Yes I am taking a plane I am cutting short my road trip which is 28 hours each way and taking a flight which would be only 2 hours.
Usually I take this route and is a Two day
ride at best Three, today it will take 2
hours. And cost almost same, or maybe cheaper if I fly. I am planning 2 trips and time is of essence for once.
This Morning am up at 0430 yes am an anxious traveller, being a biker holding on to timely departure and being regulated is tough to deal with post-pandemic which was more of a positive thing for me, as I took charge of my life and became more laidback and self regulated to higher degree.
Today I have a flight at 0730 from kolkata CCU to Guwahati. Morning rituals were quick and I Am ready to step out by 0500 hrs. Uber was helpful and am at airport by 0525 a good 2 hours before the flight time as recommended by airlines, AM so proud of myself yet again.
On earlier occasions I have experienced really long lines at Kolkata airport, yes it was pre-pandemic days. Thirty minutes at entrance and an hour at counter was normal, But this journey was different and today it was just Five minutes at the entrance, No need to scan check-in luggage, we sure are going high tech in Kolkata too, Neither was there a long Q at security, well I am thinking efficiency is why this is happening and not cause people are flying less. They even have Conveyer belts to move trays back to waiting customers on the security Q. Nice! No need to open shoe saw me at boarding gate in 30 min. Whew, I need not have had a sleepless night eh.
I caught 45 minutes of sleep, and no one interesting to talk around helped me sleep another 30 minutes. Chairs were in plenty and convenient for napping.
0740 my flight took off. It was a smallish aircraft, 2 in a row and it had propellers, not a jet, well no point wondering what happens if the propellers fail if it does fail? There are 2 engines, and then anyway there is 50 others travelling, was sure about karma balancing out and we would be reaching safely to our destination. It was a pleasant flight I had bought cashew nuts in case I felt hungry and I snoozed through the flight, we de- boarded right on time at 930.
The plane had rotors and was thus slower travelling at 500kmph. Quiet a bit faster then my regular vehicle of choice to North East. MY BIKE rides at 100kmph maybe 120 on some stretches if speed limit allows occasionally.
At Guwahati airport i head to the baggage claim am sure my other travel buddies plane would arrive shortly. Behold. They were already there n a quick round of hugs with known faces
Samrat Mukherjee ( an amazing wildlife Photographer) and hellos to new folks , Nikhil and Ms Sarkar and Sanjay Mukherjee we headed to our car Next stop would be Ma Kamakhya temple, a Shaktipeeth where the Womb of Devi Sati had fallen, Synonymous with Fertility and Supreme female power
Located on the Nilanchal hill 20 km from the airport is kamakhya Temple, took about 45 minutes for us to get there.
We had a darshan (temple doors close at 1200 hrs.) and enjoyed the environment of the temple. Our group had a lady who made sure we had Prasad. By1130 we were headed to kaziranga. 191 km away. From kamakhya temple.
We were hungry and would have loved a quick brunch as most of us had not had anything since morning, yet we had to wait quiet a while for lunch. Our driver possibly on payroll of a hotel wanted us to enjoy lunch at a hotel of his choice and we were all too exhausted to argue so just dozed as the car sped along the countryside, he refused to stop till 1345 n we lunched at his hotel of choice. Hotel Monikanchan.
The hotel was Ok with food, has clean washrooms with funny quotes and also funny rules like
“
a. They refused to serve chole as a dish but they had chole Bator as a dish
b. Refusing to replace batura with roti.
I would avoid such a hotel for sure.
Anyway lunch break was for an hour n we were off by 1500 again stopping 2 hours later for Tea. And once again the stop was for 45 min as we stretched and enjoyed the fresh countryside air, it was quiet windy and we savored on some seaside food (4 of us were from Mumbai and me too have spend 20 + years in Mumbai, loved street food)
, it was quiet windy- did I mention.
By 1800 hours we reached our guesthouse Aranya Tourist Lodge, which would be our base for the next 5 days, as we Explore different zones of kaziranga national park.
You might be wondering why it took us so long to reach; well 50km of the Highway road was through kaziranga national forest where speed limit is 20 to 40kmph as it is an animal corridor. We showered n settled into our rooms this day.
Dinner followed n briefing about what was to follow over the next few days.
Have you been to kaziranga national park? What was your experience while there ? What about Kamakhya Temple?
© Rajat Ghosh, available as stock image/footage
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