I'd spent a few days resting up from the previous few days, as well as trying to maintain this blog. I also tried to organise a plan as to how to get around Assam, as well as the more northerly state of Arunachal Pradesh that borders Bhutan and China. A couple of fruitless days were spent trying to engage with Assam tourism offices, and it quickly became clear how little tourism infrastructure existed there, particularly in comparison to Rajasthan, which seems so better geared to engaging with overseas and domestic tourists. Hence I was passed from one person to another, without having the kind of conversations I wanted to have with regard to the places I wanted to get to, and what would be the best approach to do this.
A real stumbling block was finding a guide (or guides) who I might be able to go trekking with in Arunachal Pradesh. Even though this was a separate state, I hoped there might be some information available from Assam tourism, but to my surprise nothing was available. As much by accident, and my memory is slightly sketchy as to how this came about, somebody put me in touch with an agent who it seems works outside of the state tourism apparatus who could facilitate access to a 30 day trekking pass. I met with the agent in a hotel, paid the fee and completed various forms, and a week or so later the crucial trekking pass arrived. Had I not met with Mr Nath, I wonder if I would have been able to obtain it given the limitations of time, and without it, trekking is strictly prohibited as it is a protected zone. Moreover he was able to put me in touch with a trekking guide in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, who later accompanied me on a trek in Ziro, so that was most valuable.
Much of this trip has been done "on the hoof" in that i've started with a basic plan but been sidetracked to some extent by emerging interests or other circumstances, so nothing has been set in stone. Nonetheless I was keen to visit Kaziranga national park, one of Asia's great wildlife sanctuary and famous for being home to most of the world's one-horned rhinos, as well as many other species. Kaziranga covers over 400 square kilometres. I'd seen such wonderful species at Ranthambore in (Rajasthan) and Chitwan (in Western Nepal), and I was keen to see more of the same in Assam.
I caught the bus to the town of Kohora that is adjacent to the national park at around 7am, and soon after leaving Guwahati, a fairly unattractive city of grey dilapidated buildings common to many urban areas of India, we were soon plunged into the irridescent greenery of rural Assam. Passing along the main highway, the views were stupendous: meandering waterways, villages and lush trees.
I stayed in an eco-resort, which essentially comprised a set of chalets made almost entirely of bamboo, with a mosquito net draped over the bed. I'd managed to get the accommodation and the guide through an online resource, and neither were easy to obtain, partly as unbeknownst to me, the national park was due to close from May 1st.
There are four zones in Kaziranga, and with the guide, Pranjal, I managed to visit all of them. I arrived in Kohora on 27th at around 1pm in the afternoon to be met by Pranjal, and there was just enough time to grab some lunch and go to the Western zone of Kaziranga, which is probably the most popular. It's a stunning environment, but appeared quite different to Ranthambore (in Rajasthan) as the foliage seemed much less dense and more distant from the jeep, so that I felt I was in much less of a "jungle" space.
As at Ranthambore, there seemed to be an excess of safari jeeps during the day, and the noise of the vehicles perhaps makes some of the wildlife more wary, and consequently less easy to view. Fortunately we stayed quite late (afternoon safari-goers are expected to leave by 5pm), and it was sometime after this that we started to make our way to the exit, after spending quite a while at a viewing point, so it seemed like we were perhaps the last to depart. On the way out, however, we saw a gorgeous herd of elephants and water buffaloes, a well as some of the famed rhinos. Maybe having fewer vehicles about made them more willing to move away from where they had been? It seemed that way to me. Wild elephants are such a community-minded bunch; I could watch them for hours.
We also saw some wonderful birds, my favourite being the Indian roller. Pity they were too far away to get a decent photograph, but when they take off with their bluish wings, they looked majestic. As the evening drew to a close, the fading light provided a dreamy essence to the landscapes.
The next day we visited two further zones of Kaziranga: Eastern zone in the morning, and Western zone in the afternoon. I hadn't realised until we'd set off in the morning that as the Eastern zone is less visited, certainly at this time of year, it is considered to be more dangerous by the park authorities as there are few other safari jeeps to ward off aggressive animals. Hence we needed to travel with an armed guard, rifle at the ready.
This was one of those occasions when a good camera with a powerful zoom lens would have been very handy as there was so much birdlife to admire. Pranjal had kindly brought along a pair of binoculars that were useful, but it would have been nice to photograph some of the species. The highlight was watching a kingfisher in action. I'd not seen one actually fish before, but watching one hovering above a waterway over a period of time and then swoop suddenly on its prey was a wonderful sight. It seems a most appropriate name for a bird that must have astonishing eyesight.
During the afternoon, there was more bird life to admire. The variety of trees was amazing, and there is something very special about being in those kinds of environments, where you feel the natural world in such an immediate way. It's so different to how you generally experience the world. At one point there were people on the river using traditional methods of fishing on the outskirts of the national park, and I would love to have examined this more closely.
