Blogs from Guwahati, Assam, India, Asia

We are back in beautiful Bangkok which feels, oh so luxurious, after India. India, hmmm, India. This was our 4th trip to India, and we still find it to be, by far, the hardest country to travel in. Life does not appear to be improving for the average person. But still a fascinating, and frustrating country! So, a 'quick' recap of the past 2 weeks. Chitwan NP in Nepal was great. We take the 6 hr tourist bus to Chitwan. We thoroughly enjoy our 3 nights, and 2 full days of activities. We stayed inside the park at a quiet rustic place. It felt abit like a camp with all the planned activities, but was fun! The park has accomadations for @ 60 people, but there were only @ 15 people staying there, so we felt ... read more

Rivers are story-tellers; the Brahmaputra is no exception. Just as their waters carry the filaments of earth to deposit at will along the length of their predetermined course, to become the fields of the farms on which our houses are built, so they carry ideas. As the swell of their currents moulds land as smoothly as a renowned sculptor could, so they shape thought and rearrange ideas at their own pleasure. The Brahmaputra flows with legend from its broad sweep across the plains of Assam in the north to the teardrop islands of the delta, where the combined rivers, there called the Meghna, rush with some force into the Bay of Bengal. In the south, on the island of Hatiya, the legends brought by the Brahmaputra have a name: Kamrup-Kamakhya. It’s not something I knew in ... read more

Die laengste Zugfahrt, die ich jemals in Indien machte (20 Stunden), war eindeutig die angenehmste. Das Mittelbett wurde nicht ausgefahren, so konnte ich mich jederzeit hinsetzen. Es war angenehm frisch und der Zug war nicht voll, und somit war es ruhig. Ein Sonnenuntergang rundete allet noch ab. In Guwahati angekommen, musste ich erst einmal hoeren, dass es am naechsten Tag einen Generalstreik geben wird und nichts, aber auch gar nichts gehen wird. Kein Bus, keine Radlrikscha, keine Oootorikscha (Autorikscha), kein Laden hat geoeffnet und auch kein Restaurant. Ausserdem waere es fuer mich besser wenn ich diesen Tag das Hotel nicht verlassen wuerde. Gaaaanz toll. Tatsaechlich blieb ich den Tag im Hotel und fuehlte mich wie eingesperrt. Die Stadt war gespenstisch ruhig. Eigentlich wollte ich bis zu unserem Treffen die Umgebung von Guwahati erkunden. Es gaebe viel ... read more

Manas National Park and Bodo Village tour Partha De Sarkar Marcus of Berlin working for us had just returned from the Manas National Park and had sighted tigers twice. He was full of admiration of northeast India’s beautiful mountains, open wilderness, flora and fauna and most importantly its colourful tribal life and of work being done by Help Tourism among the Bodo tribe. Northeast is a beautiful land, mystic and mysterious. Dipak who had come from South Wales, UK, was immediately interested to visit the Manas National Park. We reserved accommodation at Maozigendri Jungle Camp of Help Tourism just outside the core area of Manas. Then on January 2, 2008, we flew to Guwahati from Kolkata and Help Tourism vehicle took us to the jungle camp. The Bodo village, poacher and militant to saviour It was ... read more

There are some scenes you need to see, to get a feel for a culture. Some beautiful, some challenging.... (check back here often, because I'll be adding a lot here after my initial publishing...) But first: Bihu Festival , a moment of fame, and a small world. When I headed for Assam, I had a vague knowledge that a festival would be happening around the time of my arrival. I didn't stop to consider the likely side-effects: lack of accommodation. Eventually accommodation was found, at an inflated price (for India) - but such problems were a minor inconvenience to pay for the unexpected experience of the festival. Rongali Bihu festival is essentially a spring festival - celebrating happiness, and fertility etc with lots of song and dance. In Guwahati numerous committees erect big pavilions of bamboo ... read more