The plan was to visit Guwahati for 4 days as part of Workcation. Post that, we were planning to visit Nagaland for the Hornbill festival. We reached Guwahati on a Saturday evening, and the plan was to spend the Sunday going around and visit few things on early morning of Monday or Tuesday, before starting to Nagaland.
Saturday noon, we started from Chennai, had a flight by 3:30 PM to Guwahati. We reached Guwahati around 7 PM. The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport is located on far West side of the city. We had planned to stay in Hostel - Gibbons and change later. We booked an Uber cab and reached Gibbons around 8 PM. People can understand and communicate in Hindi and English.
It was quite breezy in Guwahati and temperature was around 18 degrees in evenings and around 24 degrees in day time.
Sathish, who knew very well about Guwahati took us round to show popular outlets and restaurants around our stay. We had a great dinner at Taii Singpho. One notable aspect of Assam is the availability of vegetarian options and the local thali is a gem. At Taii Singpho, I had vegetarian Thali with potatoes, rice, dal, papad, salad and couple of more veggies - quite delicious and healthy food.
Day-2
Guwahati is best explored with bike rentals. The city is quite crowded and high on traffic jams because of lack of wide alternate roads for the main roads. We took the bike rentals around 8:30 AM from Ajio. Ajio mobile app is available and one can book the bikes in advance through producing scanned ID cards.
We had breakfast at a nearby joint - Dosa express serving the South Indian delicacies of Idli, vada, pongal and dosa varieties. Every item was very delicious and tasted authentic south!
We actually planned to goto Pobitora Wildlife sanctuary for citing Rhinos. However, since we got the bikes only around 9:30 AM, we decided to skip it for the day and decided to visit Temples of Hajo. Hajo is located around 37 kms from Bamunimaidan of Guwahati. The roads were quite average post monsoon rains.
Saraighat bridge
First, enroute, we passed through the grand bridge over the mighty river Brahmaputra - Saraighat. The bridge is a 2 tier rail-cum-road bridge - the first of its kind built in 1960s to connect North-East onto the railway network of India.
Temples of Hajo
Hajo is popular for Hindu temples as well as Muslims and Buddhists. Hajo is an ancient pilgrimage center for Hindus for its Hayagriva Madhava Temple and also four more temples around - Ganesha temple, 2 Mahadev temples (Kedareswara Temple, Kameswara Temple) and one Vishnu temple. The Hayagriva temple seems to be built by Pala dynasty on top of a hill; led by steps.
We first visited the Hayagriva temple, the most popular of all and a very active temple. There are close 100 steps to climb up the hill and visit the main sanctum of Lord Hayagriva - Vishnu. The temple was calm and not much crowded; and we had a very peaceful dharshan. We went around and saw around the temple; where people were performing rituals of different kind.
We next visited each of the other 4 temples too - each of them situated on different hills and have motorable roads to maximum extend.
We also reached the Mekkah hill and visited the mosque present there.
We then had lunch at a local hotel at Hajo - Veg thali and people who need non-veg can order along with the Thali - they can get what ever is available.
Post lunch at Hajo, we started back the bike ride to Guwahati and stopped in the market area for local delicacies - at Ajachak Mistannia Bandar. We tasted few sweets and disappointed as Misti Doi was not available.
Kamakya Temple
We had options to either visit Kamakya temple or to go for the Rope car ride across river Brahmaputra. We opted to visit Kamakya temple! Kamakhya Temple - 3-4 hours waiting time / VIP Dharshan - Rs.500 per person.
As we reached the temple, on top of a hillock - 2-3 kms by distance on the hill, we saw that the parking spaces were full. We understood it is crowded and reached the temple entrance. The guard told us that we can have dharshan in 30 minutes on VIP dharshan; while the normal would take 4 hours. He also told us that we have to take entry ticket by producing double vaccinated certification down near parking area.
We reached the place and show the COVID vaccination certificates; after which they gave an entry pass with names and mobile numbers. We then deposited the chappals, bags at a shop nearby and reached the temple main area. There were none before us in the VIP dharshan; we just bough the Rs.500 tickets and entered the queue. After a brief waiting time; say 7-9 minutes, we entered the sanctum sanctorum. There are 2 levels of deity to see. At the ground level, there is a golden idol; everyone can see and offer prayers and offerings. Next, is the main sanctum below the golden idol - this is the Sakthi Peet. It is quite dark and steep - difficult steps to climb down. Around 10 people can be there in the place - people take turn to go in and come out - hence, the delay for people to offer prayers and come out - leading to a longer waiting time.
