However, due to bad weather conditions, the cruise reached Ghazipur, which was 60 km from Varanasi – on Sunday and is expected to reach Varanasi on Monday as stated by officials engaged in the ship operation.
Significantly, Ganga Vilas received a grand welcome from locals in Ghazipur who gathered on the bank of the Ganga to catch a glimpse of the luxurious voyage.
Locals who were spotted taking selfies with the ship exclaimed that indeed it was a masterpiece. They had seen such cruises only in movies and it was even bigger than what they had imagined.
Selected by experts the cruise had started from Kolkata on December 22 with 32 Swiss tourists on board However, all the tourists deboarded the ship at Ghazipur as they did not want to wait another day to visit Varanasi.
Priti Srivastava, deputy director of tourism, Varanasi proclaimed that as the ship was getting late, passengers had checked out on Sunday morning and reached Varanasi in the evening. The ship, meanwhile, would reach Varanasi on Monday.
The group notably after reaching Varanasi, left for Dashashwamedh Ghat to witness the famous Ganga Aarti. Officials with the ship said that the tourists would also be going sightseeing and other tourist places during their stay in Varanasi.
Additionally, Ganga VilasCruise would reach Varanasi after covering around 3,200 kilometers in 50 days. As per schedule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would flag off the cruise in Varanasi on January 13th. It would then leave for Dibrugarh (Assam).
Tags: Cruise, Ganga Vilas Cruise, India Tourism, Varanasi
