My Friend Flipper

As we travel to Kaziranga we pass lots of sights, the mustard seed is getting ready for harvesting and the fields are a striking yellow.

Arty shot

Green Bee Eater

We found ourselves behind two motor bikes at one point both laden with live ducks.  Those next to the exhaust tried to keep their heads away from the heat and fumes which was strange to see.  I'm not sure if they were to replenish stock or heading for the pot but we did eat duck curry that night and it was delicious so you can draw your own conclusions.

Checking orders for duck tonight

Do you want your duck smoked?

The wedding band played a wonderfully out of tune racket - it was fun to pass and just listening to them makes you giggle

Nice uniform guys

The band bring up the rear

After we entered the national park our first view is of a wild elephant grazing in the bush.

We'll have more to say about elephants in due course

The park is full of so many animals including Hoolocks Gibbons playing in a tree above us at the roadside.  Nearby are Langurs and a giant black tailed Squirrel

Female Gibbon

Hoolocks Gibbon with distinctive white eyebrows

Langus with nice sideburns

Big bushy tiled squirrel

The Brahmaputra River is currently low with huge deserted sand banks in the middle.  In the mist it is very eerie and it is difficult to work out where the river ends and the sky begins.  I can only describe this as sailing in a desert.

Desert in the middle of the Brahmaputra

I claim this island for the Peoples' Republic of Rugby

Our boat awaits

We walk on the sand banks but see very few birds and no other animals.  The silence is drowned out by some young Indians on the riverbank playing their music through massive speakers at  ear bleeding volume (which is normal for India) and enjoying a picnic (which is a national pastime).

We are served lunch on our boat which is excellent but with enough food to feed a family of ten

John relaxes at the pointy end of the boat

Queen of the Brahmaputra

Lunch is served

This area is famous for the Gangeatic dolphins which we keep spotting but struggle to photograph as they leap from the water so quietly.  Eventually, our persistence pays off and we get a passable snap.  I have to admit that this trip on the Brahmaputra is very relaxing as we cruise and is a major highlight of our journey so far.

Gotcha you little bottlenose dolphin!

The Brahmaputra flows slowly on

Banded geese

On the way back we pass close to a couple of rhinos 

and a Hog Deer

North Eastern India is famous for the hornbill.  We have been told by the owner of our hotel that our room is a favourite places for the hornbill to rest and that they usually sit outside the shower.  Sure enough, on entering the bathroom we are lucky enough to see these amazing birds chatting away.

Do you think my beak looks big in this?

We are now off into the hills of Balipara and more adventures in the Nameri National Park

One mans’ rubbish is another mans’ gold

We're leaving Meghalaya and we are on the road to Assam, the next and biggest of the Seven Sisters.  On the road to Pobitora we pass the electric boys off to mend another fault on the line.

No job too small - no call out charges

Hay is transported to market in huge quantities on the back of vans.  We've seen them before but still think they look like a Donald Trump wig

 

Fake News - All Trump's wigs are woven from Indian hay

Now it may not be high on everyone's Indian itinerary but a visit to the Guwahti municipal rubbish tip gets John and our guide Prachu very excited.  The reason - an excellent opportunity to see close up a selection of black kites,  and herons and adjutant birds.

The smell if over-powering and it takes some effort and a strong stomach to open the car door.  There are gigantic heaps of rotting garbage piled high.  There are people sifting through this rubbish to extract glass and plastic for recycling.  These families live on site and happily eat and drink chai as if they were picnicking in the park.  Kids play amongst the rubbish and cows wander up and down stopping to graze from the piles or rubbish.

I can't imagine what the milk tastes of

A quick inhalation of air and the car door is thrown open and quickly closed as John and Pranchu head out in search of more birds whilst I sit in the car trying to ignore the environment,  John says that he quickly got used to the smell and is well pleased with the photos - although he does bring back with him a faintly over-powering odour  (not for the first time). 

Adjutant birds  -large storks that look right at home

Black Kite 

White Egret - how it stays so white is a secret known only to Persil

Black kites take to the air in their hundreds

Thankfully, leaving the tip behind we travel through the city of Guwahti.  A large park runs alongside the Brahmaputra River and we stop briefly to look at a tree full of fruit bats that roost in the trees above our heads.  Previous experience has taught us not to disturb bats at roost as the first thing they do when they awake is to empty their bowels, usually on those below.

 Holy men sit at the side of the road telling fortunes as cars and trucks pass by. 

We stop for a super lunch then get back on the road to our over night accommodation in a luxury tent complete with plumbed toilet and Jacuzzi. Now that is what I call glamping!

The tents are large and warm and as night falls the night draws quickly in and calm descends. That is until we are nodding off to sleep and our neighbour in the next tent begins an evening of 'entertainment'.  One of the drawbacks of tents, luxury or otherwise is thin walls - we can hear every sound and next door has a wide variety from the ever popular mobile phone to the comedy animal acts including farting, whistling, singing and belching before being rounded off with a persistent snoring that probably loosened the tent pegs.

