Travels with My Hat is a memoir of my adventures as a travel writer
in Africa, South Asia and the Arab world. Beautifully designed, it is lavishly illustrated with
photographs and maps and includes poignant correspondence with my mother who had never left Australia.
GREAT MOMENTS IN TRAVEL
When I would think, well this is what I've come for and the physical and psychological demands of the effort to get here, are now worth it...
MY MOROCCO
When I first set foot in Morocco as a young backpacker in the 1960s,
I was captivated by the ever changing desert and mountain scenery, its colourful peoples
and fascinating souqs. My book Collins Independent Travellers Guide to Morocco was published in 1990.
WORLD WATER DAY
Some 1.3 billion people in the world lack access to clean water. Women and children spend an estimated 200 million hours a day hauling water, often over great distances from the source. Here Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa, one of the driest places on earth.
Photo Library Collections
Thousands of images covering travel, culture and religions can be found in Christine Osborne Pictures and the World Religions Photo Library
The era of cruising is upon us with more and more retirees booking holidays on gargantuan ocean liners. Competition is stiff as cruise companies try to outdo each other with waterslides, bowling alleys and robotic baristas to mix your coffee and cocktails. Such gimmicks do not appeal to me and the thought of 3000 passengers fills me with horror. Having sailed around the world on cargo ships in my younger days, my idea of a cruise is a small ship plying an inland waterway, mooring here and there to visit historic sites and observe village life. And scouring the internet I found the perfect one. A seven day cruise up the Hooghly River from Kolkata on the RV Rajmahal carrying 50 passengers accommodated in 18 twin and 4 single cabins. There was no single supplement – a bonus for the solo traveller – and as luck would have it, we were just a small group of seven accompanied by an excellent tour guide.
50 METRES LONG, THE RV RAJMAHAL OPERATED BY ASSAM BENGAL NAVIGATION, BEGAN SERVICE ON THE HOOGHLY IN 2014.OUR CAPTAIN AND FIRST OFFICER ON THE BRIDGE OF THE RV RAJAMAHALHERE WE ARE LEAVING KOLKATA WITH THE ICONIC HOWRAH BRIDGE SPANNING THE HOOGHLY. 100,000 VEHICLES AND 150,000 PEDESTRIANS CROSS IT DAILYTHE HOOGHLY IS SHALLOW NEAR THE RIVER BANK, SO WE TOWED A TENDER, HERE MOORED IN THE OLD BRITISH CANTONMENT OF BARRACKPORE.OVER COCKTAILS EACH EVENING, WE HEARD OUR SIGHTSEEING ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FOLLOWING DAYA SCENE IN CHANDERNAGORE, A FORMER FRENCH POSSESSION WITH TRADITIONAL COLONIAL STYLE ARCHITECTURE AND AN 18TH CENTURY CATHOLIC CHURCH.IN KALNA WE VISIT A UNIQUE SHIVA TEMPLE MADE UP OF 108 SHRINES. THE OUTER CIRCLE WHERE WE ARE SITTING HAS 74 AND THE INNER ONE A FURTHER 34.IN THE VILLAGE OF MATIARI WORKERS BEAT OUT BRASS WATER POTS, TRAYS AND OTHER ITEMS USING METHODS LITTLE CHANGED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARSVILLAGERS IN MATIARI HAVEN’T HEARD OF COAL OR WIND POWER. COW DUNG IS COLLECTED, DRIED THEN USED FOR COOKING AND WARMTHBENGAL IS CHILLY ON WINTER MORNINGS AND SOME ANIMALS WEAR COATS. AMONG THIS GROUP WAITING FOR A DRINK WAS A SMALL BLACK GOAT WEARING A FROCKA RURAL WOMAN ROLLING BIDIS, THE CHEAP CIGARETTE SMOKED BY THE POOR MADE FROM TOBACCO FLAKES WRAPPED IN LEAVES FROM THE INDIAN EBONYMINIATURE TERRACOTTA TEMPLE IN BARANAGAR CARVED WITH GODS FROM HINDU MYTHOLOGY AND SCENES OF LIFE IN THE MID-EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.VILLAGERS CROWD ONTO A FERRY TO CROSS THE HOOGHLY AT ITS BROADEST POINT. THE RAJMAHAL IS VISIBLE THROUGH THE RIVER MIST.EITHER SIDE OFTHE HOOGHLY ISCULTIVATED WITH DATE PALMS, TURMERIC AND MUSTARD. HERE FISHERMAN LAY NETS NEAR FARAKKA WHERE I DISEMBARKED AND CAUGHT A TRAIN BACK TO KOLKATA: 560 KILOMETRES.ASSAM BENGAL NAVIGATION OFFERS THE 7 DAY CRUISE TO FARAKKA WHERE THE HOOGHLY JOINS THE GANGES, OR A 14 DAY VOYAGE ON TO PATNA IN THE STATE OF BIHAR.
About Travels with My Hat
Australian photojournalist and author. Used London as a base for nearly forty years while freelancing in the Middle East, Arabian peninsular, Africa and South Asia. Have written and illustrated more than a dozen books and travel guides. Operates a well regarded religious images stock photo library: www.worldreligions.co.uk. Live in Leura in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney.
A wonderful article & fantastic pictures.. thank you for sending them….. Am hoping to return to India one day ; probably for the kite festival but this trip is most appealing as like you I detest large cruise ships.
Lovely little insight into a nice relaxing cruise, it makes my feel I won’t to book it now! Very nice blog as always Christine, thank you for sharing your experiences with us.
Great photos which tell the story of your trip along the Hooghly River so well. I wish I had been there too. The small number of passengers would have also been good. I agree that travelling this way in Asia is so much more interesting compared with the very commercial cruises on European rivers.
A wonderful article & fantastic pictures.. thank you for sending them….. Am hoping to return to India one day ; probably for the kite festival but this trip is most appealing as like you I detest large cruise ships.
Lovely little insight into a nice relaxing cruise, it makes my feel I won’t to book it now! Very nice blog as always Christine, thank you for sharing your experiences with us.
Great photos which tell the story of your trip along the Hooghly River so well. I wish I had been there too. The small number of passengers would have also been good. I agree that travelling this way in Asia is so much more interesting compared with the very commercial cruises on European rivers.
Lovely story and the photographs are excellent. It’s the sort of cruise I would prefer too, with few people. Fascinating.
Looks a really lovely trip- thank you for sharing your photographs
Yes it was, so quiet and different to the huge cruise vessels carrying thousands of people.
Thank you.