Blogs from 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

I'm back! In case some of you haven't noticed, this writing has become like a therapy for me, so if you're not that interested in being part of my therapy, I'll understand if you want to un-subscribe, or just ignore those messages that arrive in your inbox, informing you I want some attention. I wonder sometimes if this is a blog about a trip, or the blog is the trip. Or am I the trip. Certainly can be trippy. Sometimes feel as though I am tripping!~ On the other hand, some of you may not get email at all if it wasn't for me, so hope you enjoy it, and stick with me. Digboi is an oil town, the oldest oilfield in the world at 108 years. Indian Oil decided to create a nature reserve out ... 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