North East Odyssey: Part One

Don’t you think it would be wonderful to get rid of everything and everybody and just go someplace where you don’t know a soul?

And eventually, the unknown people you meet along this journey, become your new friends. Ten months down the pandemic of March 2020, locations started resuming to travel. I was a bit skeptical on whether I should fly somewhere in India. While there were a lot of Women Special tours during the Women's Day week in March 2021, I chose the Women Special Sikkim Darjeeling Gangtok Lachung tour of 19th Apr 2021 (just enquired, hadn’t booked it.). By the end of March, there was an increase in the number of covid cases. Eventually, April Fooled us with a lock-down! Again! I decided to get fully vaccinated first and then think of travel. Months passed by doing Work From Home. Women Special Tours were put up on the Veena World Website for Nov. I longed to visit North East, after Leh Ladakh. And here I had two options: Assam Meghalaya (8days) and Assam Arunachal Pradesh Meghalaya (12 days). When I booked the 12 days tour, little did I knew that this experience would be quite different! I had already taken the leave permission from office and had a hell lot of work to complete by 19th Nov. Frankly speaking, my excitement level was not as high as it had been earlier for Ladakh and Western Europe. There was a little worry ticking my head: will there be a sudden lock-down before the tour, will I then end up with a credit note, and so on. My wardrobe further disappointed me due the extra pounds I have put on during the WFH period. Somehow, I managed to pick 12 clothes. The next question was whether an RT-PCR test is mandatory. Hopefully, fully vaccinated people were exempted from this test. The Vaccination Certificate is now a new passport which allows us to travel India. Apart from the usual tour packing, my focus was on the medications and first aid. Finally, I was tour ready, ready to stretch my wings and fly to the Land of Seven Sisters, ready to make friends with fellow travellers, ready to travel in the "new normal".  

Day One (24.11.2021): Flying from Aamchi Mumbai to Guwahati (Gateway to the North East India) 

Earlier the group met at Mumbai Airport wherein all were dressed in yellow and received the snacks hamper. Conversations would start from the Departure gates itself. Now, even though our Tour Manager Bhushan Gupte (have listened to his podcast on Travel Katta) was accompanying us from the airport, I would meet the group at Guwahati only. Since the flight was to depart at 06:40AM from the CSMIA (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) and the reporting time was 04:15AM, I reached the airport at 11PM on the prior night. Those who lived out of Mumbai, had booked the hotel nearby airport for the night prior to departure. My Vaccination Certificate and Aadhaar Card were checked at the Indigo Entry Gate and then I was waiting on a couch till I receive my Web Check In ticket. I received the same at 12:30AM, queued up and checked in my luggage bag at the Indigo counter. Further I passed through the security checking and waited at the Gate 65A. Few shops were open on the way to the gate. It was quarter to 2AM now; every 15 minutes, there was a guideline announcement to disturb my sleep. I played multiple games of Ludo on the kiosk, searched cities on Google Earth, played Einstein puzzles, sanitized my hands every 30 minutes, walked to and fro, except sleep. At last, the boarding started at 05:45AM. I met Bhushan, while I was in the boarding queue. The ticket was scanned and Aadhaar card was checked. The airhostess greeted us. My seat was 22C. Maithili Nagle was on 22B; I didn't knew her name then. Safety instructions were explained. The 6E 312 Indigo flight took off at 06:40AM and I slept like a baby during the whole flight journey. We landed at the LGBIA (Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport), Guwahati, Assam at around 09:45 AM. 

We alighted the flight, boarded the bus, and reached the baggage belt. The airport interiors gave a feeling that finally I have landed in North East. There were Rhino models, cultural displays, etc. After picking our luggage and washroom break, we gathered at one place. Bhushan introduced himself and informed about the reshuffling of itinerary. As per the original plan, we were supposed to travel Meghalaya first. But now we would be doing Arunachal first. Vaccination Certificates were checked at the exit point and we waited outside for the vehicle. On the way, I started conversations with Maithili and her mother Usha Deshmukh. We boarded the minibus and a few got into the Innova. There was a snack packet, munch, tetra pack juice, 1L water bottle on each seat. Here, I met a few travellers: Hiteshree Neve, Mallika Gaidhani and Shraddha Shetkar. The bus dropped us at the D'Courtyard Hotel. We were waiting at the reception, for the room allotment. My roommate was Krupali Bhutkar and we got the room 308. 

We freshened up and went for lunch. We joined Shweta Samel and her mother Mangal Samel on the lunch table. I got to know that earlier they stayed in NallaSopara. Post lunch we had to complete one sightseeing. Seat allotments were done. I had a single seat so did my roommate. Fourteen of us would be travelling through the bus along with Bhushan and Tapan (our NE Tour Guide) and of course the bus driver Babul and cleaner Chotu. The remaining six will be in Innova with driver Jayanta.  

 

Kamakhya Temple (one of the 51 Shakti Peethas in India) 

We reached the temple base at around 03:30PM. We had to ascend to the temple, initially through the road and then through the steps. On the way, I met Swati Mehendale. We found young street lambs, some roaming freely while some tied up to a gate. Eventually, their fate would be "an offering to god".

The temple architecture is Nilachal type: a temple with a hemispherical dome on a cruciform base. It consists of four chambers: garbhagriha and three mandapas called calanta, pancharatna and natamandira aligned from east to west. The inner sanctum within the shikhara, the garbhagriha, is below ground level and consists of no image but a rock fissure in the shape of a yoni. According to the Kalika Purana, the temple denotes the place where the yoni (genitals, womb) of Sati fell after Shiva tandav with her corpse. As we entered the main chamber, we worshipped the shivling. There  was a long queue for the actual darshan; we just had mukh darshan. Post that we had a group photo at the steps.  

On the way back to the bus, we did try the Assam tea. It was not the 'kadak chai' we expected. We reached the hotel and had tea, coffee with pakoda. The introduction session began wherein everyone had to speak about themselves, profession, hobbies, etc. Bhushan introduced himself and briefed about the whole journey and the NE sector. Tapan introduced himself. It was clear that every travel experience is different and incomparable. Post that I headed to my room to compensate the night sleep while Krupali and Hiteshree went for a street walk. I literally dozed off after finishing the office call. Luckily, got up at 08:30PM for the dinner. There was a wedding tonight at the hotel. We already read it at the entrance "Pratikshya weds Rajdeep". The bride's room was on the same floor. I could hear a lot of camera clicks. I somehow managed to reach the dinner venue. Compared to the not-so-good lunch, the dinner was delicious (Chinese!). On the way back to the room, Krupali and me unknowingly interrupted the bridesmaid photoshoot. The bride was looking stunning in the Mekhela Chador and so was her girl gang. We got to the room, packed our bags, and dozed off at 10 PM. Looking forward for tomorrow’s long road journey. Co-travellers do comment on your experience. 

Read next: North East Odyssey: Part Two