Overall, we spent 15 minutes inside the main sanctum and came out. We went around the temple, clicking photographs.
Post a satisfactory visit to Kamakya temple, we planned to go to river front as it was getting dark. We cannot do rope car as it would have got closed by then.
Sunset by Brahmaputra
The sunset was quite beautiful. We were not able to touch water here as it was quite sluggish near the waters and could not enter at all. The huge amount of mosquitoes did not let us enjoy the sunset.
There is a good spot by the river for having some relaxed time - The Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre. The place is relatively new and near the Rope car center. There is lot of parking area and one needs to buy an entry ticket of Rs.100 per person - quite costly. The place is well maintained and some basic amenities are still taking shape. There are galleries for display too to kill time and have a pleasant time.
We spent around 30 minutes in the gallery and the premises of the Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre.
Local snacks
We then, reached Fancy Bazar - for some snacks time. We start our snacking time at Prem Momo centre - a very busy place in the locality; they serve 2 types - Veg and cheese momos. Definitely, one of the best momos one have have - especially the ginger chutney was just amazing - making it really special.
We then visited Lakshmi sweets - had some sweets, samosa and chai.
War Memorial
War Memorial has no specific entry fee, but people are welcome to donate as much as they want. This was memorial highlights the victorious Battle of Saraighat in 1671 - Ahoms though being outnumbered by Mughal Army, used guerilla war tactics and won the war. Also, in display are, Indian army's achievements and Amar Jawan memorial.
Day-3 - Rhinos!
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the closest Wildlife sanctuaries from Guwahati. It is 30 kms from Guwahati, on the Southern bank of Brahmaputra river. The sanctuary is very renowned for very high sighting of One-horned Indian Rhinoceros. The place is a a huge mass of grassland making it a great place for ideal Rhinoceros habitat. It also hosts various other fauna including water buffalos, wild boars, monkeys like Rhesus Macaque and herds of migratory birds. It is said there are 100+ Great Indian Single horned Rhinos in Pobitora.
The sanctuary provided 2 ways of sighting Rhinos - Elephant or Jeep safari. The Jeep safari goes on the roads and sides of the grasslands and helps you see the Rhinos from a distance; while the Elephant safari takes you closer to the Rhinos upto 20-30 metres, and have a great sight! Elephant safaris are run between 6:30 AM to 7:30 AM and 2:00 - 3:00 PM. Jeep safaris are available across 7 AM to 3 PM. Elephant safari is Rs.450 per person, jeep safari is Rs.300 per person and an additional Rs.50 per person for Sanctuary entry. Camera is charged at Rs.50 per per camera.
We started very early in the morning around 5 AM from our stay by two wheelers. The roads were mostly very good; the roads were covered by morning fog and interesting to ride along.
We reached the entrance around 6:30 AM and opted for Elephant ride. We did plan for the Elephant ride so as to maximize the Rhino sighting. The morning fog would have made it very difficult for a jeep safari sighting. The morning views were just amazing; leave alone sighting Rhinos - the whole place amidst the dawn beauty was more than stunning!
After 10-15 minutes of elephant ride amongst the forest, we entered the wide open Grasslands. The yellowish grasslands were just beautiful themselves - and deep into the grasslands after 15 more minutes, we sighted our first Rhino of the morning! It seemed to be mid-grown Rhino and each of the Rhino had birds sitting on them, enabling us to spot it easily! :-)
We sighted around 7-8 Rhinos, few water buffalos, and couple of wild boars at entry spot. There were lots of migratory birds too sitting on top of short trees!
We came out with utmost satisfaction citing Rhinos it its own habitat in Assam! Quite a memory, especially on an elephant ride on a beautiful morning.
Chanaka Picnic Spot
Next, we went to the Chanaka Picnic Spot by the Brahmaputra River. The vast Brahmaputra river is like an ocean infront of anyone; cant see land any near! Unfortunately, here too, we could not enter the waters as it was like a small cliff and water was flowing rapidly. We returned back to the stay around 9:30 AM post these visits.
We also spent time at Pragjyotika Assam Emporium - best place in Guwahati to buy souvenirs - Best quality and cost effective.
Other place to see in Guwahati:
1. Umananda Temple - Reach by ferry - private/Govt ferries / 9 AM - 4 PM
2. Assam State Zoo
3. Assam State Museum
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