independent travelogue~

its a 3 day weekend.... we can't be stuck in kolkata...

its a 3 day weekend what the hell will we do if we don't get out!!

so the darjeeling trip didn't quite work out.. .as the bus had left by 9... and sitting at 10:10 PM our fates seeemd sealed!

the flight to bagdogra was only in the late afternoon and the additional day would just get wasted in the preparation to travel...

and then.. .the grand prize of consumerism... browsing through the various travel websites... i stumbled upon some tickets to guwhati which were not that expensive... and the flight was early in the morning... thus saving the day to ourselves!

so thankfully by his phone-call we woke up at 3:45 after having slept only at 2:30 am... took our bags and were all set for the airport..

the cab thankfully was not the hardest thing to find even at 4 in the morning... finally reached the airport... with only a small cabin baggage in hand... only to discover that we would have to check our bags in ... as were flying by an ATR (one of those propeller planes?) which would not have enough cabin space to put the bag into the overhead thing... so we checked it in...


at about 5 we walked upto the airplane.. and i think this was after a good 8 odd yrs... that i flew in 1 of these tiny atr's... was quite fun... suddenly! it seemed like holiday with the little plane and what not... and we soon took off... the air-plane looked good & old... very non-indian interiors.. like they'd just imported it and changed nothing.. with green leather seats! :)

mid-way thru the flight... the pilot tells us... we are flying over bangladesh air-space now... quite fun... after about a 55 min flight... we were landing in guwhati... as we approached the air-field... all one could see was lush green mountains and fields... a drop of water there... a stray farm here.... quite beautiful... to say the le ast!


when we finally landed on the airport... there were exactly 2 planes there... check out the beauty... as compared to the hustle-bustle of the mumbai airport..

so... after landing... we walked out on to the deserted guwhati airport... asked our friendly guard.. how to get to shillong... only to walk-out and find... that the north-eastern way of celebrating independence day... is to declare a state-level bandh :D
so there is no-one on the road... the cabbies tell us... at best they can get us to guwahati city... but shillong the bandh is very strict.. and no vehicles would ply.... so... we're standing outside guwahati airport... at 7 in the morning.. on the first day of our 3 day vacation... wondering... what the fuck was our big idea.. and what will we do now! :)

anyway... we take one of those friendly neighborhood cabs to the city.. on our way we find out that... there is a possibility... that by 4-5 in the evening.. .cabs might take us to shillong.. so we reach a hotel.. tell our dear friend at the reception.. to give us a room... meanwhile... we request him to find us a cab to shillong... and then... since ther's nothing much to do.. we take off for a movie.. morning show of bachna aae haseno! in guwahati!

now whatever one may think.. i'v always been a big fan of watching movies in new cities... i think it gives a very good perspective about the culture of that city... when you see the theatre.. the kind of movie that's playing... the no of ppl who'd come.. and how they react... so guwahati.. in regular small-time fashion.. has ppl whistling when the movie is about to start.. .there are those upper stall tickets for rs. 25... god i miss having the G7 around as the only decent movie-multiplex! the yellow pop-corn... and samosa... sigh!

anyway... once we were out of the movie... it was already 2 pm.. .and finally the city seemed like it wasn't a curfew... right from landing at 7 in the morning, to when we went for the movie at 11... we saw the streets of guwahati.. empty & desolated! there were no ppl ... no celebrations... no tri-colors... no patriotic songs playing... finally when the city seemed a little more alive at 2 ... prasenjit cracks up... looks like they finally got over their independence day blues.. :)

and then.. we roam around the city... chk out some good lunch places.. blah blah blah... the day goes by... and we sleep... next morning... up at 5 again.. on our way to cherapunji! yay! the wettest place on earth!! something i always wanted to see!!! yay!!!!

on our way to shillong by road..... which is a very picturesque ride! btw... we suddenly wake-up to the realization... that we have no ... warm-clothes... and no rain-wear... and we are going to the wettest hills of north-east! hurrah!! any other ppl.. wud feel weighed down by the pressure and want to buy some warm clothes or turn-back! but we decided to take the bull by the horns... we bought a bottle of whisky... and some chakna... and i could feel my blood warming.. after the third sip :) god bless whisky!

so we did the touristy things of clicking pictures and visiting all the monuments... only to discover that the fog wouldn't let us see.. half the things we had come all the way for.. .there were anyway some very very good highlights... like the hill.. with about 10 graves.. in the middle of no-where.. on a foggy mountain.. one of the most peaceful places on earth.. i'd think....

like the rushing water-falls.. like the 300 mt chain of caves which was half-submerged under water and which our boy prasen had the toughest time passing through!

so anyway... after completing the whole cherapunji belt.. which btw.. is a terribly scantily populated... terribly romantic.. perfect coupling destination! we reached shillong by late afternoon...

other men may have stayed at any given hotel.. .by the way-side... through recommendations from well-connected friends... we found out about a tripura castle.. which was a 10 room resort.. which used to be the tripura king's summer home! so a touch of royalty... at affordable rateS! :)

and we checked into our castle. to find a wooden commode... a non-ac room.. which needed no ac... twin beds with twin blankets... and lots of lush-green gardens... how i am loving this vacation :)

so after chilling for the afternoon... in the royal retreat.. in the evening we set out on the streets of shillong.. now there's something so brilliant about the hill-station streets... and pavements.. they're always running up and down... curving and twisting... into all things nice... and i, as usual stumbled upon ancient book-stores.. which stack more than 10 yr old titles.. how of which would be out of print... or would be the original artwork on the cover.. (nothing more beautiful than a book with the original art-work).

i picked up .. coffee-table music books for him & her... a hard-back of everst hotel and man & superman by bernard shaw for myself :D how rich a shopping experiencE!

and then we shared a drink in cloud 9... with a good view of the hilly city.. turns out.. all the pubs shut down by 9.. due to the political situation... and the clubs.. have all been closed altogether!

so after not finding any khasi food in any of the local restaurants... we came back to our castle.. .and then ventured into the bar.. and stumbled upon the pool table!

ah.. pool... the game of our youths! after a good... 8 yrs!! and there we were.. playing on an hourly rate of Rs. 75... lp as they used to call it in good-old days...

so after playing 5 games of some really amazing pool.. only to discover that my game had improved by leaps and bounds.. by not playing for 5 yrs! i mean i played the best 5 games of my life.. and lost... only 1 of them :)

we had a good dinner... and a comfy sleep in our castle-bed!

the next morning we started back for guwhati... and somehow... it seemed like we were ttly coming back to the city-lifE! the cab we took this time was bigger.. the weather was hotter... and clearly.. the quaint little holiday had come to an end.. in true symbolism... the flight we took back to cal.. was also a regular jet-liner.. which was headed to bby... via.. cal! maybe there's a little msg for us to decipher in that also... :)

cheers to peers