The river has calmed. The weather has improved. A corner of a blue sky shyly peeking through. We start our journey down the river. From Patna to Farakka for this leg.

Our first stop Bahr. To dock we had to persuade this lovely bullock to move. We had disturbed his bathing.

A journey through paddy fields. These flat plains are the rice bowl of India.The area full of massive electricity pylons.

Our visit is to Nalanda, one of the earliest universities in India started in the 5th century BC and flourishing till the 10th century BCE. A residential place of learning for some 10,000 scholars. Buddhism, philosophy, mathematics and even metallurgy studied here.

My favourite from today is a visit to a Jain temple surrounded by a lake of water lilies. Lesser whistling ducks in abundance and purple gallinules. The most spectacular was the bronzed winged jacana (male and female )with the most delicately coloured beaks and feathers.

Travelling back I love the kash flowers swishing by the roadside and riverside.

The many schools we see with probably more affordable fees.

Travelling on the river is a delicate balance between not enough water and too much.

We just manage to go under this bridge.

We can sit on the top deck now and look out over the river’s reach where it merges with the sky. Submerged islands are resurfacing. Tall kash everywhere and the shy Gangetic dolphins occasionally breaking the surface of what is now a mirrored shimmering expanse as far as my eyes can take me.