Exploring Guwahati in Assam and Sailing On the Brahmaputra River

20 Nov 2024, Wed:

Guwahati-Bombay

Exploring Guwahati in Assam and Sailing On the Brahmaputra River

I have always been fascinated by rivers. Being near them thrills me no end—whether it is the mighty Mekong River, the Mississippi, the Nile, the Seine or the Thames—rivers delight me. Being right in the vicinity of the Brahmaputra—one of the three great rivers of the Indian sub-continent (the other two being the Ganges and the Indus), it was understandable that I would attempt to get close to it, to see it and, if possible, to take a ferry ride on its abundant waters. This is the river that causes havoc every year (if my high school geography lessons are to be believed) for it habitually breaks its banks during the monsoon season, causing untold loss of life and limb.

Our flight for Bombay was leaving from Guwahati airport at 5.00 pm—which means we needed to be at the airport at 3.00 pm (adhering to the two hour rule of thumb for domestic flights). With the entire day to kill and with no group planned activity, it made sense for Llew and me to try to find our way to the river ghats and then try our luck from that point. I certainly did not intend to leave Guwahati without getting close to the river.

Breakfast in Hotel Ashiyana:

During breakfast (really nothing to rave about—we had toast and omlets with coffee—which we requested as only tea was available), I used Google to try to figure out where we should go to get a ferry on the Brahmaputra. I discovered that we would need to take a taxi/Uber for a 45 minute ride into the city (which meant braving traffic) to get to one of the ghats that enabled visitors to take a ferry to an island. Just when I was all set to do that, along came Joan and her husband Allan (two of our tour group members) who also had a late evening’s flight back to Bombay. As they were also keen on sight-seeing in Guwahati, we told them of our plans to take a boat on the river and they agreed to get in with us on the scheme. They also wanted to see the famous Maa Kamakya Temple which is, supposedly, architecturally quite distinctive. But as I was afraid we’d become stressed trying to return to our hotel to get our flight back, I declined that part of their excursion.

However, one of the staff members at the restaurant informed us that we did not need to go all the way into the city if we wished to see the river. We could take a much shorter ride, he said, about ten-fifteen minutes, to another spot from where ferries would be available. Well, that seemed like a far better plan. So, in the end, that was where we headed.

on a Sight Seeing Jaunt of Guwahati:

Our Uber did not take long to arrive and off we went. I had expected the ride to be 15 minutes, but it turned out to be more like half an hour (without any traffic). However, once we arrived in the heart of the city (and a very unimpressive city it is too), the Uber slowed down considerably. Before long, we began to see glimpses of the river—not at all in spate, but with a rather wide shoreline (which suggested that it had receded considerably).

Anyway, long story short, we did arrive at the river front and after some skillful negotiating with the boatmen who started off by telling us we’d have to pay Rs. 4000 for a private vessel that would take us to a neighboring island that had a significant temple on it that we could visit and then be ferried back, we brought them down to Rs. 200 per head to take a ride on a communal boat.

As it turned out, the communal boat had just six passengers on it: Joan, Allan, Llew, myself and another couple! So we might as well have had a private vessel after all! At any rate, we boarded the boat and within minutes, were out on the river—my wish was fulfilled and our mission was accomplished! It was a beautiful day and the sun was out—golden but not uncomfortably warm. We had a glimpse of the many structures along the waterfront including some temples and soon we were out in the middle of the river heading towards the island. We arrived at the island in about twenty minutes, but I have to say that I had woken up with an upset tummy which had lowered my energy levels.

Exploring the Island in the Middle of the Brahmaputra River:

Hence, when we disembarked from the boat on the island and I discovered that getting to the temple involved a steep climb up a hill, I declined to undertake it. I sat on a large boulder in the shade, overlooking the river—indeed encompassed all around by it—and awaited the return of the three others who decided to go out and explore.

I might have sat for about twenty minutes enjoying the sight all around me when they returned. They had taken pictures—but good job I did not climb the hill! They were unable to enter the temple and had to content themselves with taking pictures of the exterior.

