QUOTE(Nimii @ May 13 2006, 08:45 AM)
Date 30th .. *yawn* the stupid alarm went vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and I am rammed it and pushed it off the shelf.. juz to remember that I had to catch the 6 am flight to Kolkata! In a zombie state I made myself a cuppa coffee and got ready.. My niece still in a sleepy state.. we reached airport in juz 20 mins(phew wah morning times ka jawab nahi .. no traffic wunly!) Checked in and jai ho prabhu ki.. the flight was on time.. 2 hrs 30 mins ka flight to Kolkata was pleasant.. I dozed off for sometime, and was woken up by
handsome steward Satpal servign me with a tetra pack drink.. Sipped and went back to sleep.. woke up again after sometime and brunch (as Sriji pointed) was served : yummy yummy dosas, cutlets to go with it.. Had my fill and went back to sleep again.. when the airhostess announced that the flight will soon land in Kolkata.. Bahaar ka taapman
was 31 deg only
woh kaisa! no idea.. it was 8.30 and my next flight to Guwahati was at 9.50 a.m.(Luckily I had checked my baggage thru.. so didnt have the hassle.. for the next security check
)
Got the Guwahati bound flight .. which reached Guwahati around 11ish..(the flight got delayed probably by 20 mins or so Indian Airlines ka jawab nahi
) - chinese meal thaa.. (how I can miss that one out
no nice steward.. one khadoos airhostess
)
At Guwahati we were met by the NRL vehicle - Tata Cheverlotte and off we drove a good 5 hrs.. half the distance we fell asleep. Somewhere midway we stopped to catch a bite.. but it was so humid that only we could drink some coke/sprite. We reached Numaligarh Guest house around 5ish in the evening.. Checked into the guest house.. exhausting trip indeed. I had a shut eye for about 1/2 hr.. after that my aunt arrived..
To be contd............
The guest house was well situated inside the township of NRL and after 1/2 hr snooze I was all set for the visits .. we had been invited by NRL chief for high tea at the local club.. phir wahan se we went to the NRL-DPS principal's home for din din.. The evening went off well.. I was rested and slept well in the airconditioned room.
May 1 - The next morning we had to rise early to get to the sanctuary .. which is about 45 mins drive by car. The park is closed for safari by elephants (the elephants had a day off for labour day too I guess.. and must have felt relieved that Nimz is not gonna ride them
) from May 1.. so we had no alternatives but to go in our own private vehicle inside the park. We left for the park around 5.45 am. and the sun was up early.. (sun rises early in the eastern part of our country.. wish we had time zones like in the US
) The Park safari by our car was about 2 hours and you guys can see the animals I saw.. It was a hot and sweaty weather.. we had a ranger (an assamese)travelling with us and he was quick and so sharp to notice the animals to show us!! Though it was a far shot of all animals it was exciting! I missed takin a snap of the jungle fowl which was so colourful! Sigh! The drive back from the sanctuary was not so bad and we drove straight to visit a tea estate. The owner had invited us over for brunch( Sriji did I get that right?). Mr. Joshi's house was awesome.. a typical tea estate house.. with a lovely garden. I was taken up with the orchids, bonsais and variety of plants he had. He had 2 great labrador dogs.. loved cuddling them up
From his home the factory was juz next door.. we had a conducted tour inside the factory.. and after I saw the elaborate processes our tea goes through so many machines
I decided every time i drink a cup of tea I would appreciate the labour that has been put in to fetch one good cup of tea!! We got a pack of tea (CTC aur leaves ka bhi) as gifty
Came back to the room and fell plop onto the bed.. the heat was getting to me again.. fell asleep and was up at 3.30 p.m. for the drive to see the brahmaputra (I was adamant to see the male river of our country
) The drive was a bumpy one.. the road leading to the village where we could get to see the river was no good.. and when we reached we sighed a relief.. my head was spinnin after the drive and the heat.. The sight was no so attractive
.. the river was not a bounty one.. probably I shld have gone after the rains.. There was the expanse of the river flowing quietly not like the rapids of ganga.... and on the yonder side lay the machali islands.. which is the biggest islands.. There was ferry to go across.. but I resisted considering we were running out of time and had to get back to our guest house.
To be contd.. Day 3 May 2