Come with meet the casbah

Up bright and early we  meet our guide who is going to take us to view Rhinos.  The open topped jeep rattles along and we stop briefly at the entrance to the reserve to pick up  our mandatory body guard complete with bolt action 303 rifle. We head in to the sanctuary and it doesn’t take long before we spot a flameback woodpecker, a crested eagle and  the one horned rhinos.

A small flareback woodpecker

Does my bum look big in this?

I'm not sure that the guard's gun would be much help against this chap

A crested serpent eagle looks on

The star turn of the day was not as expected the rhinos but a pair of speckled owlets who kindly posed whilst we took photos from no more than 10 feet away

Twit twoo are you looking at?

We stop at a viewing platform to get a better look at the rhinos.  On the ground is the shed skin of a King Cobra - it's more than 8 feet long and, as the snake sheds its skin to grow, we don't hang around to find the shiny new reptile. 

Somewhere close by there's a snake with a new coat

It's been a great trip to Pobitora and our wildlife tour is off to a flying start.

I do like a man with a big weapon

Next stop is Kazirangha National Park

Meghalaya and a Bridge Too Far

Charapunjee is famous for its living root bridges and we’ve travelled from Kolkata to see them.  The bridges are formed by the roots of fig trees which the villagers train to grow across streams.  It’s a slow process taking upward of 15 years but once formed they can last hundreds of years.  They never stop growing and are incredibly strong.

The daddy of the bridges is the double decker at Nongkiat which is not far from where we are staying.  The down side is that seeing it involves a 8km trek down 2,400metres and 3000 steps down.  It is the same distance back and not surprisingly, we decide that there was a high probability of one or other of us not making it back so instead we bought a nice postcard of the bridge.

There are other root bridges which are more accessible and we opt instead to visit the Umkar bridge. It may not be as picturesque but we are still breathing.

Umkar Living root bridge

Mawshamok was voted the cleanest village in India  and it lives up to its reputation.  There are a lot of rules to be followed for a simple visit for lunch. Obviously, every village has its idiot and we spot where this village’s idiot lives!

Rules are Rules!

Spot where the village idiot lives

The root bridge close-by is an amazing specimen and one visited by lots of Indian Tourists.  The bridge is protected by over-zealous anti-photo police who assail anyone who tarries on the bridge for a snap with shrill shrieks from their standard issue police whistles.

Mawlynnong Living bridge

Strolling around the small market town in the hills the size of the people was quite a shock.  The people are tiny and even I feel tall.  The market stalls are very small and John went into one of the vacant stalls to demonstrate that in this area, he is a giant.

Small but not so far away

Not much room for John

Making a living in these out-lying villages must be hard, they are isolated and everything takes place communally.  The British rule has left a marked impression with churches dotted around and houses that are built small and with chimneys which I haven’t seen anywhere else in India. The rolling, bleak moors are reminiscent of Scotland - the roads are narrow and the fog and mist roll in quickly and frequently

Everywhere there are Indian tourists or day trips from school or college.  They are crammed into dangerously over-crowded mini-buses and coaches.  We counted 32 people getting out of a 15-seater mini bus although no one seems to mind the discomfort.

We went to see the Nohkalikai Waterfall but the weather changed on route and when we arrived the mist was thick and we were disappointed.  A return visit the following day was rewarded with some spectacular views

This is the dry season -Imagine what this is like in the monsoon

We are close to the Bangladeshi Boarder and head to Dawki to see the border. The roads are poor and it is slow going but the journey down through the mountains is breath-taking with soaring peaks and deep valleys with rivers and dense foliage. Everywhere, there are waterfalls cutting down from above – they are small now but in the monsoon must present an awesome sight.

We cross a narrow suspension bridge and come to Umngot Creek, a gorgeous turquoise blue lake.  As we continue on we’re pestered to go for boat rides but we decline….politely. 

All life is here

There is a large sandbank full of Indians and Bangladeshis paddling in the water. From   Bangledesh you can hear the call to prayers.  

People cavorting on the sands

The next bit is a bit daft – we decide to leave India and pass through the border into Bangladesh – we’ve no passports and no visas and we do sort of stand out because we are wearing shoes.  Half way across sense takes a hand and we return to India.

You're going the wrong way!

Indian border ahead

It’s a long drive back in the dark and it is slow and tough going. The trucks come out a night – slow, dirty, big and badly lit – there are hundreds of them crawling up the narrow, pot-holed roads.  Luckily, we have a super driver who regards overtaking trucks 3 at a time, often on bends as a perfectly normal manoeuvre. It’s an adrenaline fuelled journey of almost 4 hours with everything clenched.

We flash past candle-lit roadside markets

Now off to Assam for the next part of our North Eastern road-trip.