November 7, 2014
SILIGURI to GUWAHATI (Assam) by Train (2040 Rs for two) 408km
Siroy Lily Hotel 1700Rs, $27.50, including 30% taxes. AC double with (Indian) breakfast


 
Crowd Clambered onto the Unreserved Train Car

The hotel wanted 500Rs for a taxi to take us to the train station so we walked outside and negotiated with several who approached us. 200Rs sounded fair to us and off we went.

At the station, we were directed up the escalator to the walk-over and stayed there until we heard the announcement of the platform our train would arrive at. From above we watched trains arrive and incredible crowds pushed and shoved to claim a space in the unreserved cars. We posted a 1 minute video of the chaotic scene below.

Friendly Young Men

....A group of young men had been staring at us and finally one got enough courage to ask if we would pose for a picture. The others followed. We thought it was hilarious especially when the sunglasses one of them was wearing was passed along to each one posing with us. One of them pulled out a foreign coin, they wanted to know how much it was worth, then another found a coin in his pocket and Dave patiently looked up the values in Rs.

Dibrugath Rajdhani Express – NJP to Guwahati
 
Near our train's scheduled arrival time, I asked some military if they knew on which platform our train would arrive. They called an info # for me and said the train was delayed for an hour. It finally showed up and the guy made sure we were at the right platform.

Our open compartment consisted of 4 beds, (bunks). Our bottom bed was used. A young Indian couple sat across from us. They had been married for 3 years and are expecting a baby. She is moving home with her mother to Guwahati for a year because of circumstances beyond their control. They hinted that he was going to be too busy to give her and the baby the attention they deserve. They would miss each other terribly and he would regularly visit. Their luggage was chained to the bed and they explained that 99% of the time one doesn't have to worry in trains but they were carrying a lot of gold, she whispered. He was from Punjab and she from Assam, totally different cultures, even language, she told us. They are a "love match" and both their parents approved. A clean package of sheets and towel was brought for us and lunch was served. "Veg or non-veg?" we were asked. Dave finished every last morsel and I just enjoyed the yogurt and the jello type dessert.
 
The landscape didn't change much, flatland planted with rice, few small peaceful villages. We crossed several substantial rivers and at 6 pm we arrived, in the dark, at Guwahati station.

 
Craziness of the Big City

Once outside we were immediately thrust in the craziness of the big city. Yup, we're in the thick of it again, the in your face India we love to hate. But I find myself a bit bipolar about it. At times I am riding high on the excitement of it and other times I feel a desperate need to escape the madness or strangle the nearest honking tuktuk driver. 
 
It was pretty tense when we set foot outside the train station without hotel reservation. It takes a bit before we know which end is up and orient ourselves. The highest rated budget hotel was full so we carried on in the chaotic madness, heavy loaded porters, tuk-tuks, pedicabs, people cooking in the middle of sidewalks, spitting, honking, beggars, exhaust belching buses, uneven sidewalks......you have to be on your toes.

We eventually landed a decent hotel, clean sheets, intermittent wifi in lobby and great shower. It's a lot hotter here. They have airco but mainly use fans. We slept under the sheet only. 
 

November 8, 2014 - Taking Care of Business in Guwahati 
Siroy Lily Hotel 1700Rs including 30% taxes

 
Checking for Tours to the Tribal Areas

Today, our whole day was consumed with two things and end result was only partially successful. One was getting a better handle on our onward travel plans for the next few weeks. And two, was to stop by an Airtel office to see what's wrong with Dave's SIM card. It stopped working when we left West Bengal on the train. 
 
The minute we set foot outside in the morning, we were bowled over by the dust, noise and heat. Our first stop was Network Travel agency, which is kind of hidden on the 2nd floor of its bus ticketing hall. Network travel booking office is a chaotic waiting and ticket booking office. We thought we must be at wrong place with all these people sitting on the floor amongst luggage because of lack of seats. But Indians think nothing of squatting or laying down anywhere, on dirty sidewalks, benches, tree trunks....train stations and platforms... it doesn't matter if they interrupt the flow of foot traffic either...they pull out the snacks and thermoses and have a picnic..... people matter of factly walk around them or step of the curb. 

 
Network Travel

Eventually we ran across the person who directed us upstairs. There, Erina, a helpful and competent young woman saw our rough plan and timetable, and together, we came up with an itinerary for the nature and tribal areas of Arunachal Pradesh. We had more days than we needed for AP before our scheduled arrival at the Nagaland Hornbill Festival on December 1st, three weeks from now. We decided to use that extra time to visit Cherrapunjee, in Meghalaya State, famous for its natural root-bridges and amazing views over the plains of Bangladesh. Erina booked us at the Cherrapunjee Holliday resort for 2, possibly 3 nights. 

Later that day, we stopped by for a printout of the 17 day itinerary for Arunachal Pradesh Erina had compiled. The total cost for accommodations, car and driver who's English is marginal was over $200 per day and more than we wanted to spend. The main cost-driver was the number of kilometers on our plan with the private car and driver. And we would have to pay for the kilometers the driver would use to return back to Guwahati from Nagaland without us. The driver would not be a guide either and would probably speak very little English. We'll told Erina we had look into some other options. 
 

Airtel
 
Next, we walked beyond the drive-over to the Airtel office. Here another very efficient girl worked tirelessly for several hours to get Dave's cell to work. In the end, she concluded we needed a new SIM and Dave had to go through the same application hoopla, 5 passport pix (which we got done nearby) and lengthy application form (which she filled out). She also improvised on the local reference needed. She sold him another SIM card for just 10Rs which he was supposed to activate after 10 pm. It was 3 pm, by now and our stomachs were growling. We stopped next door to KFC. Somehow it hit the spot this time. 

We stopped at Midland Guesthouse which had seemed to be a much sought after budget place and was completely full when we arrived in town. We stopped by to book a room for when we get back from Cherrapunjee. We also arranged to leave our packs there in storage so we can travel light. 

 
$29 Computer Repair

Dave’s computer crapped out (again) and he went back a reputable looking repair shop he had seen near the Airtel office. Twice before, similar faults had happened. Once they told him he needed a new hard drive and the other time they just reloaded Windows to get him up and running. This time they said the AMD CPU was faulty and they could replace it in 20 minutes without any need to back-up or reload software. 1800Rs. Travel can be hard on electronics but this is ridiculous.

We felt we had accomplished a lot today.