The world's longest river cruise - MV Ganga Vilas - was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 13 in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi through video conferencing. More than 30 Swiss tourists will take the maiden journey to reach Assam’s Dibrugarh via Bangladesh.
MV Ganga Vilas: Inauguration Pics
PM Modi also inaugurated the Tent City in Varanasi – developed on the lines of similar setups in Gujarat's Kutch - built on the banks of river Ganga.
MV Ganga Vilas: Inside Pics
MV Ganga Vilas offers a 51-day trip from Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh, covering a 3,200 km distance.
To travel in the luxurious cruise, people have to pay around Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per day. The entire journey will cost approximately Rs 20 lakh per passenger.
The world's longest river cruise has the capacity to carry 36 passengers.
The luxurious cruise is being offered by Antara Luxury River Cruises and can be booked from their website. As of now, the booking is not open as the cruise is being booked by a Swiss company. But people will book tickets for the next voyage, which will held in September, in due course.
The vessel of MV Ganga Vilas is 62 meters in length and 12 meters in width and sails with a draft of 1.4 meters.
Also Read: MV Ganga Vilas Cruise: Ticket price, route, full trip cost; all you need to know
MV Ganga Vilas cruise will cover several prominent tourist destinations during its voyage. The tourist destination includes - world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Shahiganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam.
The world's longest river cruise will start from the holy city Varanasi and then travel to Patna, Sahibganj, Kolkata, Dhaka, and finally Guwahati’s Dibrugarh.