Today i.e 24th March 2020- I am writing about my recent trip that was completed on 19th March 2020. The time and trip have already became so memorable for life time. Reasons being my first week long solo trip in an unknown land and the infamous Coronavirus aka Covid-19 effect.
The coronavirus started showing in India in beginning of March and my plan to visit Assam had already taken place in February. I planned for the trip with my friend. Everything was going alright from booking flights to make day wise itinerary. Meanwhile around Holi festival the Coronavirus had became a national threat affecting many lives. Though the numbers were very less as compared to China and other countries but the whole nation had understood the emergency and states were taking necessary precautions. And then two days before scheduled trip, my friend communicated me her incapability to join me on the trip because of Coronavirus. I was upset by that news but did not force her as I knew the step taken is something personal. Now it was my turn either to cancel the trip or go with the flow. I checked out the statistics of coronavirus, went thoroughly with government advisory, took help from the travel related groups about the situation and managed to propose myself for the trip. The trip was a week long with many memories to hold for.
Day 1:
6:20 am, I boarded the flight from Indira Gandhi T 3, Delhi to LGBI airport, Guwahati. I was finally witnessing my dream to fly to North East.
Approx 8.30am, I landed Guwahati. The airport was decorated with showcases of Assamese culture and wildlife. I knew I was going to witness most of them in coming days. There were separate counters of buses and taxis at the airport itself to help the people with correct guidance in terms of places of interest, transportation, time table of transport and fare etc.
For the first day, I have planned for Assam State Museum and then stay at Kaziranga. I inquired at the bus counter about the buses schedule to Kaziranga and got a ticket for mid-day departure. As I moved out from the airport and walked a few steps, some cab drivers started approaching me for pick up. There basically runs private cabs in terms of sharing. The main stop for tourists is Paltan bazaar as 'The State Museum', State Zoo and Umananda temple are around Paltan bazaar and the famous Kamakhaya temple also comes on way to Paltan Bazaar. I got a seat in cab and paid Rs 200 and headed towards Assam State Museum.
About an hour later, I reached at the gate of the museum. There was ticket counter at left hand side of the building, I took the ticket for myself (Rs 20) and for the camera (Rs 50) and paid Rs 70 in total. I entered the museum, stored my luggage and went on to explore the museum. It was divided into three sections. The first section was dedicated to freedom fighters and Mahatma Gandhi, second section was showcase of Tribals of North East and third part was huge collection of idols those were extracted from Brahmaputra river over medieval period.
The whole tour of museum was completed in approx an hour. The paltan bazaar was approx 2 km away from the museum. I took a stop there for a while, had lunch and proceeded to board the bus for Kaziranga. Buses for Kaziranga are easily available from ISBT Guwahati, Paltan bazaar and Khanapara. The time distance to reach Kaziranga was supposed to be approx 5 hrs. But it took almost 7 hrs to reach there because the bus was not on its scheduled time and moreover was halting for even an hour at the boarding stops that contributed to unnecessary time lag. Finally at about 8 pm, I was in Kaziranga.
...To be continued.
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