It had been quite some time since I visited the beloved forests of Assam and hence, this time going home for vacation, I decided that I would go and visit Kaziranga, no matter what else I do. Below is my first travelogue, of my roadtrip to Kaziranga from Guwahati.
I had this trip planned for quite some time and already made some enquires. It would be a family trip; hence the accommodation had to be good. After searching TripAdvisor and talking to relatives who had been to Kaziranga last year, I narrowed down the search to 2 places – Wild Grass Lodge and Aranya Tourist Lodge. While the former is a private lodge, the latter is run by the Tourism Dept. Nevertheless, from what I heard, even though it is govt. run, the staff and atmosphere are good and the best part is that it is located in the Kaziranga Tourist Complex itself, which is the hub of all commercial activities of the park. But again, of the two, the one rated higher at TripAdvisor is the Wild Grass Lodge, even though it is located about 5-6 kms further due east towards Bokakhat from the Tourist Complex. The reason is being this lodge is highly inspired by British style and is almost entirely self-contained. Also, people spoke highly of the courteous and homely nature of the owners there. So, listening to heart, I decided to choose Wild Grass lodge in the end.
Advice to people wanting to visit Kaziranga: There are a number of lodges and resorts to suit all budgets. Usually the govt. run are cheaper (Aranya, Bonani, Banashree, etc.) while there are some quite steep priced ones like Diphlu River Lodge, Iora Resort, etc. I would suggest anybody interested to check TripAdvisor as well as WikiTravel. If you plan to drive from outside Assam, I would suggest checking local news and newspapers online as sometimes, during times of unrest, people tend to block the National Highway that connects Guwahati with West Bengal. Guwahati to Kaziranga highway is much better though.
So, having decided Wild Grass Lodge, I had already mailed them asking for details like availability, tariff, etc. And they replied promptly (quite unexpected from a lodge from this region). After another email, the rooms were confirmed.
Finally my vacation started and I was home to find that the car had already been serviced and washed and ready for a sweet drive. I checked the OBD reader that I had bought online but that is another story (thread). Next day was rest and the day after, it was finally time to drive for a wildlife adventure.
We started at around 7:00 AM in the morning. Guwahati being on the east, the sun rises early.
Somebody had constructed a "Bhela Ghar" for Bihu (near Nagaon)
The condition of the road is excellent. In fact, upto Nagaon, which is almost 70% of the journey, it is a 4-lane road. At the Nagaon bypass, the 4-lane road turns right towards the Barak Valley but we need to go straight from that point following an old-style 2-lane road with no median. Still, the markings on the road are excellent and it feels like a highway. Although the traffic is not much, it rises occasionally when crossing a village. We reached a place called the “Gajaraj viewpoint” at around 11:30. It is on a hill called the Bura Pahar (Lateral translation = Old hill) and gives a magnificent bird’s eye view of the park (well, not the whole park, Kaziranga has a total area of 858 sq.km).
A small break at a nice restaurant/dhaba near Kaliabor
Cooling the wheels at Gajaraj view point
A view of the Kaziranga from the view point
We reached the Lodge at around 12:15 PM. Check-in was butter smooth and we ordered the meal at the check-in time itself (as I had read that they sometimes take ages to prepare lunch).
The floors are actually made of wood
The cane lamp sheds add to the mood
The great dining hall
Half an hour later, we were refreshed and hungry. Fortunately, the meal was ready by that time. All their meals are served on the giant dining hall which is some distance away from the rooms. The lunch was superb and they even threw in a complementary pudding cake. Hospitality was also superb. I never heard a waiter say ‘welcome’ after you say ‘thank you.’
No time to take pictures of the lodge as we were getting late for the 2 O’ Clock safari. They have their own jeeps and gave us one good guide. He suggested that we go to the Central range as they had seen lots of animals during the morning drive, tigers included. Next stop was the Tourist Complex where we had to get the passes done, which the guide took care of and off we went into the jungle. The pictures speak for themselves. To say the least, it was a mind blowing evening.
The road leading to the Tourist Complex has tea gardens on both sides
It would have been fun to drive one of these into the forest, but alas, this is not possible
A small handicraft store is available who stocks rhinos (made of wood of course)
The usuals
Entrance to the park
And so it was evening and we returned to the lodge.
As the sun set, so the cold came and riding back to the lodge in the open jeep was too chilling. Still, it was satisfying.
Next day we went for elephant safari. Coming soon.