re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

ek number updates.Maja aa gaya MG dada

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Okee,,, don't stop now

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

[MENTION=10454]MG[/MENTION] & DK : these fotos are mesmerizing! way to go guys!!!

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Day 9 & 10 - Sibsagar and Majuli the largest river delta in the world

Our plan for the day was to reach Sibsagar, the erstwhile capital of Ahom Kings. The road runs through the heart of Kaziranga and through numerous tea estates. I took numerous photo breaks while Nitin moved ahead. Was expecting him to stop somewhere for food but he didn’t, finally after riding for 70oddkms I called him to ask about his whereabouts. It seemed in absence any good restaurant he moved quite ahead of me, asked him to wait so that I can catch-up. We re-grouped after 20odd kms and stopped in a dhaba for the much needed food break. Rest of the ride to Sibsagar we rode together.

There was one occasion where it was written Nagaland 16kms on the right. The urge to enter another state was there but we somehow curbed it and moved on. We reached Sibsagar only by late evening. Contrary to what I thought the small town of Sibsagar had a lot of hustle bustle and gave a completely different feeling from Tezpur.

The visit to Sibsagar was mainly to visit the ruins of Ahom Kingdom which are scattered around the Sibsagar town within a radius of 8-10kms. The ruins are pretty well maintained and due to less popularity they are less frequented by people. Shiva Dol was very impressive and one making a visit to Assam shouldn’t miss Sibsagar.

Like Arunachal had always been one of my dream destinations, Majuli the largest river island in the world was always in my to do list. I always used to think what it feels like staying in the middle of river for years together. I had an image of Majuli that the place will be very raw in nature with completely rural setting and development not catching the fancy of the island. Even though it’s a island but its huge with a diameter of almost 80kms and comes under two districts one half under North Lakhimpur district while the other comes under Jorhat. There are various ghats on Brahmaputra for reaching the main island but the one towards Jorhat called Nimati ghat has the longest ferry of 2hours to reach Majuli and naturally we opted for that one. The whole experience from getting in the ferry to the whole ferry experience was simply awsum, you feel a whole city is winding on the ferry. There is a lot of hustle bustle, people playing cards, mobile networks working in the middle of river and people calling their near and dear ones.

Majuli came as a big surprise to me. It has developed much beyond my expectation. There are tar roads, school, colleges, petrol pumps and once you are in you don’t feel that you are actually on a river island. That apart the place has a charm. Bamboo house, bridges made of bamboo or wood, lots of water bodies, bird life, rural setting makes it a very interesting place to be. We stayed at one of the bamboo resorts which made it a different experience altogether. The walls, doors, windows, floor everything was made of bamboo. Even the bed was made mainly from Bamboo. Another attraction for going to Majuli’s are the number of Satras or monasteries constructed by the saint and represent the colourful Assamese culture. We also had a chance to ride our bike on a rickety bamboo bridge which was equally thrilling and scary, while you are on it you always get a feeling that something is going to break. After spoiling ourselves for 2 days and exploring the rural setting as much as we can we made a move to your next destination. The returns ferry ride was even better as it was the first ride of the day and we found a very good spot to enjoy the life around Brahmaputra and be a part of it.


Finally she is back in the road in full glory


Ride through the tea gardens





Stopping over at one of the tea gardens




School kids


Shiva Dol in Sibsagar






The Karan Ghar of the Ahom Kingdom


Rang Ghar


Golkghar or magazine house


Finally the map showing all the important palce of interest from Ahom Kingdom era in and around Sibsagar


Nimati Ghat the place from where you take a 2.5hour ferry to Majuli


Life around the Brahmaputra river












The usual inquisitive crowd surrounding us everywhere we go


The Golden sunset of Majuli

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Seriously, MAAAN!!! It is always exciting to see the mark - Gourab Das Photography & Of course, I can see that you converted the ordinary ones to extraordinary. But, sometimes beauty lies in the most ordinary of things .

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

wonderful updates [MENTION=10454]MG[/MENTION] dada..more please

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Day 11 - In Majuli

Our stay in majuli - Bamboo hut, Mepo Okum


One of the many wooden bridges




That is actually a boat service to cross a pond as the road passes through this pond


Early morning beside the Brahmaputra








Home of Mishing tribe


Kitchen at a Mishing tribe home


Daily chore of a Majuliite












A Stork in Majuli


Swades Part 2 - The ferry ride from Majuli to the main land which takes ~2.5hrs




At one of the Satras


DK posing at one of Bamboo bridge




Another sunset in Majuli - These sunsets are so magical

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Waaah waaah, DK.
Waaaht a match, Ultimate poser with a Superb lensman

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

:P :P

@MG:it's Mishing not missing

& yes a big thank you to payeng because of whom we got the bamboo huts & also the amazing hospitality at his cousin's house

