India- Kolkata and Kaziranga Jan. - Feb. 2018

Dulles to Doha, Qatar- Jan. 24-25

Flying with Dominion was much much less stressful than driving to Dulles. It seemed like we were there in no time, thru the ticket counter, then thru security with almost a full 3 hours before the flight. The lounge QA uses is Turkish Air’s and it was comfortable but a little tight. There was a separate prayer room. The food was Turkish oriented and warm and good; I tasted the baklava, some hummus, and some hearty veggie soup with basmati rice. Once on board the plane Connie and I had adjoining cubicles with a bundle board between us but it could come down once two attendants put some muscle into it. It seemed to me this was a new plane with all new seat electronics- the attendants did not quite know how to work everything but eventually between us we got it. 

The TV set up was pretty good with plenty of movies in English and Arabic. There was a special screen to read the Koran. I watched Dunkirk and then tried to sleep but it was a bumpy ride. Connie watched Victoria and Abdul and I need to watch it on the way back. I am keeping my watch on EST for now so I know what time it really is. I think I got about 4 hours.

For sleeping the seat went all the way down flat, we got a pair of pajamas and a fleece cover, and our cubicles have a door that can close. When the bed was flat there were a couple of ridges that didn’t quite fit the contour of my body, but there was more room to go side to side than I have had in the past. The pajama shirt was super soft- might keep it.

As I write this we are 2 hours from Doha and flying over Mosul and Kirkuk in Iraq (gulp).

And then we were thru the Doha airport and on the way to Kolkata.

Doha to Kolkata, then to the Lalit Great Eastern Hotel- Jan. 25-26

An easy 4 hour flight after a 12 1/2 hour one. The seats were different as was the video system from the one I had just gotten the hang of. I find I have a hard time understanding the attendants everywhere so far, maybe it is the accents or the inflection or speed, but I am missing a lot. They ask me for a towel or olive oil for my bread and I figure it out after I have already said no so as not to bother them.

I watched Wind River which was similar to a two hour Longmire set on the WR reservation in Wyoming and featuring a couple of the same members of the cast as Longmire, specifically the evil Malachi now as a good guy on the tribal police.

When we got to Kolkata, old Calcutta at 17 feet above sea level and 15mm inhabitants in and around, in the former state of West Bengal, now just Bengal, we met up with most of our tour group who were on the same plane with us. In the process of clearing customs I figured out that I need a lot more pockets on my backpack to handle all the things I have to get out and then put back and then get out again. Everything ended up in a massive jumble.

The bus ride to the hotel was interesting since it was about 2am and the streets were pretty empty- except for the numbers of people sleeping on the sidewalks and the herd of goats being moved along down a main road.

The shower in the hotel room was welcome after who knows how many hours of travel and then the bed was even better. We got about 4 hours of pretty good sleep.

Kolkata- Jan. 26

 

A bit about India and where we are going on this trip. If you imagine India as a square turned to look like a baseball diamond, Delhi and the Taj Mahal are near second base, Mumbai (Bombay) is between third and home, Everest and Nepal are above the first base to second base line, and Kolkata (Calcutta) is almost at first base coming from home plate. Kolkata is in the Indian state of Bengal. This is where we start.

Then you have to imagine an ear flap of India extending above first base and into foul territory. It actually is a part of India that lies on top of Bangladesh- that is Assam where we will spend most of our time. Bangladesh is the old east Pakistan which separated from India and then separated from Pakistan in about 1968. It borders Myanmar (Burma) and is in the news now because the Burmese Muslims called Rohinga are being run out of Myanmar into Bangladesh. 

 

One reason for this trip other than the enticement to see a one horned rhino and possibly a tiger is that the trip gets us close to the area of India where my Dad was hospitalized in WWII after being wounded in Burma. Later you will see we fly into Jorhat on the Brahmaputra River. Upriver from that is a small town called Ledo which was a hospital center during WWII. A few years ago my Dad gave me a book called Elephant Company which told the story of the elephants working with the Brits to build a road in the area. In the front there is a map with a couple of post it notes on it from my Dad. One marks a spot in Burma that says "shot here". Another indicates a route and says "walked to here". "Here" is Ledo.  

 

Connie and I woke up in Kolkata to Bollywood music and then military music blaring and watched guys washing their bodies and clothes from a street tap right outside the hotel. It is a holiday- Republic Day, celebrating when India got its constitution in 1950.

 

                                                     Income Tax Dept- a happy place

We had a late and very filling brunch at the hotel and met our group for a short orientation. Our Expedition Leader is Vaipaul, or V for short, and he is a nature specialist but going on this boat trip for the first time.

I learned from V that International Expeditions has 2 more trips doing the same thing in February and in March, so we aren’t truly opening new territory for IE.

Right now Connie is on a walk with some of the others while I am reorganizing my bag for easier access.

We had a group dinner tonight which luckily was a buffet, but there are no labels on what is hot and what is not, so it is pot luck. Kingfisher beer was pretty good.

After dinner I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept thru. I was surprised.

Kolkata-Jan. 27

Today was our full day touring Kolkata. We started with a 2 hour walk thru old British Calcutta, which early on was home of the East India Company and capital of India before it was moved to New Delhi. It was a Saturday and thus relatively quiet but every vehicle on the road blows its horn all the time because of the traffic. That begins to get to a person after a while.