We reboarded the boat and we were off for our return sail to the ferry pier. This took about fifteen minutes but left us enough time to take pictures of ourselves on the river. It was a wonderful excursion and I was so glad we did it for almost no money at all.

Back to our Hotel:

By this point, it was 11.00 am and I was keen to get back to the hotel as my stomach was rather dodgy and I was afraid to stay out too long. Joan and Allan were keen to get to the Maa Kamakya Temple and hailed a passing rickshaw to take them there. Llew and I called for an Uber to make our way back to our hotel. Our Uber took more than 20 minutes to get to us, but eventually it did, much to our relief.

Another twenty minutes later, we were dropped outside our hotel. As we had already checked out and had our backpacks waiting down at Reception, all we could do was wait in the lobby. That was when we ran into Sunil and Nisreen, who were also headed to Bombay, on a flight that left just a little after ours. They were intending to get to the airport early and while away their time in the Lounge. We thought this was a good idea—indeed I’d rather be sitting at the airport than in the lobby of that hotel.

And so, we ended up sharing a taxi that was sent to us by our tour operator, Savio, and we were off. Just ten minutes later, we were at Guwahati airport. We checked in quite swiftly and found our gate and everything else. The other two were stuck at the baggage drop off area for some reason and joined us later. By this time, I discovered that my credit card was accepted for use in the Lounge but Llew’s was not. He would have to pay Rs. 1,700 to use the Lounge. Luckily for us, there was a 50% discount for use of the Lounge and, therefore, at Rs. 850, it made sense for us to pay for Llew to use it.

Last Couple of Hours in the Airport Lounge:

We were happy to be in the airport lounge with our new friends whose company we really enjoyed. The buffet offered a variety of dishes and many beverages including beer, if we wanted refreshment. As it was lunch-time, the others tucked happily into the spread, while I stayed very light as I was really concerned about my tummy. I had taken medication (which I always carry when traveling precisely for Delhi Belly), but it did not seem to be doing the trick. I took another dose and only ate fruit in the lounge.

We were in the lounge long enough that the menu on the buffet table was changed to make way for teatime treats—which meant that we had the opportunity for two meals before our gate and flight were announced and we had to leave to board it. We said bye to Sunil and Nisreen, made promises to stay in touch with them and were off to our gate.

b>Return Flight to Bombay:

We had a very pleasant flight on Indigo Airlines on our way back. The flight was very much on schedule and I had a very pleasant companion sitting beside me—a young Khasi man who is working as a business journalist with Bloomberg in Bombay. We had a fascinating conversation and I was mighty impressed by his drive, his ambition and his attitude. He was also appealingly shy and soft-spoken--a thoroughly lovely gentleman. Time flew past as we said goodbye to Northeastern India and flew over the Indian sub-continent.

Two and a half hours later, we were touching down in Bombay. We then headed to the pre-paid cabs spot, engaged a cab, found ours and made our way home. An hour later (terrible traffic in Bombay even at about 9.pm), we were home. I have to say that I spent a terrible first night at home as major food poisoning kicked in for me and stayed with me throughout the next day—after which I was medicating quite generously. It took about 36 hours for the bug to leave my system.

Conclusion:

And so, our introduction to Northeastern India and our travels in that neck of the woods came to an end. It had been lovely—a mixed bag of experiences (some top-of-the-line, others highly forgettable). But, in the end, it left us feeling satisfied and deeply fulfilled at having explored and made acquaintance with another corner of the world in which we had never before set foot. We also made a couple of new friends, heard a world-class pop group (Boney M) perform live in concert, listened to three literary luminaries pontificate on their work (Vikram Seth, Jerry Pinto and Shoba De), reached the Indo-Bangladesh border to walk across No Man’s Land, sailed on the magnificent Brahmaputra River, crossed Living Root bridges (the only ones of their kind in India), explored subterranean caves studded with marine fossils, saw waterfalls galore and walked above the clouds in one of the wettest parts of the world.

So, yes, it was a very gratifying trip and we are so glad we took it.

Thanks for following me on this armchair journey. Until we next sally forth, may the road rise up to greet you…