The following day we visited the Burapahar range, which again has restricted access. The highlight here was coming across a river where on either side there were two herds of elephants which were pretty adjacent to our vehicle. That was a real treat. There were some stunning twilight views as we left the national park, really lovely.
A real stumbling block was finding a guide (or guides) who I might be able to go trekking with in Arunachal Pradesh. Even though this was a separate state, I hoped there might be some information available from Assam tourism, but to my surprise nothing was available. As much by accident, and my memory is slightly sketchy as to how this came about, somebody put me in touch with an agent who it seems works outside of the state tourism apparatus who could facilitate access to a 30 day trekking pass. I met with the agent in a hotel, paid the fee and completed various forms, and a week or so later the crucial trekking pass arrived. Had I not met with Mr Nath, I wonder if I would have been able to obtain it given the limitations of time, and without it, trekking is strictly prohibited as it is a protected zone. Moreover he was able to put me in touch with a trekking guide in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, who later accompanied me on a trek in Ziro, so that was most valuable.
Much of this trip has been done "on the hoof" in that i've started with a basic plan but been sidetracked to some extent by emerging interests or other circumstances, so nothing has been set in stone. Nonetheless I was keen to visit Kaziranga national park, one of Asia's great wildlife sanctuary and famous for being home to most of the world's one-horned rhinos, as well as many other species. Kaziranga covers over 400 square kilometres. I'd seen such wonderful species at Ranthambore in (Rajasthan) and Chitwan (in Western Nepal), and I was keen to see more of the same in Assam.
I caught the bus to the town of Kohora that is adjacent to the national park at around 7am, and soon after leaving Guwahati, a fairly unattractive city of grey dilapidated buildings common to many urban areas of India, we were soon plunged into the irridescent greenery of rural Assam. Passing along the main highway, the views were stupendous: meandering waterways, villages and lush trees.
I stayed in an eco-resort, which essentially comprised a set of chalets made almost entirely of bamboo, with a mosquito net draped over the bed. I'd managed to get the accommodation and the guide through an online resource, and neither were easy to obtain, partly as unbeknownst to me, the national park was due to close from May 1st.
There are four zones in Kaziranga, and with the guide, Pranjal, I managed to visit all of them. I arrived in Kohora on 27th at around 1pm in the afternoon to be met by Pranjal, and there was just enough time to grab some lunch and go to the Western zone of Kaziranga, which is probably the most popular. It's a stunning environment, but appeared quite different to Ranthambore (in Rajasthan) as the foliage seemed much less dense and more distant from the jeep, so that I felt I was in much less of a "jungle" space.
As at Ranthambore, there seemed to be an excess of safari jeeps during the day, and the noise of the vehicles perhaps makes some of the wildlife more wary, and consequently less easy to view. Fortunately we stayed quite late (afternoon safari-goers are expected to leave by 5pm), and it was sometime after this that we started to make our way to the exit, after spending quite a while at a viewing point, so it seemed like we were perhaps the last to depart. On the way out, however, we saw a gorgeous herd of elephants and water buffaloes, a well as some of the famed rhinos. Maybe having fewer vehicles about made them more willing to move away from where they had been? It seemed that way to me. Wild elephants are such a community-minded bunch; I could watch them for hours.
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| Water buffaloes |
We also saw some wonderful birds, my favourite being the Indian roller. Pity they were too far away to get a decent photograph, but when they take off with their bluish wings, they looked majestic. As the evening drew to a close, the fading light provided a dreamy essence to the landscapes.
The next day we visited two further zones of Kaziranga: Eastern zone in the morning, and Western zone in the afternoon. I hadn't realised until we'd set off in the morning that as the Eastern zone is less visited, certainly at this time of year, it is considered to be more dangerous by the park authorities as there are few other safari jeeps to ward off aggressive animals. Hence we needed to travel with an armed guard, rifle at the ready.
This was one of those occasions when a good camera with a powerful zoom lens would have been very handy as there was so much birdlife to admire. Pranjal had kindly brought along a pair of binoculars that were useful, but it would have been nice to photograph some of the species. The highlight was watching a kingfisher in action. I'd not seen one actually fish before, but watching one hovering above a waterway over a period of time and then swoop suddenly on its prey was a wonderful sight. It seems a most appropriate name for a bird that must have astonishing eyesight.
During the afternoon, there was more bird life to admire. The variety of trees was amazing, and there is something very special about being in those kinds of environments, where you feel the natural world in such an immediate way. It's so different to how you generally experience the world. At one point there were people on the river using traditional methods of fishing on the outskirts of the national park, and I would love to have examined this more closely.
The following day we visited the Burapahar range, which again has restricted access. The highlight here was coming across a river where on either side there were two herds of elephants which were pretty adjacent to our vehicle. That was a real treat. There were some stunning twilight views as we left the national park, really lovely.
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