Floating on Padma and Jamuna

nasim15

Look at the photo of the boat:http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/d...Bangladesh.jpg

Tentatively we walked down the bank, crossed the last hurdle of the plank ladder and then we took a deep breath. This is the most beautiful boat we had ever boarded. Welcome to Contic's unique creation "B613", a five-star treat on water.

The immaculately polished floor made of thick boards reflected the diffused morning light. Wooden deck chairs were strewn around small tables. A huge chessboard lay there invitingly. In the corner was a large bed, rather you could call it a huge square divan decked with cushions. In the corner waited the food corner. The jugs full of juice and lime water looked welcoming as were the coffee and tea. The food corner attendant poured us welcome drinks in thick crude glasses.

There was this narrow corridor running inside the boat. On both sides were the cabins -- six in all with twin-bed arrangement. For a boat that is 93 feet long, six cabins provide lavish comfort and style. Each cabin has a window. You look out and see the gentle Jamuna lapping. An earthen table lamp sits on a compact table. A small tool helps you to sit and use laptop. At the end of the corridor are four clean toilets. For six cabins not a bad facility.

Beyond the toilets is the kitchen. The crews were busy preparing breakfast. We saw a square hole in the roof and a ladder to climb to the rooftop.

We sat in the chilly wind on the roof and watched the life pixilated by thick mists. Small country boats powered by diesel engines purred by. The passengers wrapped themselves up tightly in pink and green shawls. Nobody took notice of us having breakfast of paratha, alu bhaji and omelets sufficiently stuffed with tomatoes.

A khalashi pulled the anchor. And then the engine gave out a 132hp deep rumble. Slowly the boat pulled away from the shore. The captain of the boat lifted a big bronze horn to his mouth and blew a high-pitched whistle. We were sailing on the Jamuna now.The more we explored the boat, the more impressed we were. A French man, Yves Marre, a former crew with Air France, an adventurer, a navigator and an aviator, came to Bangladesh on a boat all the way from France and gifted the boat to an NGO to turn it into a floating hospital.

Yeves fell in love with the country, married here and stayed back to set up his own company, Contic -- short for Confluence of Technology, Ideas and Culture. He studies country boats and builds them, giving finer touches to the facilities but retaining the original features. And he makes business in tourism. We were now on one of his boats.
SAILING THE RIVERS ON “B613”

Full-day Cruise:

We will start at 8.00 am from Dhaka and go to Aricha Ghat or Jamuna Bridge at approximately 11.00 am. The B613 sails from Aricha Ghat or Jamuna Bridge to the confluence of rivers like the Jamuna and Padma. We will return to Aricha Ghat or Jamuna Bridge at 5.00 pm and arrive at the pickup point at approximately 7.00 pm.

2-Day Cruise:

We will start the first day from Aricha and sail downstream on the Padma. We shall meet the river Jamuna further down. Old-fashioned dredges are at work at this confluence, picking up the silt to be carried to Dhaka for construction work. Later on we will sail upstream on the Brahmaputra and we shall reach Nogorbari / Kalyanpur char (Pabna) before sunset.

We shall spend the night on board by this place with the possibility for the ones who like to disembark and walk discovering the area and the bazaar.

The day after, we shall ply along the banks of the Jamuna, seeing chars and villages on both sides of the river, till we reach the Jumuna bridge. We shall embark here and take the drive down to Dhaka (approx 3 hours).

Contic

House 23, Road 121, Gulshan 1
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email: wasamadoja@gmail.com
Info@contic.com
Tel: (+88 02) 8814823, 8814824,
(+88 02) 9860047, 9860434, 9860436

Regular Tours

Day Trips: (Minimum 8 pax)

Per person: USD 85

Overnights: (Minimum 6 pax)

Per person USD 210 (2 days/1 night)

We were now in the middle of the Jamuna and heading towards the Padma. A wind got up and the chill factor multiplied. Our jackets and the thin shawls provided by the khalasis were proving inadequate. We climbed down to the deck. It is 23 feet wide and quite long. So spacious that you can have a good party there. We noticed something funny about the deck -- the front part which is exposed to the sky is warmer than the rear part covered by the canopy. We thought the engine must have its exhaust in the front. There was a manhole port and we opened it to go inside. Some empty wine bottles and water bottles lay there. The warmth remained a mystery.

