Ganga Vilas, the world's longest river cruise which started from Benares in India, is currently docked in the Brahmaputra River in Kurigram's Chilmari upazila.

The river's navigability crisis prevented the Ganga Vilas from anchoring at Chilmari port.

Tourists from the cruise ship boarded speedboats and arrived at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority pontoon of Chilmari port this morning, reports our Lalmonirhat correspondent quoting Mahbubur Rahman, BIWTA's chief pilot of the port.

Photo: Collected

The district upazila administration, police, and representatives of BIWTA greeted them with flowers. Tourists later left Chilmari for Rangpur to visit various points of interest.

According to BIWTA and upazila administration, Ganga Vilas departed from Benares, India, on January 13. It entered Bangladeshi waters on February 3. In the course of its 51-day journey, tourist will explore Bangladesh for 16 days. Ganga Vilas will travel 3,200 kilometres over 27 rivers during this trip. On this journey, tourists will visit around 50 tourist attractions.

The ship's executive officer, Toufiq Rahman, told The Daily Star that tourists would visit a number of sightseeing locations in Rangpur today. They will leave Chilmari port for Assam tomorrow morning.

The chairman of the Ganga Vilas, Raj Singh, said that tourists are having fun and enjoying their travels and sightseeing excursions throughout Bangladesh.

The Ganga Vilas is carrying a total of 28 tourists from Switzerland and Germany.

Mahbubur Rahman, Chilmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), said that adequate security measures have been taken to ensure the safety of visitors.