The proposed itinerary

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 1

After multiple days, weeks and months poring over Google Maps and speaking to numerous people, a tentative itinerary has been drawn up, a wish list of the daily distance I want to paddle and the intended night halt destination. Even though the proposed itinerary shows 45 days, there are bound to be rest days in between. I will be very happy to complete the journey in 60 days.

PROPOSED ITINERARY
Day	Proposed night halt	Dist	Notes and remarks
1	Haridwar to Bhogpur	19 km	The first day should always be short.
2	Bhogpur to Bijnor (Barrage)	63 km	The first big, long day. Beware of the barrage. Stop well before and portage.
3	Bijnor to Mamipur	41 km	How did you sleep? And where?
4	Mamipur to Garhmukteshwar	47 km	Will friends from Delhi meet me here? Hope so.
5	Garhmukteshwar to Narora (Barrage)	78 km	A long day and another barrage.
6	Narora to Pipraul Kham	75 km	Start early, reach early. This will be another long day.
7	Pipraul Kham to Quadar Ganj Pukhta	34 km	Camp and catch up on sleep in this sleepy (?) village. Expect the entire population of less than 4,000 to land up.
8	Quadar Ganj Pukhta to Farrukhabad	99 km	Camp at Ghatiya Ghat at Farrukhabad?
9	Farrukhabad to Kannauj	62 km	Will there be time to visit one of India's oldest Kannauj, and today's perfume capital?
10	Kannauj to Mehandi Pur	47 km	Get up, pack, paddle, camp, sleep.
11	Mehandi Pur to Katri Panka	43 km	Repeat yesterday's regimen.
12	Katri Panka to Kanpur (Barrage)	43 km	Visible chemical pollution starts. Stock up on water before hitting Kanpur. Where to camp? Where and how to portage across the barrage? Wonder if any friends live in Kanpur!!!
13	Kanpur to Chalaha	43 km	Expect a steady float down the river.
14	Chalaha to Dalmau	60 km	I guess there are a few villages en route.
15	Dalmau to Manikpur	59 km	Another quiet day's paddle expected.
16	Manikpur to Allahabad	92 km	A long paddle to reach Allahabad. Will spend a day or two here. Have been offered a place to stay.
17	Allahabad to Sirsa	37 km	Away from the bustle of the city, to a gentle float.
18	Sirsa to Kolepur	60 km	Another quiet day's paddle. Hopefully not too many sand banks.
19	Kolepur to Chunar	85 km	Would love to visit, if not stay, at the Chunar Fort, lots of myth and history.
20	Chunar to Varanasi	23 km	Definitely stay at Varanasi for a couple of days. Lots to see and explore. And I have a place to stay.
21	Varanasi to Medhwa	72 km	Camping at Medhwa should be fun. Population less than 500.
22	Medhwa to Ghazipur	43 km	Never tried it, not do I want to, but a visit to Ghazipur might be incomplete without a visit to the world's largest legal opium factory, operational since 1820.
23	Ghazipur to Buxar	47 km	Enter Bihar at Buxar. Nothing to worry about, times have changed.
24	Buxar to Rudrapur	59 km	Paddle on and be happy.
25	Rudrapur to Chhapra	50 km	The second longest tributary of the Ganges, the Ghaghra (aka Karnali) meets here. Be careful, confluences can be tricky.
26	Chhapra to Patna	50 km	Another city older than 2,000 years old, would love to stay in Patna for a couple of days and see the ancient sights and sounds.
27	Patna to Hardarpur	51 km	Just float and enjoy the paddle.
28	Hardarpur to Begusarai	74 km	HQ of Begusarai District . I need to find a quiet place to camp. Maybe before I reach town.
29	Begusarai to Munger	41 km	Munger is another city cited in the ancient Indian epics. It is here that Sita performed her Agnipariksha.
30	Munger to Bhagalpur	74 km	Hope to see some of the endangered Gangetic dophins on this stretch.
31	Bhagalpur to Hirdenaga Kant Nagar	68 km	A long day through agriculture fields.
32	Hirdenaga Kant Nagar to Sahibganj	32 km	Entering Jharkhand. Staying one night in the State before entering West Bengal.
33	Sahibganj to Malda	54 km	Malda, erstwhile capital of Bengal, and one of the largest cities in the State.
34	Malda to Farakka (Barrage)	27 km	Will take the feeder canal upstream of the barrage and link up with the Hooghly river. Will not get to see the (in)famous barrage. Where do I camp? Before or after the feeder canal?
35	Farakka to Raghunathganj	44 km	Into the home stretch. The most difficult part of the journey comes up.
36	Raghunathganj to Berhampore	73 km	Berhampore was fortified in 1757 by the East India Company after the Battle of Plassey in June 1757 and continued as a cantonment until 1870. On Feb 25, 1857, the first major armed battle of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 took place in Barrack Square. Certainly worth staying an extra day here.
37	Berhampore to Sankhai	72 km	Nothing much to do here at Sankhai. Extremely densely populated stretch hereon in. Finding a secluded camp site might be difficult.
38	Sankhai to Nabadwip	65 km	Do I stay at Nabadwip or at Mayapur, the headquarters of ISKCON?
39	Nabadwip to Kanchrapara	90 km	The last day before hitting the City of Joy, the city of my birth.
40	Kanchrapara to Kolkata	51 km	Oh Calcutta. I was born here, studied and worked here, got married here. Have to spend a couple of days here.
41	Kolkata to Falta	49 km	Beginning of the last 100km. And battling the tides.
42	Falta to Diamond Harbour	21 km	If I can reach early in the day, will explore Diamond Harbour, a stronghold of Portuguese pirates in the olden days.
43	Diamond Harbour to Haldia	17 km	Haldia is a major riverport and industrial belt, and the only city in India to have a Japantown, housing Japanese expatriates working in Haldia.
44	Haldia to Kakdwip	23 km	Smelling the sea. Can I hear the surf yet?
45	Kakdwip to Sagar Island	29 km	The final stretch. One of the holiest spots in Hinduism, where the holy Ganges finally meets the Bay of Bengal.