Assam is beautiful. Even as the flight starts its final descent to the runway, the abundant greenery and lush rice fields grab your eyes. We had arrived a day earlier and spent the day holed up in a hotel as it was raining. The rain was quite temperamental. It kept shifting from sunny to rainy every few minutes and vice versa. It was a clear warning on the days to come. We were asked to be ready early in the morning. There was a ferry to catch at the Nimati River Ghat (300+ kms away) and the deadline was given as 3:00 PM Day 1 : June 22, 2019.
Started from: Guwahati
Ended at : Majuli
Highlights : Ferry on the Bhramaputra
I woke up fresh and ready. A quick breakfast and I am introduced to my ride for the day. A Petrol Automatic Civic. We are usually paired with another journalist for the trip. Luckily he was a photographer more interested in clicking pictures rather than driving. The silly grin when I understood that I did not have to share driving was very difficult to hide.
A quick walk around the car and a couple of minutes to set it up for my comfort. The driving ergonomics were spot on. I liked the dashboard but the console was very busy and distracting. The paddles on the petrol automatic were never used. The car / CVT did not feel under powered given my relaxed driving style. But this car deserves a peppier engine with a more responsive gearbox. It however was the best car I drove during this trip. Handles really well.
We stopped for a quick lunch at an old colonial style hotel called the Wild Grass Lodge. Maybe its the fertile soil or the more organic style of farming practiced here but the vegetables taste is simply mind blowing.
There is a tiny camera embedded in the left hand side rear view mirror. It gets activated when the left turn indicator is activated. You can also manually switch it on when driving. Its a very useful feature especially when driving through heavy traffic or idling at a traffic light. The coverage is adequate and saves you from over enthusiastic bikers.
Most houses have a garden around them. It makes you feel like you have been transported back in time. The modern looking car is not exactly out of place in these idyllic surroundings. The suspension of the new Civic is completely different from the old one. We scrapped the bottom only once during the entire trip.
We arrived at the Ro-Ro (Roll on, Roll Off) ferry named in honor of the legendary music maestro Bharat Ratna Shri Bhupen Hazarika. This ferry cuts the travel distance between Neemati and Majuli from 423-km to just 12.7-km. The ferry takes approximately an hour to cover this distance. It has space for sitting down and even a toilet.
The sun was setting down as we reached Majuli.
Assembled together before we started our relatively short drive for the resort.
Most of the houses are built on stilts. The Bhramaputra floods almost every year. These stilts help the houses stay above the water line and are the first line of defense against the floods.
A very spartan bed with a solid mattress. Just perfect to sleep early and I did exactly that.
Last edited by Aditya : 14th July 2019 at 15:11.
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