INDIA: RETURN TO DELHI AND SUNDAY CHURCH IN AN LDS WARD

 December 21-22, 2024

Bob left early in the morning for one more birding trip with Bablu while the rest of us enjoyed a slower morning with time to pack and eat breakfast. A van and driver picked us up around 10:30 AM and we began the long trek back to Guwahati and the airport. This time I sat up front, and the driver was much, much smoother. We also seemed to be on better roads, so I wonder if we took a different (perhaps longer?) route. Anyway, I survived without motion sickness.

We had another difficult pass through the airport. We had no ticket confirmations or boarding passes, which apparently were required just to get through the first door. The officials finally let us in, but three of us had to stay near the entrance guards while Bob picked up our boarding passes. Our time in Guwahati and Kaziranga was the only part of the trip where we were not with Audley Travel, the agency Bob used to plan the rest of the trip, and it reinforced that when you travel to India, it is a good idea NOT to do it on your own. We are pretty experienced, savvy travelers, and it was almost too much for us!

When we had arrived in Guwahati four days before, we didn't stay long in the airport. This time we were there for several hours waiting for our departure time.  We admired the holiday decor. 

We tried to understand why these signs were on the trash cans.

We hunted and hunted for something for dinner and finally ordered a veggie pizza that came with corn, green olives, green peppers, onions and ketchup.  Yeah, no.

INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 4

 December 20, 2024

On our last day at Kaziranga National Park, Chris, Stan, and I needed a break from driving around in the Jeep and elected to take a boat ride on the Brahmaputra River while Bob went on a morning birding drive with Bablu.

I'm not sure it was the right decision.

It took us almost an hour to drive to the river and appropriate dock, and then there really wasn't much to see.  

We walked out onto the very fine white sand and gazed out at what looked more like a lake than a river. The water didn't seem to be moving, and the expanse was very broad. The Brahmaputra River is the 15th longest river in the world and the 9th largest by output.

We three passengers boarded our luxury yacht with our guide and two people running the boat.

We motored away from shore and upriver for a while.

INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 3

 December 19, 2024

Third day, fourth safari drive, fourth area of the national park. You'll notice that this is a shorter post. By now, we had seen most of the animals we were going to see and the novelty had worn of just a little bit--at least for some of us.

Off we go! I'm prone to motion sickness, so I'm that person who always has to sit in the front seat. Chris usually sat with me, and the men got the bumpy back seat. That's our guide Bablu Hussain taking the selfie, and our driver (whose name I've unfortunately forgotten but who was incredible) is on the right.

We would have missed so much if we had not had Bablu's expertise and binocular-level eyes spotting birds and other creatures as we drove along. See that little bird on the low-hanging branch below? That's a good example. 

Indochinese roller

This beast, on the other hand, was impossible to miss. We were very impressed by the size and pointiness of its horn. 

INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 2

 December 18, 2024

We got off early in the morning and were welcomed to the Jeep by hot water bottles for our laps/feet and a nice warm blanket. There were also hot water bottles in our beds at night. Luxurious.

We didn't get very far before Bob saw a bird, or our guide saw a bird, and we had to stop for a look-see.

For those of us who stayed in the Jeep, there was plenty of entertainment on the road. We saw dozens of these large cargo trucks that were painted in bright colors with interesting designs. This seemed to be unique to the State of Assam (where Kaziranga is) as we didn't see them elsewhere. Or maybe they just stood out more in Assam because it wasn't wall-to-wall traffic.

We also got a kick out of all the animal warning signs. 

INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 1

 December 17, 2024

As I see it, there are five reasons to visit Kaziranga National Park: 1) It has two-thirds of the WORLD'S POPULATION of one-horned rhinos, a vulnerable species; 2) It is a Tiger Reserve; 3) It is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA); 4) It is a UNESCO World Heritage site; 5) It has elephants. I'll go anywhere that has elephants.

Another reason is that although it isn't a huge park--just 25 miles by 8 miles--it also isn't crowded like some of the bigger parks in Africa. 

We left on our first safari drive at around 2:00 PM after having lunch shortly after we arrived in the park. We would have two more safari drives the next day, then two more on the day after that. Typically the morning drive was 7:00 AM - 12:30 PM, and the afternoon drive was 2:00-5:30 PM. Those times include the driving time from our lodgings to one of the entrances to the park, which ranged from 20 minutes to an hour. In between the two drives we returned to the lodge for a delicious lunch.

It's hard to blog about a safari because it's not a linear experience. We typically saw many of the same sites/animals over and over again, and sometimes we drove in loops. After a while, one area begins to look like another, at least to me. 

However, one thing that continued to surprise us was the use of elephants as transportation on the highway and at other places. These photos were taken through the car windshield, so they aren't the best, but you still get the idea, right?

There are several entrances into the reserve, and this is the first one we took. The little white sign under the unreadable green sign says "Kaziranga: 70% of India's wild rhinos call it home."  That is impressive.

They provide a nice photo window where you can pose above seven scary men with big guns who are probably watching for poachers.

Here we go!

INDIA: GUWAHATI TO KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK

 December 17, 2024

We were up at 6:00 AM, ignoring both the 12.5 hour time difference between where we were and California and our 40 hours of travel, and were down at the extensive and excellent breakfast buffet by 7:15. Chris and I especially liked the black rice in a purple pudding--more dessert than breakfast!

A driver in a small minivan came to pick us up at 8:00 AM. Our luggage caused him and the hotel staff some distress. They spent over twenty minutes strapping it to the roof, and we finally got on the road at about 8:30.

We headed east-north-east through the finger of India that lies between Tibet to the north, Bangladesh to the southwest, and Myanmar to the southeast. I had no idea that India was anything other than the downward-pointing triangle I always pictured it as.

The distance was just over 200 km, or 125 miles, but it took us 4.25 hours of driving.

It started out well enough with wide, scenic roads lined by vendors, most of them selling oranges.

INDIA: GUWAHATI - MAA KAMAKHYA AND TIRUPATI BALAJI TEMPLES

 December 16, 2024

Our traveling companions were not going to arrive until late in the evening, so we had planned a tour of some of the religious sites in Guwahati, the largest city in the Indian state of Assam. Assam is a little finger of India that stretches to the east in between Bhutan and Bangladesh. Guwahati has a population of over a million people and is one of India's fastest-growing metropolises. In India, with population comes pollution, and that is definitely a problem in Guwahati. In fact, in 2023 it was ranked the second-most polluted city in the world (ahead of Delhi).

Here is the view from our hotel window:

At 3:30 in the afternoon, shortly after we checked into our hotel, we were picked up by our guide, Shyamol Gogoi, a young man working on a master's degree in Tourism Organization. I'll say right at the beginning that if you need a guide for Guwahati, he is an outstanding choice. 

It took just a few blocks of navigation by the expert driver that accompanied Shyamol to validate all the advice we had read that tourists should not drive in India. The traffic doesn't look bad here, but believe me, it was. Besides, as passengers we were free to marvel at the colors and designs that make India India. Take a look at these painted concrete pylons holding up the highway. 

Our first stop was the Hindu Maa Kamakhya Temple, perched in the hills above the city. I loved the markets that line the streets on the approach to the entrance. They were selling a few tourist items, but also items that are part of Hindu temple worship.