BRAVING DECEMBER IN ARUNACHAL - 6

Day 6 : Kaziranga, Back in Assam (31^st Dec)

Instead of our driver, his brother came round 6.30am to take us to Kaziranga. We were completely exhausted, citing the previous day’s adventures & lack of sleep, but still were surprisingly high in spirits. The morning was immensely foggy & we couldn’t see a thing in front of us. We pitted at a local tea-shop & waited a bit for the fog to clear up. Then we bought or tickets to the National park & taking boarding our own vehicle, we started for the ‘Safari’.

We took the trail of the park’s jeep & pitted at the watch towers. The Kaziranga, a world heritage site, is famous for its One-horned Rhinos & indeed we can spot these majestic beasts there in abundance. We also get to see many wild Elephants & many types of deer (including rare black deer & sambar), various birds (including Pelican) & various other birds & animals.

It was really a joyride & we enjoyed it as much. As it was 31^st, the park was full of families & children. The rangers were also taking special care to ensure that we catch the glimpse of the rarest of animals, but still maintain safety as the wild beasts were on free zone.

/6.8-11/ Though Kaziranga has a reputation of a great Tiger reserve also, but the predators stay in special safe zones, so we didn’t have the opportunity to see Tigers. Anyways we spent the entire morning in the park & were back in Tezpur by lunch time. We were dead tired & went straight to bed as we have had only 2 hours of rest for the span of 30 hours. We woke up by the evening & enjoyed the New Years Eve in Tezpur’s market area.

Day 7: Last day (1^st Jan)

We still had one day left in our tour as our return journey was scheduled on 2^nd Jan. Visiting the famous Kamakhya temple was on our Radar but we were to tired & broke (monetarily) to visit any more places. So, we granted ourselves a rest day before the return journey. We visited the local craft centers as Assam is famous Bamboo-strip works. By evening we came to know that year’s first Bomb blasts took place at a mall near Kamakhya temple. We were awestruck as we were to be at that place on those very moments. Rally, God works in mysterious ways. Just spending the entire day idly, we started early next morning as due to the blasts there would be additional security measures in the Guwahati railway station. We Boarded train on 2^nd Jan & reached Kolkata on 3^rd morning, bearing the memories of the snow clad Arunachal etched forever etched in our souls.

FootNotes :

With these details some footnotes can also be added to our travelogue, which can double up as tips to future travelers.

Well, firstly as the terrain is quite inhospitable, conveyance is very irregular there. The only modes of transport in those parts are the private off-roaders; even the localites depend on these trucks for their daily conveyance. So, don’t make mess like those we did, do book your journey beforehand & don’t count on busses, especially if you are traveling in the off-season. You could arrange for a shared vehicle, but I highly doubt that it will serve the purpose of exploring this paradise in your own terms.

Secondly, if you are traveling with family, please think twice (that may be thrice or even more than that) before making the journey in the off season (winter in our case). Traveling with friends & looking for some adventure is a different thing, but as they say “Adventure involves Risk”. Many a times we faced skidding cars, blasting our way out through landslides, making way in ankle deep snow, which of course you will not want to do with your family in jeopardy.

So, bear this in minds, but still the admirable beauty we encountered in December, would hardly be available in any ‘High Tourist Season’, so if you can risk it, I can assure your…..IT WOULD BE WORTH IT.