Early morning on the 4th of Feb, we started our journey by train. The train journey itself takes around 2 to 2.5 days, we took it anyway because we were informed the journey itself is fun in this route. And trust me, what they said is true!
I soon spotted some peacocks. Tried to capture them, but the moving train blurred it. You can see 4 of them close to the front tree.
Travelling through east Godavari is a feast to the eyes of vegetation/greenery lovers. I felt like this one district is satisfying the hunger of the whole state and even more people!
The river is absolutely humongous!! It seemed unending with the banks so wide away, it took more than 5-6 minutes to cross the bridge at around 60 Kmph speed! I understood why is it sacred to people. This is the reason behind all the greenery in the east Godavari district.
The train journey was really fantastic. I could witness the dramatic skies, filled with colors, such beautiful dusk and dawn, green fields, etc, etc,. I never felt too exhausted to capture the next scene in the camera I had bought new for this trip! My excitement increased by the hours!
This came the second day. The river Mahanandi is also big enough that it took more than 2 minutes at around 40Kmph
We were welcomed politely at Guwahati railway station by the driver. Yes we had booked a vehicle at our dispense from a travel agent. Then our road journey to Shillong, Meghalaya started. I would recommend someone to go by themselves rather than booking a travels, if you are young and would love to explore a lot by yourselves.
The road through ghats and it's again a travel of excitement. You can see mist covered dense forest and steep hills.
After a continuous journey of 2 and a half days through train and on road, we were anticipating a pit stop somewhere like this. We just wanted to satisfy our cravings and the food was delicious and less spicy. This is exactly what we wanted while travelling. Low on spices and nutrient rich food.
Just the sight of the houses constructed here and there in the middle of the contour farms on the hilly areas, away from the bustling city traffic and noise, sends a positive wave. Your mind relaxes immediately and forgets all the stress. Then you are all set to enjoy the trip with a mind that is ready for it.
As if the day was planned to end perfectly, we reached the Umiam lake on the way to Shillong, exactly at the sunset time!! Isn't it perfect? The lake and sky was coloured with orange and in the distant background, I can see the hills blurred by the mist. I was running here and there to catch the moments with the camera.
I was astonished when I heard that the lake was man made! Because just to grasp the sheer size of the lake, it took 5-8 minutes! It is really huge to be man made.
And there was a resort by the side of this lake. They also have boats! How romantic to go on an evening!!
Soon as we entered Shillon, we started feeling cool breeze. it was around 6 P.M and dusk was just happening. We stopped to roam around in the Golf course and the weather was cooling fast! I felt it was too cool for me and looked at the temperature, It was 10 degrees in celcius scale!
I could see the reason why lot of couples come here to spend the evening. It's cold, misty and sunset is beautiful here too!
Finally after dark, we had seen two places on the way. Umiam lake and Golf course at Shillong, and we checked into this hotel. We were greeted well and the staff were polite. Tired enough, we wanted to splash some water & get fresh after almost three days of journey.
We were informed that there is famous police bazar (market) just a block away from the hotel. All the tardiness vanished and after cleansing ourselves with the bone chilling water at the hotel, we were of to the market. We did not want to waste the precious time!
Exploring the streets of bazar, I felt my ears and nose cold. Observed people breathing out smoke. I thought they might be smoking as it was cold. But then, the smoke came out of my mouth and nose. It was because of cold. Yes it was 7 degrees!!
In the bone chilling weather, my stomach started groaning. It had to work more to generate the heat so that I can sustain the cold. Bingo! I found the street for foodies!! I am a foodie myself and love to explore different cuisines and local foods. There the momos are steamed and they are sizzling! They were delicious too. satisfying my stomach, I felt pleasant and dozy. Headed towards hotel's warm, cushy bed!
Mawkhong view point is a pit stop for you to stretch out and relax, while you can enjoy the view of the green valleys. While you stretch your muscles here, you will also want to flex your wings and wish to fly!
The view at the road we took to come here at Mawkhong valley!
The naturally formed living root bridge at Cherrapunjee is just unbelievable looking at the way it has formed by itself. It seems it has been constructed.
On our way to Dawki, we came accross a village at Mawlynnong. This is truly the cleanest village. The artifacts and hand crafts are made of wood and bamboo, the homes are constructed with Bamboo, even the dust bins are made with Bamboo. I couldn't even see a paper piece in the streets, let alone the plastic!
This is another wide river close to the line of control at Bangladesh border. The pristine nature is unharmed as there are only tourists around here. Also the bridge is a great structure adding to the scene! The ground under the water's surface, fish and pebbles can be seen clearly as the waters here are crystal clear.
This man with the gun on his shoulders is himself the LOC! Yes you heard it right. BSF personnel like this one, are at every 300 meter distance to control tourists and guide them back into their premises if crossing the border unknowingly!
The day ended with the cool breeze and misty weather. The dusk here arrives as early as 5.30 pm. We feel like its 7.30 pm at around 6.00Pm.
The day 5 starter to this! The Duwan sing syiem View point. We wanted to stretch our wings and fly here once again. Seeing the deep and steep valleys filled with mist and green covers, is an amazing experience that can't be expressed in words.
The day fifth was full of water falls and Wah-kaba was the first of them. The way to reach the falls it self is a trekking point. From the entry gate, till we reach the falls, the way is full of excitements. One feels very close to nature, if he dares to take the stairs that are at the edge of the steep valleys. But worth taking the path! See down and you'll feel like flying over the valleys into mist!!
Bad timing! we couldn't see the seven sister water falls as the view point was covered with heavy mist. However, we really enjoyed the weather!
