A good way to start the new year, I thought, is by relishing some of the best travel of last year. There were more trips than usual, by air, to London, Berlin, Sydney, Brisbane, Dubai, mostly for work. And yet, it was a train journey from Kolkata to Azimganj that has me grinning at the memory of it. I was travelling with friends on a fabulous river cruise along the Ganga, organised by my sister Sarayu. We took the train from Howrah to Azimganj, five and a half hours north of Kolkata, from where we boarded the ship. Every day we dropped anchor at historic towns along the Ganga, visiting Murshidabad, Matiari, Mayapur, Kalna, the Portuguese port of Bandel and the former French colony of Chandannagore, before returning to Kolkata six days later.