Gratitude

Good update!! There were not many pojher pics in the Xbhp magazine issue that covered this
I belong to the 'missing/mishing' (not otherwise,, lol ) tribe and I am grateful that you remember those local names - feels great!! you know!
At first, when I was reading about it in the MAG., I was like whoa,,, goodness - Xbhp has covered NE and the guys have come a long way, shippin' their bikes & all. AFAIK, MG's photo wasn't there and DK definitely stands out with the thick mustache and the infamous shades (pun intended )

Now, I get this wonderful platform to interact with you guys - feels greater!!
I sincerely hope that you had a good time. IMHO, people/crowd from NE always start humble & helpful until somebody disrupts the ecosystem and when that happens, some are really "KHOONGKHAAR". Well, times changed and things are no longer the same - the no. of bad people, cheats, corruption, politics etc. increased. Many do not talk the way they used to. Probably one of the many reasons, NE still doesn't attract too many tourists/tourers.

I am still skeptical about lotsa things,, the inquisitive crowd, for instance!! Hope you did not get into any issues,, nothing that I can do to change the past I can understand you covering up issues, if at all, in your descriptions because that is the best thing to do.

But nothing is perfect. I am pretty sure, despite all hurdles you must have enjoyed to a better extent - if not anything, atleast the beautiful women folk (pun). I am thankful to both of you, MG(dada) & DK(bhau) for coming all the way, shippin' your motorbikes & ridin' the terrain in NE. I hope, slowly the region will turn into many rider's to-do destination.

I had a feeling - this part had to be there. Good job payeng da

PS - The above essay was not for marks but,,,,, I actually wanted to speak my heart out, LOL

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Awesome pics .

waiting for more.

Re: Gratitude

dude indeed heartfelt -- I am quoting the entire para above because each conveys your emotions

& no we didn't face a single untoward incident---people were curious & friendly lot --guiding us most of the time

my time spent in shillong alongwith the meghalaya xbhp guys was the most fantastic time of all

& yes NE is definitely turning up to be a tourist destination in recent times & soon you will see many a folks riding and/or travelling up there

also would like to know your name -- add you up on FB if not already there

p.s: That mustache was only for this trip -- :P :P

Re: Gratitude

Good to know!!
Shillong was always welcoming,, In early 2005, I realized that I took a great decision in selecting an awesome college for graduation in Shillong.
And yea, you are better off without those mustache - sorry to click on some photos of yours in FB , jumped in through Xbhp Confessions, IMHO good that you did not carry the mustache during your "better-half acquisition" ceremony (old habits die hard - I spend a lotta time digging anything under the sun on the internet )

To connect with me on FB. Click here.
Name is a bit hard on the pronunciation dept., lets cut it to the easy & common part - Udy

Cheers

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Excellent pics ...

re: Greetings from North East India - Through Arunachal and Assam

Day 12 - A visit to the Kaziranga National Park

The next destination was Kaziranga. This was the only inclusion made by Nitin for the whole ride and now with ample time in our hand we thought of spending 2-3 days if we feel so after our first visit to the park. We didn’t want to stay at one of the hotels around but preferred one of the eco-huts or eco-camp that for that raw feel. Finally we could find a nice property of eco-huts just 3-4km away from the main Kaziranga gate. The huts were very tastefully built just beside a hillock. After a quick lunch we made a move towards park which will essentially be my first national park visit. Yes I had visited quite a few national parks before but it’s amusing that I have returned from the gate all the time due to variety of reasons. Wildlife had always exited me and with Nitin as my partner who has equal interest in wildlife and with better knowledge than me it surely would be a great experience.

We made it a point to enter the gate before anyone else so as to utilize the maximum amount of time before sunset. We did spotted quite a few Rhino at some distance in the first couple of minutes but soon we came to know that since the park has just opened so the grass has not been cut properly and hence the whole sector of 26km is not opened and what we will get is a mere 10km at the same rate. This really disappointed us as we came with a lot of anticipation, to add it we found that most of the people who have come for a safari are least interested in wildlife and were making unnecessary noise which was further diminishing the possibility of sighting. There were around 100 jeeps at one point of time in that 10km trail. We decided that we will stay in the park till the end and hope that something good happens to us. Finally when we lost all our hope our perseverance and the decision of leaving the park at the last paid off and we spotted a Rhino within a distance of 15mtr from our jeep. We were overjoyed to see a Rhino in such close proximity.

Next morning we went for our second safari and this time it was an elephant safari, another first for me. The early morning charm of the jungle made the safari unique in many ways but this time also we had mixed luck and the sighting was just ok. Also the safari was much smaller than expected. After two safari we changed our initial plan of spending a couple of days in the national park and decided to make a move.

On way to Kaziranga through tea gardens




Finally we enter the park


First view of the Rhino


View from the top






A beautiful sunset in Kaziranga




DK posing for the camera


Finally King of Kaziranga within 15metre from our jeep