The third was the Nohkalikhai water falls. It is the biggest of all and we can have a clear view of it. Clearly, I could see the water disintegrating into fine particles as it rushed from top to bottom. By the time it reached the earth, there was no clear stream, only the particles collected together back again. Such a huge falls it was!
This was only place apart from the water falls on the day fifth of our trip. It is an exciting place to bring children and one who loves exploring. Keep in mind not to get over excited and get lost in the caves exploring on your own. There are guided paths, please follow only those paths.
Ever wanted to be in a park composed of water falls, valleys around, mist and lot of greenery, Eco park at mawsmai, cherrapunjee is exactly that place. The mist from the valley hit the rock surface of the hill and rises up and shoots into the park!
While back from Eco park to Shillong, We arrived at this spot. The Elephant falls. It is a three step falls, wide and colorful. It attracts Many small birds that keep chirping somewhere in an otherwise the silent surroundings.
The day next (6th day), we were into the premises of the world heritage site-Kaziranga national park. It is the highlight of the whole trip and it will be so for who ever may take this trip! You'll see why is it so in the upcoming images. The safari is for two days. One day by Jeep and the other day by an Elephant! You should reach early in the morning by 5.30 am to book and ride an elephant. Only two rounds of Elephant rides a day 6 to 7 am and 7 to 8 am. If you could reach Kaziranga so early in the morning, you can finish both elephant and Jeep safari on the same day!
Birds immigrating, Deer grazing, An elephant in the far, Birds at the pool of water, Rhino grazing. Clock wise from top left.
Soon as we entered the forest in our safari by Jeep, we started spotting animals. And this was very cute frame of the trip. The whole family of deer. The young one looking into the camera!
I couldn't control myself as I kept continuously spotting animals and birds, my camera kept rolling for the whole safari. I have to add them as a collage to share the experience!
Next day, early morning, we reached the spot for elephant savari. We booked our tickets at the time of this spectacular dawn! Then headed for the Elephants.
The elephant savari was even more exciting as it goes off the roads, into the deep wild and closer to the animals. Also you feel very safe at the very fact that the magnificent, intellectual animal is carrying you safely through the forest! Despite their size, they are very kind to humans.
Seeing an elephant, the Rhino feels safer than it feels seeing a Jeep. This helps you to have an extremely close look at Rhino's scaly body. the thick skin looks like an armor on it. The baby rhino is yet to have an armor! Another thing is when the elephant carrying you closes in on a rhino, it usually tries to go away, but what the elephant riders do to help you have a closest look is, they round up rhinos with three to four elephants! Brilliant! Isn't it?
As the day ended after Jeep safari at Kaziranga National Park, we headed to the nearby Bio-diverse park. The true Assamese colors can be seen here, with the tribal dance, Bihu (Makara Sankranti) dance, Missing tribe dance Etc.
After the safari, we went to the ethnic village close by which was yet under construction. But worth a visit. The village is built for the tourists, nobody lives here. But built in the tribal style of the Assamese. They resemble the all bamboo structures built by the old tribes who lived in this lifestyle.
Next morning, we left to Majuli island. On the way we celebrated Bihu (Sankranti in other parts of India) like this!
After driving for around 3 hours, we reached Johrat. The point from where we have to go by ferry voyaging through huge Brahmaputra river. I couldn't believe at the size of it! it seemed like a sea to me than a river! it took us 1 and half an hour to traverse the river before reached the shore. There are many small islands in the river, and Majuli is biggest of them all. In fact the biggest river island in the world!
Yes it is the land of Satra's (monasteries) as well apart from being the largest river Island!
The hotel we checked in at Majuli was astonishing. It is entirely made of bamboo. It was the first Idea of some U.K traveler who had been to Majuli but couldn't find a nice place to hang out. Till date, lot of foreign explorers come and go here. The sweet part is the manager Mr. Monjit Risong is very kind and polite to people come to his place. He severs food from his house kitchen.
Samugari satra is a small place where our culture, art and play flourishes. I felt the deep condolence when I visited this place as I saw the art is still existing and flourishing. The art works there, clearly depicts how artful our Indian history was and still is. The movable jaws of the artful masks they make with simple material like bamboo and clay, gives the life to the character. I had goosebumps when he wore the mask and lived the character for few seconds! Recently they have won the 2nd price on the occasion of our (Indian) Republic day for their cultural presentation in the parade at Rajpath road.
As we visited the satras one by one, we were having a closer look at the culture of the North east. The Dakhinpath satra is the one with the devoties who consider themselves females and lord Vishnu is their husband. They wont marry throughout their lives. Apart from these, there are many other small satras and a museum.
After visiting Majuli, next was Shibsagar. This is another 2 to 3 hours drive from Johrat after coming back from Majuli by ferry. This place is for temples and monuments of old times. The Talatal ghar is the place where kings kept their artillery. And Rong ghar is the place where Kings enjoyed the wrestling of men, Fight of buffaloes etc.
Time for some religious activities and prayers. Luckily, we arrived at Shivdol on the day of Shivrathri. How miraculous! we had not planned. Each temple has some reservoir close by which is nice place to hang out as well.
Kamakhya is the Iconic temple of the Guwahati. The whole temple is a stone sculpture inside and is covered with the cement outside. It takes more than half a day in the que to have Darshan of the Deity. After visiting Kamakhya, we straight away went to Umanada, we had no much time as the day was half way through, and it was the time of Shivrathri. The Umananda also was bustling with devotees. The cigarettes in the image are not just cigarettes. They are stuffed with weed, and are to offer for Lord Shiva. The Kalash also has a weed leaves. With this, Our trip ended and we left to Guwahati station and headed back to Hyderabad.
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