In continuation of Around the North-East India in 30 days... Part-3/6
When people plan their trips to North-East India, they generally include Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim in their itineraries. States such as Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura are seldom considered. I had my own apprehensions regarding these places as well. They are neither touristy nor crowded. So, one surely gets ample time at all places one wishes to cover.
A direct train runs from Assam to Tripura which takes 16+ hrs. Thanks to the novel that I was carrying that I could spend the entire journey in a good company. A family of 10+ people were sitting in the same area and thankfully none of their kids cried which made the journey peaceful.
After getting down at the railway station at ~8:30pm, I took an auto for the hotel which was near TMC Hospital. When I politely requested the driver that he follows the same route as shown by Google maps, he said, "Sister, ye Dilli nahi hai. Aap wishwas kar sakte ho." ("Sister, it is not Delhi. You can trust me.")
Tripura in the month of April was scorching hot. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel to start my day, I wanted to go back to the room and chill. So, skip Tripura during summer season.
I had a few places in mind to cover on the first day and relied on local buses for travel. The bus for whichever route I found first, I boarded it to avoid heat.
The first place was Chaturdasha Temple or Fourteen Gods' and Goddesses' Temple. It is a very small but famous temple in Tripura. This visit marked one more instance of viewing animal sacrifice.
The next destination was the Heritage Park. It has miniatures of all monuments in Tripura. School children were on a picnic and couples were there to do their business.
The next place was Ujjayanta Palace. The entry ticket was for INR 15. A maximum of 20-30 mins are required to cover this place.
There is a taxi/cab stand outside this palace, and I enquired about timings and fares from Tripura to Mizoram and understood the next hop was going to be time taking. Then, I went to the market, found a small cafe and took shelter for sometime to avoid outside heat.
Shri Shri Durga Bari Temple was quite near this cafe that I could have walked down to it, but I preferred taking a rickshaw to reach that place. The rickshaw puller asked me to pay INR 15 and when I didn't negotiate, he childishly smiled that he had charged a tourist some extra money. This temple is another small and famous temple in Tripura which will require 10-15 mins of your time.
The last destination for the day was Akhaura Border. People in general go to Wagah Border, the border between India and Pakistan, to see the ceremony. Akhaura Border, the border between India and Bangladesh, also offers a similar ceremony. Not many spectators were present and the seating area was quite small, but it gives you a very direct and near view of the ceremony. There were diplomats with their families, people crossing the border to legally enter Bangaldesh and locals.
I came back to the hotel by a shared auto. There is a bustling street near the hotel that has many cafes and stores. I found one small and cozy cafe. The cold coffee it offered was toothsome.
I enquired at the hotel about going to Pilak, Neermahal and Unakoti by shared cabs or buses. The hotel manager told me that it was impossible to cover more than 1 place in a day by public transport, so he started offering me cab services at a low cost which I politely declined. Keeping in mind that I wanted to cover 2 more states in next 8 days, I decided to skip Unakoti because of lack of time.
I had to start my day very early to reach Pilak village which takes 2-2.5 hours from Agartala. Pilak is an archaeological site in Tripura which doesn't attract many tourists. Archaeological students go there to study the site, but no other outsider will be seen there.
There is no direct connectivity from Agartala to Pilak. I had to take a shared auto, a bus and then another auto to reach the destination. After getting down from the bus, I found an auto whose driver was willing to drive me to the site and bring back to the bus station at a reasonable rate. Shared autos run as well on that route. He was very simple and kind and kept on talking to me about Delhi that how he once got a chance to go to Delhi and had been driving auto to support family and how he is happy to see a person travelling alone and that too in a state such as Tripura.
One can cover both sites in Pilak in <30 mins. There is not much to see.
The hotel manager told me last night to go to Tripura Sundari Temple as well. It is another famous temple in Tripura and it took me an hour to cover that. While standing in the queue, you will be able to buy snacks, ice creams and juices. Couldn't stop myself from eating an ice-cream on that hot day.
From there, I took another shared auto for Neermahal Palace which is located in the midst of Rudrasagar Lake. After buying the ticket, I waited with others for an hour for the boat ride to start. The staff will drop you on the shore. You will be able to explore it and have some snacks such as gol gappas (water balls) there. You can take any boat anytime to come back to the starting point.
By taking a bus and then a shared auto, I reached back. The hotel manager asked me about my plans for the next day and was surprised to hear Mizoram as my next destination. I told him that I had no train reservations etc. but I would reach there somehow. We said thank you to each other and parted.
Few points:
1. Tripura is not a tourist location, so feel free to skip it if you are bored of temples, parks, palaces and archaeological sites.
2. Local transportation is great. Buses and/or shared autos ply on every route till late evenings.
3. Avoid Tripura during summers.
4. People are really kind there. They mind their own business and will help you properly, if asked.
5. You only need 3 days to cover Tripura including Unakoti and Udaipur.
To be continued: Around the North-East India in 30 days... Part-5/6
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