more. Very good! I wasn't too excited to make my own, especially if I had to eat it.

 

 

Our chef explained what to do, and then demonstrated the technique. We really liked him - very personable and always visible to chat with passengers.

 

 

My favorite chef, with a dumpling of her own. Chris is a pro at dumplings. She's had lots of practice making pierogi.

 

 

After our snack, we piled into the sampan for the landing at Mayapur. Put those life jackets on. Safety first!

 

 

Our destination. The taller structures make up the (unfinished) Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. The smaller structure on the right is a memorial temple, dedicated to the founder of the ISKCON movement.

 

 

Soon we're on our way to our tour of the temples. It's a very short boat ride.

[amyr]

We were stunned to learn that most of that complex is being funded by the Ford Family, or at least Alfred Ford. Did you go to a service in there? It was simply amazing, wasn't it? Our guide had a doctorate in religion, and he knew all the words to the Hare Krishna song. I thought it was the same two words over and over, but turns out it's Krishna's 108 names.

[SuiteTraveler]

We met a few fellow passengers who weren't enjoying themselves so much. It was sad to see, though they were in the minority.

 

Did your fellow passengers say why they were not enjoying the cruise? Did they get gastric illness or what?

[jpalbny]

Thursday, February 16th. ISKCON Temple Complex, Mayapur

 

Another Hindu Temple in Mayapur, seen as we approached the landing site.

 

 

From the landing dock, we had to climb a ramp, and head over a bridge to a set of stairs, before setting foot on the ground. From there, it was about 1/2 km walk through the main street of Mayapur, until we reached the entrance. It seemed like a carnival, with tons of souvenir shops along the route. There were no aggressive hawkers, but it was still chaotic, filled with traffic, and noisy.

 

Of note, there was an ATM here in case people needed rupees. We didn't. While we waited to enter the complex, a crew of workers up in the temple stopped to wave.

 

 

Here is a rendering of the finished project. It was supposed to be done last year but has gone past schedule...and probably over budget.

 

 

Though there is certainly progress being made. It's recognizable.

 

 

We went into the complex, and it is really an eye-opener. You don’t (we didn't) visit the new place that's under construction, but we went into another Hindu Temple on the grounds called Chandroday Temple.

 

To visit, we had to leave all electronics, packs, and shoes outside the temple. They have stations where you can pay to check your stuff, but the Uniworld staff set up a tarp (similar to yesterday) where you could leave things with them.

 

Once you were divested of all electronics, and your foot covers were in place, you passed through security (one line for men, another for women) and into the courtyard of the Temple. Here, there were souvenir shops, and random devotees roaming around. Some would stop to chat with the group. Though my typical American sense of wariness kicked in, nobody seemed interested in begging or asking for anything other than a conversation.

 

The temple was interesting to see, but almost unsettling. People were sitting around, chanting to statues, kissing the floor, etc. Many seemed oblivious to us. No pictures, of course. It would have felt wrong to disturb the worshipers. I'm glad they ban cameras.

 

The ISKCON movement dates to 1966. I remember hearing about the "Hare Krishnas" in the 1970s when I was a kid. It is a modern branch or interpretation of a 15th century religious movement. That's about all I could get from our guide.

 

After wandering around and staring at the spectacle, we went back outside to pick up our shoes and cameras. We were just in time to enjoy a nice sunset. Here are a few pictures.

 

 

The clouds were perfectly positioned to be brilliantly lit as the sun got lower in the sky. The temples in the foreground were dramatic.

 

 

Time to wander around and see what else there is to see here. It's quite a complex!