Sunset walk to the Narayani

In the late afternoon your guide leads you out of the village along field paths, past buffalo herds being brought home and women carrying fodder. In winter the mustard is in flower and the fields glow yellow; in October and November the rice is golden and ready for harvest. The walk is short and flat, and your guide points out crops, birds and the edge of the community forest on the way.

The Narayani here is wide and slow, with sandbanks and channels. Fishermen cast nets from small boats or from the shore. Egrets, cormorants and storks work the shallows, and in winter migrant ducks gather on quieter water. Mugger crocodiles bask on the far sand, and with luck a gharial may surface. On clear winter evenings the Mahabharat hills stand out to the north.

As the sun sets, the river turns orange and the far bank becomes a silhouette. Stay until the light goes, then walk back with torches as the village lights come on and dinner smoke rises from kitchens. In winter the temperature drops quickly after sunset, so carry a warm layer. From March, insect repellent helps, as mosquitoes rise from the river at dusk.