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| Masala Dosa |
Up early and after a great breakfast of porridge (for me), Masala Dosa (for Chris) and Assam tea, we were off to the airport. Amusing sights along the way were signs at road works stating 'accidents bring tears, safety brings cheers', a sign over one building proclaiming it to be the "swastika working ladies refuge". The buildings were an eclectic mix of very ancient, crumbling but once elegant piles to modern office blocks and everything in between.
Some of the older buildings had been passed down through so many generations no-one actually knows who to pay the rent to, so official squatting is often the norm.
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| Oo-er Mrs |
After a very thorough security check-in and some lengthy handwriting of paperwork we eventually got our Boarding cards. The next challenge was to get through the actual security for the gate. Here we not only had to have everything X-rayed but we also had to be individually frisked - the ladies going into the 'ladies frisking booth'. Trays for our items were numbered and cardboard paddles had been made which we had to carry until we reclaimed our goods from the appropriate tray. After the all clear the boarding cards and labels on each item had to be stamped and we were not allowed onto the plane without these all being rechecked. Once on board it all went smoothly with a short stop at Shillong (where a member of airport security came on board and checked that every bag was accounted for and belonged to a person still in
board). Shillong is interesting as it is an area where the estate passes down via the oldest daughter, rather than through the sons. Finally we were on the last leg of what had been a three day journey.
Arrival at Jorhat was seamless even though some of our bags took a considerable time to come through. Then we were packed into two minibuses and transferred by some varying standards of roads in the quickly darkening afternoon to the boat. We passed through areas of rice growing - Assam state grow around 300
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| Repairing the runway! |
different varieties of rice and there are over 600 grown throughout India.
The MV Manashputra was moored at the side of the River Brahmaputra and with its lights guiding us in, made a rather charming sight. The nearby village was Neemati.
We settled into our cabins, had a shower and then met on the main deck for a vibrant and colourful cultural demonstration of singing and dancing by local college students.
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| Our entertainers |
After dinner and the first checklist of the trip we were off to an early bed. The generator switched off around midnight and peace descended until someone started to snore in the cabin next door!
