guwahati ... boat rides and more

I spent three days at Guwahati, most of it at work or at the airport or in the way between. The little that I got to see was in the mornings, when I would get up early to go for a walk on the banks of the brahmaputra, which was very close to my hotel.

I missed my early morning flight (thanks to some hectic traveling and late nights) As luck would have it, I got onto the next flight, getting away with just a small fine for my complete lack of punctuality. I had just completed a tour of Kerala and as we were flying low over the "Gateway to the North East" - I could see similar landscapes of blue skies and green mountains. But once I entered the city, I realised how different this place was from what I called home.

The streets, the views, the people ... everything was like any other city ... but yet so different. I knew the feeling within me ... It was the same excitement that I felt while traveling out of India. In the first evening I had to throw a party for my trade partners on a roof top restaurant which is when I got a view of the city enclosed by mountains on three sides and the imposing ocean of a river on the other.

The first two days I tried soaking in as much as I could of the city. I was told that I had to see the famous Kamakhya temple. I tried venturing out in the second day to the banks of the brahmaputra, camera in hand. But time was short and I had to get back to work.



Unfortunately for me the third day was Assam Bandh and we decided to spend the whole day at the airport and kill time before my evening flight back home. In the morning however I was determined that I wouldnt go back without a few good snaps. So once more ... off I went, camera in hand. I got onto the boat without knowing where it went and when I would be back. We reached an island and I went in to explore it more.

I got to see the Dol Govinda temple there. On returning I realised that there were no more ferry services for a long time as bandh had ensured no takers for the boat ride. So I sat there vaguely waiting with the boatmen who were catching fish, hoping for some divine intervention and wondering what my colleagues at the hotel would be thinking when they got up.


I got to hear quite a bit when I finally reached the hotel ...I tried my best to stay back as the prospect of seeing Shillong was too tempting, but this wasnt the right time. Legend has it that if you visit Guwahati and not see the Kamakhya temple, you will keep coming back till you see the temple. My fingers are crossed.