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Text & Images:Shahwar Hussain |
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The helmet can be a furnace at times, and years of riding long distances have resulted in a fried brain. And a fried brain results in short term amnesia (my theory). Otherwise, how come I don’t remember riding in North East India in pouring rain earlier this year? I think I should ride a little less during the summer to save my brain from getting fried beyond repair!
A few friends had come down from different parts of the country to ride through the North East with me, and now the rain was threatening to play spoilsport. But the skies held in the evening, and we quickly made our way to Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati in Assam – arguably the most famous tantric temple in India, built in 1565 by the Koch Dynasty. According to legend, the Goddess had cursed the Royal family and banned them from offering Puja in the temple. Over the centuries, the ban held and no one from the royal family, or their descendants, has ever been to the temple. The curse was strong, and fearful enough, to even compel the late Maharani Gayatri Devi, who also belonged to the Koch Dynasty, to look the other way while crossing the Kamakhya area!
The temple holds interest, even for people who are not really into places of worship – the history, the structure, the tantric rites, the teeming pilgrims, and the hill top location with an awesome view of the Brahmaputra River and the white sand on the shore, all makes for an alluring combination. A young priest approached us with an offer to take us inside the temple for prayers. He was rather persistent, and convinced two of the guys to go in – a Prayer for the road, that was good. But for me, I have a direct hotline with God.
Later, as we sat on the bank and sipped tea, we saw the flaming red Sun go down on the other side of the hill. The setting Sun set the skies on fire and the reflection on the river was simply breathtaking – and in the middle of that mighty river we saw one lonely boat ferrying its occupants to the other side. Twilight is a beautiful, but also the loneliest time of the day.
Early the next day, we rode out for Meghalaya. We started early to avoid those coal laden, black smoke bleaching land locomotives that we call trucks. There is massive road construction work going on in Meghalaya, and the rain made certain sections a sea of mud.
We were on our way to the village of Mawlynnlong – a distance of around 180 kilometers from Guwahati. We gave Shillong a miss on our way up. The village is about 86 kilometers from Shillong, and it’s said to be the cleanest village in Asia. And the friendly villagers take the tag of ‘Cleanest Village’ rather seriously – this is judging by the fact that we could see little children casually picking up dry fallen leaves. Plus, there are dustbins all around, and, for the life of me, I wouldn’t be seen littering here.
We stayed at a lovely bamboo tree house. It wasn’t Tarzan’s tree house exactly, but I was happy. Half of the house is in the branches, and there’s a lovely machan built completely on the tree. Henry, the caretaker, made some lovely chicken dish, and we sat in the machan with a dim overhead bulb for company. The food was simply great, and I’m sure we ate some insects and flies too that were hovering overhead near the bulb – either way, they probably added to the taste, and no one complained! And, all along, we heard the river roaring down below.
We went to the village the next day, and there was a platform high up on a tree that was called ‘Sky View.’ We paid a 10 Rupee fee to go up the bamboo pathway upto the platform to see the wide plains of Bangladesh.
The most amazing thing that we saw, though, was the root bridge. No one knows the exact age of the bridge, but from the accounts of the old villagers, it seems to be about 150 years old. Since the river gets quite wild in the monsoon, the villagers had to take a very long detour to get to the other side. So, they enclosed the young roots of a tree inside some bamboos to divert them to the other side of the river. Over the years, the roots grew through the bamboos and reached the other side and took root there. Now it’s a solid structure. There are quite a few living root bridges like this in the area, and there’s a double-decker bridge too – a fantastic example of using nature for benefit without destroying it.
We left Mawlynnlong for Shillong before noon. The road till Shillong is an absolute dream – good enough for a Superbike. We passed through two gorges where the mist came rolling in twice and enveloped us completely, before we stopped at a place called Mylliem at a small shop with white lace curtains run by a mother and daughter duo. The shop is nameless, but they make the best beef balls in the whole wide world that simply melt in your mouth. My fellow riders almost cleaned out the entire shop and had only beef balls for dinner!
Just before we reached Shillong, we spotted two lovely war era Willys Jeeps in mint condition. Shillong is total Jeep country, and many of them are WWII Willys and Ford jeeps. Most of them still have the original engines and are in very good condition, but they are becoming too expensive to run these days.
At Shillong, we went for a small jamming session before we left for Narthiang the next day. About 55 kilometers from Shillong, Narthiang is a UNESCO Heritage site, and the place is littered with monoliths of all sizes and shapes – but the inscription doesn’t say why all the monoliths were placed there. Back in Shillong, we took a tour of Bara Bazar in the afternoon. It’s an amazing place, and a photographer could exhaust any number of memory cards shooting the sights of this bazaar. This market is for traditional stuff that people in Meghalaya have been using for ages – a ‘must visit’ kind of place.
After another night of jamming which went on till the wee hours of the morning, as expected, no one woke up in time the next morning. But, since we had to travel only about 120 kilometers, and on relatively good roads, it was ok.
We started out at noon, and slowly rode down towards the planes of Assam. Our next destination was the Kaziranga National Park, but since it was a long way off, we decided to spend the night at the Brahmaputra Jungle Resort. The resort is about 20 kilometers out of Guwahati city, and way off the highway – even though it had a swimming pool that was inviting, the chill kept everyone out of it.
Kaziranga was 200 kilometers away, and we reached there after about five-and-a-half hours of easy riding. The main entrance into the Kaziranga Park is at Kohora, and there are any numbers of hotels in the area – from the budget hotels to some really high-end ones. But Kohora is also the most crowded entry gate to the park, and we wanted to avoid the crowd. So, another 20 kilometers beyond Kohora, we turned left at a place called Bokahat and carried on for about 3 kilometers till the roads ended and the embankment began. Across the embankment is an eco camp run by Mr. Khanjan Nath. The camp is set on a riverbed. During the summers, the Dhansiri River floods the area and the camp shuts down. It reopens only in the winters. The bamboo houses are built on stilts in the traditional style of the Mising tribe of Assam.
This place is miles away from the town, has no other construction as far as the eye can see, and is surrounded by the brilliant yellow of mustard plants in November and December. The generator runs till about 11pm, and when the engine dies down, the silence becomes overpowering. Sitting by the bonfire with a million stars above you is a fantastic feeling.
Early the next morning, amidst heavy fog, we went for an elephant safari at the Agaratoli range at the Eastern part of the Park. This range is relatively quiet, and the animal sightings are good. The elephant safari is highly recommended – it lasts for about 2 hours and takes the visitors where the jeeps simply wouldnt go!
The resident king of the park, the rhino, seemed absolutely huge up close. We also saw a huge number of barking deer, herds of elephants, wild hogs, and a huge number of birds – some migratory, and some local ones. We were also left wondering why all the mahouts kept staring at us – till we realised that we were dressed in bright motorcycling jackets and boots. Let’s just say that bright clothes shouldn’t be worn during a jungle safari.
The jeep safari after breakfast was longer, and also interesting. In the evening, we visited a tea factory to see for ourselves the complex method of tea manufacturing. At night, we enjoyed the silence, bonfire, and, once again, the stars above.
I realise now just why I forgot about the pouring rain – it’s because there are so many magical memories that completely overpower it and banish it from the mind. Good, it’s not amnesia after all – or is it? |
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