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Catch a little taste of unexpected romance in India.

Wait, what?

James Ruggia covers the country's vast array of experiences that are sure to ignite the senses and spirits of couples seeking culture, history and a little bit of scintillating love.

So far, international travelers have only scratched India’s surface, but that will be changing over the next decade as business travelers perform their traditional role of pioneering new areas for exploration by leisure travelers. Already many destinations unknown to many have improved their infrastructure, including Uttaranchal, Himachal, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim and the exotic “Seven Sister” states of northeast India.

Nature-loving couples will relish India’s rich abundance of some 59 national parks, 372 sanctuaries and a multitude of wildlife species including 1,200 types of birds and 350 mammals as well as the iconic tiger. Remember the “Jungle Book?” You get the picture.

There are 11 official tiger preserves in India and a growing number of luxury safari lodges…Be sure to include this unique experience into your India journey: Luxury hospitality in your own private cottage surrounded by hundreds acres of private jungle wilderness, yet with easy access to UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 1,000-year-old temples.

The heart and soul of India is in its villages. Sprouted throughout the country, here is where you’ll find traditional rural life. Seeking an immersive experience to get the authentic feel? Look no further. These villages allow one to discover the real culture, history and cuisine of India.

How to truly discover the authentic India?
Train travel is known to overcome many obstacles for that certain traveler who may be fearful of being overwhelmed by India. Several of India’s luxury leisure trains explore individual regions, and the Maharaja Express wanders the entire country.

Anyone who has travelled by train or plane through India, or who has been driven on Indian roads, will be amazed to learn that there is actually a way to travel through the country in total serenity and comfort. Yet it is in fact possible to cruise for some 1750 miles on the rivers and inland waterways of India, passing through great cities, alongside wildlife sanctuaries and historical monuments and into the heart of rural India.

Assam Bengal Navigation are pioneers in this exploration by offering unique luxury expedition cruises onboard two 24-passenger luxury riverboats proposing 2 distinct cruise experiences:

ASSAM CRUISES: Wildlife and wilderness are the main features of a cruise in Assam on the vast Brahmaputra river – the river bed is often 20 or 30 km across, an empty world of sand spits and water with marvellous bird life and the occasional Gangetic Dolphin. The cruises here also give access to a number of India’s National Parks, including Kaziranga, perhaps the finest of all, and Manas, a Project Tiger reserve on the Bhutan border.

Brahmaputra cruises feature visits and attractions such as wildlife viewing (both by jeep and on elephant back), village walks, visits to tea gardens, exploring country towns in cycle rickshaws, barbecues on deserted river islands, dance performances, and visits to craft workshops.

BENGAL CRUISES: The waterways of the old Bengal Presidency now lie in the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal, and in independent Bangladesh. Here in the north of the region the rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra meet head to head and then flow out to the sea through the world’s largest delta. Inland, however, on the rich agricultural land lie prosperous towns and villages, rich in history and culture. This is village India at its best, completely unknown to tourists. Cruises go north from Calcutta on the intimate River Hugli, and can be linked with our cruises on the Ganges proper from the Bangladesh border up to the historic city of Patna.

Ganges and Hugli cruises can be taken separately or together to offer a choice of durations from 4 to 15 nights. Ganges and Hugli cruises upstream from Kolkata are all about visits to villages, towns, temples and monuments in a little-known but fascinating and culturally rich part of India, on foot, by cycle rickshaw or minibus. The Sonepur Cattle Fair, on the banks of the Ganges in rural Bihar, is one of India’s great undiscovered spectacles, and we are able to anchor offshore to visit it in comfort. More

Catch more information on Assam Bengal Cruises here!