Silk and Rhinos Assam, India
The daily rhythms of life on the Brahmaputra River
“India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.” – Mark Twain
India is an incredible travel destination. Growing up, vacations consisted of visiting grandparents or aunts and uncles. Consequently, cousins really bonded but wandering and exploring new places were really not in our lexicon. Just as I’ve been trying to make up for lost time with my wandering around the world, I’m trying to explore new destinations in India.
The Northeast is an emerging destination which is finally getting some traction domestically and internationally. I made my first tentative foray but hope to be back for more.
The Amchong Tea Estate, spread over 1700 acres planted. Of course I visited just before the rainy season, so no tea pickers were out and about but we got to drive through the property in a jeep across unpaved dusty roads, almost an “E” ride at Disneyland for those of you who remember the thrill of such rides so long ago.
Most of the tea in Assam is not cultivated on hills. This tea estate just outside Guwahati is an exception.
After boarding our ship that would take us up and down the Brahmaputra River, our first port of call was a village known for cultivating and weaving the local silk. We got an education on the Mulberry plants and silkworms and how the silk thread is extracted in an unbroken long string and then woven into cloth.
This is like a cottage industry though the golden silk is extremely expensive and while not on the silk road, these villages were considered peripheral to the silk road given their proximity to Tibet and China.
A new bridge over the Brahmaputra was under construction. It was interested sailing right under the construction so to speak. While things don’t move fast in that part of the world it was interesting to see this gap closed when we sailed past again, the approaching monsoon giving a lot of urgency to getting construction jobs completed.
The British Army had soldiers stationed here in this remote corner of India. This cemetery in Guwahati is where many of those that passed during their tenure here were buried.
As we wandered through this peaceful idyll in the center of town, there were British tourists with us who spent time going over the names and histories of the people interred here.
The Kamakhya temple has deep religious significance for Hindus. People come here from far and near seeking help for fertility issues. There are some statues of the Goddess here that used to display her body but have now been covered up for modesty's sake.
Goats are donated as well as sacrificed here but we did not venture anywhere close to where these blood sacrifices were made though we saw many goats especially white ones wandering around the complex with flower garlands and colorful symbols.
We did not make it into the inner sanctum which had a 6 plus hour waiting line instead we explored the temple complex, lit candles, gave our obeisance to the Goddess at some of the shrines dotted around the temple complex and chatted with some of the pilgrims.
That evening we enjoyed the Bihu Dance performance by the local villagers on board our ship. The performance was supposed to be on the roomy sun deck but unfortunately the wind was picking up and sand was blowing so we moved the furniture in the lounge to make room for the dancers.
To round off a day of local delights the chef prepared a thali of all the traditional dishes of the local area.
We were off to see the Rhinos after a challenging disembarkation on a mud bank which had no infrastructure helped by the crew, we managed to make it up to the vehicles that would take us into the national park.
While we rushed along to the park’s entrance, one of the jeeps had a rhino sighting. For the rest of us while we saw a large variety of birds the rhinos remained elusive despite our guide telling us the numbers and how it’s impossible to missing seeing them.
Finally, our patience was rewarded and after we saw the first one, we were able to see many more spread out across a wide area.
There was a large variety of birds and one of the couples with us who were avid bird watchers were in seventh heaven. For me this parrot couple with papa watching for predators and mamma protecting the nest just made my day.
That afternoon we were scheduled to visit another local village to see how the village coped with the floods on the river that wiped out their villages every year, but we all passed.
Instead that night we enjoyed a barbeque Indian style on the sandbank. It’s hard to imagine that these sandbanks that look so permanent are transient and subject to the whims of the mighty river and how it floods.
I was told that the Northeast and the Brahmaputra River once they get their hooks in you, they never let go. I fear those stories are true because I can’t wait to go back and visit Nagaland, Arunachal and other areas in the mysterious and fascinating Northeast of India.