March 25 Part 3 Finale 1

 

March 2025

Part 3 The Finale 1

What more had this holiday installed for us. So far an Indian wedding in two locations a one thousand kilometre bike ride and now we are heading off on our return journey to Delhi via some interesting places. First stop is the largest island in the Bramaphutra river. Mejuli. Feels remote. Isolated with sporadic villages and roadside stalls selling petrol in water bottles and where people gather. 

Cattle are frequent but mostly stay in the fields. Roads are mostly straight and are on causeways above the fields and clear of the flood plain. People on bicycles going where they need to go. Nothing much for distractions but the only ones obeying rules are cows. Everyone else it is a free for all meaning driving requires full concentration at all times and necessary low speeds making journeys no quick jaunt. The remoteness is a must for prayer and Mejuli has more than its’ fair share of temples and shrines.

 It is also a place for industry among the places visited were a handmade pottery  and a theatrical mask company. The masks are made big, people size or small, monkey head depending on the character represented and what is required or the performance or parade. All made from traditional materials. Clay and cow dung. It doesn’t smell. They look real even more so when parts move like the monkey head with a moving jaw.

We stayed overnight in a Government run hotel then escaped the island on an over-packed ferry. One where the cars drove on from the side and were parked as they arrived on deck. It was the most direct route to our next destination and a couple of nights in Kazeranga National Wildlife Park.

 In Kazeranga are the rhinos Assam’s emblem a must to see. We took a safari drive to see the rhinos in an open jeep. We spent much of the time queuing to get through security to get in. 

Why am I such a security risk? There was an artistic performance at the Orchid sanctuary and not far away a Motorcycle Museum. 

The only one I knew of was just outside Guwahati that I visited in 2019 reported in Something for the museum my first blog. This one was called Treasured Wheels and new for this area. I had to visit. While Gita went shopping in the Orchid Sanctuary I went to the museum. It turns out to, be run by Pikoloo Deka and is the same museum relocated. It is being rebuilt with help from Kazeranga administration to promote tourism. He is doing a very good job at building new facilities for visitors to enjoy. I have the honour of being the first foreign visitor, the first entry in the visitors book, the first to buy an entry ticket and receive a commemorative trophy. He has still to complete the restoration of his Subeam S7 any help with distributor, alternator, and drive shaft will be much appreciated. It was a first to a transport museum for our driver Ghana who had been driving our support vehicle to and from Mechoukha and now continuing being our guide and driver.

At lunch time I had to extract Gita from the array of shops to head for Guwahati and take up residence in the India Club. We still did not see any orchids.