A strange feeling engulfed us as we sailed through the drifting mist. We could see the silhouettes of fishing boats moored in the bleary world. They looked like some mysterious animals in deep slumber. We could hear the fishermen's voices muffled by the fog. The water looked a huge molten metal sheet. It was a surrealistic world arrested in the stillness of the nature.

Then we saw the first seagulls -- lonely ones flapping their way across the river with cold hearts. The cold must have sent the fish sleeping in the bottom of the river and breakfast was hard for them to find. We regarded their flying path -- where they are going and why they are going is so mysterious. Would they find more fish in the other part of the river? Or they were going to their chicks with food?

Suddenly we saw the dolphin -- it must be an infant no more than four feet long. For a fleeting moment it broke over the water and went down. We clearly saw its spouting face. A little later it appeared again and again and again. And then another dolphin appeared. Ten minutes later we found the mother dolphin about seven feet long. Its grey body glistened in the diffused sunlight. Two more dolphins appeared very close to our boat. And a little later another one. We were spellbound by this display of the cetaceans.

When the rivers are getting polluted, dolphins still survive in the Jamuna. And that is a surprising fact. Very close to the dolphins we saw the fishermen's boats spreading the fine nets called current net -- a big enemy of the wonderful mammals.

By 12, a big char came into view. The mist had cleared by now and the water looked translucently green, almost like a lagoon and the gray char like a huge stone island. We slowed the engine and anchored.

The char must have been accumulated over a few years and it was still expanding. The stretch near the river was pure white sand, as white as chalk powder. We walked on the loose sand and our steps made a soft rasping sound. It was pure fun to walk so wobbly. We looked behind and saw that long snaking line of footsteps disappearing into the green river. The boat was already invisible behind the high shore. Only the top of its sail pole was visible.

We found signs of soil formation in the middle of the char. Planktons and bird droppings were congealing the loose sand into a solid state. The colour here was deep brown. Bird foot prints -- large and small -- were everywhere.

In the distant was a large raised land like a knoll with wild grasses growing in clumps. We headed for it and found the land close to it was broken for peanut cultivation. The plants were just coming out in green leaves. We were on the knoll now. It was huge and grass blades grew like porcupine quills as if the spiky animal is buried under the sand.

And then we noticed the twitters of a thousand birds. It was an amazing experience. We were standing in the middle of the grassland and birdsongs were reverberating from all corners. The feeling was like that of sitting in a giant theatre hall filled with surround sound of birdcalls. We saw barn swallows and marsh swallows. Thousands of them with their curved wings and forked tails. We looked under the bush and saw their nests. Thin speckles of eggs were still there. Then there was this other species of bird about the size of a house sparrow but with a long tail -- we did not know its name. A single large quack drew our attention -- a lone lapwing walking by the edge of the char and looking at us with its big round eyes.

In the grass we found colourful caterpillars that would turn into butterflies in their adulthood and grasshoppers the colour of sand. As we They were so beautifully camouflaged that it was hard to notice them until you really looked for something in the sand. As we touched them they flew away whirring. And then there was this beautiful golden frog sitting in a dump, too lazy to crawl away from our gazes. We looked around for more, at least for its pair. But there was none to find.

By the time we finished our search, it was already 2 o'clock and we were hungry. On the boat awaited the most delicious lunch -- khichuri, beef ball, coral steak, chicken, salad and a special dish of brinjal mixed with egg.

By the time we finished our lunch, the engine roared again -- it was time to return. There were a lot of activities on the rooftop -- the khalasis were struggling with a huge orange sail. It was a difficult task because the pole itself was 100 feet tall. Finally, the task was done and the sail caught wind and puffed up to a wonderful sight. It was claimed to be the biggest sail in Bangladesh and you would not disbelieve it once you see it yourself.

Slowly the boat cruised across the glistening waters of the Jamuna. We felt relaxed and lay on the deck to enjoy the afternoon sun. Close to dusk, we passed a small char and saw a flock of rudy shelduck. These ducks locally known as Chakha have become so rare these days because of poaching that we were thrilled by the sight.

As our boat inched closer to the char the ducks were airborne and winged their way west to the setting sun in a straight line. We felt a strange emptiness as we sat there in the chilly wind watching them fly away.

Acknowledgement:
This article was published in the daily Star of Bangladesh on 27th January 2009
Original Story: Inam Ahmed
Original Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

Photo:http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/d...tic_s_B613.jpg

Gametotravel

Looks like a nice boat, really like the deck area!