Flight time to Gauhati from Bangalore is 3 hrs and 15 minutes. We landed in Gauhati Airport. Like all other airports, it is s modern airport..
The weather was pleasant. When we came out of the Airport, there was the car assigned to us with a driver.. We reached Gauhati around 11 am . We proceeded to Kaziranga from the airport. To Kaziranga Wild Life sanctuary. It is a long journey and reached Kaziranga at about 6 p.m. It was a resort. On our way to the resort, we had the good fortune of seeing a rhinoceros in a filed by the side of the main highway.
. My driver said that attacking the rhino is a criminal offence and the people around Kaziranga have been made to love that animal. Hence the animals roam without any fear there
The resort was very beautiful. That night, there was a cloud burst. I felt as though the sky had come down on earth. For about 3 hours it rained and rained and that to very big heavy drops of rain. There were fierce lightening and thunder. I thought it was directed towards our place. It is all because, Kaziranga is not far away from Chirapunji, which gets the highest rainfall.
Next day morning, we were asked to be ready to go on jeep “safari†( ride ) to go into the Kaziranga sanctuary to see the wild animals in their natural habitat. The means of travel inside the park is on the back of trained elephants with mahout guides, or in Jeep or 4WD vehicles. But since the season was about to be over, we had to go by jeep only. We had to depart from the Park Administrative Centre in Kohora.
The Park has three tourist routes under the jurisdiction of three Ranges — Kohora, Bagori and Agaratoli. We were taken to Kohora ranges. We were driven through the forest which are open to light vehicles from November to mid May. The park remains closed from mid-April to mid-October due to monsoon. Visitors willing to view wild life by motorcars are guided through these roads by the staff of this department.
Myself being from Karnataka ( southern part of India ) where we have several such sanctuaries which we visit very often, I knew that except trees one would not see anything else. But the very thought of a ride itself was interesting. We went into Kaziranga Wild Life sanctuary after following the formalities at Kohora
We could see a couple of rhinoceros and few wild birds, reptiles etc. On the whole it was interesting. On the way we visited a couple of tea estates also. As we had seen tea estates earlier in Munnar, Kerala, it did not excite us so much.
I had heard that Assam is a home for areca trees. When I looked around I found that that was not grown as it is done in this part of the country but it looks as though they grow wild as some of our flower plants. It is clear that they do not take care of the trees and is gown a few in each compound.
After Kaziranga visit we left for Shillong which is 370 kms from Kaziranga. It is the capital of Meghalaya, one of the states in North Eastern part of India. .
Meghalaya means “the abode of clouds” inSanskrit. As of 2011, the state has a population of 2,964,007 and is the 23rd most populous in the country. One should say here something about the roads in Assam. They are really very good motorable Highways.
One should say that the Government there has given lot of importance to this infrastructure development. One can see lot of such development works being executed. Though Shillong is 370 kms from Kaziranga, it took less than 7 hours to reach after a couple of breaks for some snacks. In Meghalaya,
While travelling, we saw the Umiam Lake (Barapani) surrounded by hills Umiam lake. It is also known as Barapani. It means vast water. There is a legend surrounding that name. It is said that two sisters cane down from heaven to Meghalaya but only one could reach and the one who reached Meghalaya, she cried so much that a lake was formed.
Let me say a few words about this lake which I was surprised to learn that as a man made one and built on the river Umium. It looks and again speaks volumes of the ingenuity of man if he has the will to do. It looks perfectly natural. I learn that the reservoir is of a dam, the construction work for it began in 1965 and it was one of the first Hydro Power project in north-East India. The lake is also dotted with small islands. Occasionally small motor boats paddle through the serene water. It is also the main source of drinking water to Shilling City, which is the capital of Meghalaya. Travellers can now make a quick stop at the view point towards Shillong side. It has spacious parking lot and a good enough view of the lake below. We spent nearly half an hour taking photographs and eating some snacks. Shillong is about 15 kms from the Umiam Lake
We arrived at the hotel at around 6 p.m. On arrival at Shillong, check in at your hotel I was surprised to see in Meghalaya, the women have an unique dressing habit. I was told they belong to Kasi tribe. The women wear traditional jain kyrshahs – an apron of chequered material worn slantwise from one shoulder over a blouse and skirt. This is really very interesting. I had been told in Dharmsala that the women of Tibetan origin too have dress habit to differentiate between married women from unmarried ones.
The capital of Meghalaya and also its largest city, Shillong is quaint yet cosmopolitan- with both scenic views and pine covered slopes., We went to Ward’s Lake is a popular hangout for both tourists and locals, and is set amidst beautiful gardens. One can take a boat ride on this artificial lake, feed the fish and watch the ducks swim by. There are many waterfalls in this region We Stoppped at a café Coffee Day in the upmarket Laitumkhrah area.