Bateshwarsthan
“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now” - Lord Buddha
After sailing for most have the morning relaxing on the sundeck. We land at Bhagalpur where we are greeted by a convoy of 4wd vehicles travelling to a small village to see silk weaving done using extremely old and noisy machines import from the UK the noise was unbelievable according to my phone was 93db which after 30 minutes could impact my hearing. Lucky we didn’t stay long the weaving was very different to Laos not by hand, some designers were simple just stripes it was silk or a silk blend, due to the festival time the shop was closed. So my wallet continued its holiday. We also visited Augustus Cleveland House which had a large collection of collectables which not photo a.lowed.
That days food had a wide selection as we were still in Bihar mocktails were the drink of choice
. Zoom in the food is great sorry some are dark
Back on the boat where lunch was served on the sundeck we then, sailing about 1 hour to Bateshwarthan where we travelled by a convoy of tuk-tuks to the 8th century site of Lord Buddhist at Vikramshila. This was one of two important learning in India during the Pala Empire along with Nalanda
This was amazing a beautiful park where archaeologist have uncovered a large temple site of which only part has been excavated but if you look closely at some of the photos you can see an elephant. Riding the Tuk-tuk was bumpy and dusty with lots to see and people to say hello to.
Back to the boat sailing a bit further before we docked. The river moves and at times we do get suck so two crew move to the country boat and use a long bamboo stick to find a deeper path. We always have a local pilot on board but the flows very fast the sand continues to move. The government also regularly check the various channels.
That night before dinner we all learnt how to dress like a traditional Indian in a sari with the crew helping us to dress and then demonstrate traditional dance it was so much fun and laughter. The purser had some excellent Bollywood moves, Checkout the girls in the saffron saree.