The British era buildings are a mix of architectural styles but the real thing to observe is the variety of people- men washing clothes and bodies at open spigots on the street, street sweepers moving refuse of all kinds into piles which I don’t think ever get picked up, seemingly countless men standing around talking or looking at their mobile phones, men for the most part operating street side stores for food, lottery tickets, tea (in terra cotta cups which are then thrown aside), shoes, and on. Then there are the street dogs rummaging thru the garbage or just sleeping, all with a curved up tail; the house crows also going thru the garbage and black kites soaring like vultures overhead. The electrical wiring on the street is just like the photos I have seen on the internet about Indian wiring.

                                                             Note the wires

 

The guide showed us a Victorian era public garbage can still on the street and probably a treasure trove for future archaeologists- it is full and probably has never been emptied.

The most interesting stop was St. John’s Church dating from the 1600s. We learned that the British East India Company got its start as a stock company at about the same time as the Virginia company- 1600 or so. Calcutta was attractive because of its location on a water route corresponding to the Silk Road thru the Arab countries. The church came about because the governor at the time wanted to marry a baroness he had snaked from one guy and then had to fight a duel over with another guy. Other notable things about the church grounds were the tombs and their inscriptions (everyone seemed to die young and the women were marrying and then remarrying and then dying in childbirth or from tropical disease (Ross isolated plasmodium, the cause of malaria, here in Calcutta)), the Last Supper painting with the leader of a British coup against one Governor General as Judas, and the monument to the Black Hole where 123 out of 146 Brits coupled up by the Rajah died (23 swam out the sewer). The monument had stood on the site of the hole at the original Fort William but that became the central post office.

 

Last stop of the morning was the Marble Palace which was built by a native trader (our guide called him and his type “decadent rich”). He was an example of the locals who got very rich during the colonial period and did not know what to do with the money so he built a palace and filled it with European things, like paintings by mediocre artists (although there was a not very well taken care of Reubens (open air )), pool tables, chandeliers, statues of satyrs and other Greek demigods, and the like. He also had a mini zoo and an aviary. His descendants still live in part of the building. The guide also called his type a Babu and Kipling has a babu as an important character in Kim.

We went back to the hotel for lunch and then went on a bus tour for another couple of hours (more din from the traffic and dangerous crossings).

The bus tour additionally gave us more of a view of the people living off the street under tarps. The guide said they were mostly from the country (mostly men) trying to earn something until the rainy season begins. We crossed the river which is an offshoot of the Ganges as it enters its delta up in Bangladesh via the Howrah Bridge built in 1941 and featured in a key scene in the movie Lion. I wonder how they managed to manage the people and traffic for shooting the movie. This bridge handles 70000 cars per day and 4.2 million people!

                                                            Victoria Memorial

Then we went to the Victoria Memorial which seemed to have half of Kolkata there on this Saturday. Victoria never visited India but the Governor General after her death commissioned this massive building with features of Mogul (arches) and Neo-Palladian (columns) architecture and two statues of her, one young and one old. In the upper level of the rotunda are key frescoes of her life. The visitors were mostly families on an outing to enjoy the open space. We were definitely oddities among all the dark skinned people and the women in saris and other local costume- a couple of children with selfie sticks enjoyed taking our photo.

What has gotten to me most after the sad living conditions of the people we see on the street is the dilapidation of the buildings. Things that were built in the British days are just running down- with nothing apparently being done about them I haven’t seen many buildings I could say were “new”, meaning built in my lifetime.

Last stop was Saint Mother Teresa’s tomb, Museum, and residence for sisters in the order of nuns she founded. It was very simple as expected and very moving. I knew nothing about her but found out she was originally from Macedonia and trained in Ireland. 

 

After a break to clean up, we left our hotel for an offsite dinner of blisteringly hot Bengal food. There was no beer to cool it off. Hottest was this very good fish cooked in mustard and many, many chillies.

 

Well, I knew it was coming but couldn’t know when-Saturday night was the one that always pops up on these trips- the night when you think you have acclimated to the time and wake up at 4 am wide alert and unable to get back to sleep. For Connie it was a 3 am wake up.

Kolkata to Jorhat- Jan. 28

Today was travel day to Jorhat. A long bus ride early in the morning but the honking wasn’t abated for a Sunday morning. We handled the airport checkin and security well. Interesting, there was a separate security line for men and for women. The flights were jam packed and I had a cramped window seat. When we got to Jorhat we had a half hour ride to the boat, the Mahabaahu, which means mighty arms and is a derivative of the name of Brahmaputra River.

The room has a big bathroom and two outside chairs, plenty of storage.

 

We got our orientation briefing but both of us were on the front row and nodding off so we are going to skip dinner and sleep. I fully expect to be kept up by the live music the others are having at dinner plus the bumping around and flushing elsewhere. Tomorrow we have a field day to learn about Ahom culture, which I had never heard of but basically is the Burmese related king era that lasted about 250 years in this area up to the early 19th century.

Sibsagar or Rangpur- Jan. 29

We woke up at 4:45. A little better.

It is an hour and a half of a dangerous drive (not any more dangerous than any other drive in India) to the 3 archeological sites of Ahom culture- a temple to Shiva the Destroyer from the 1700s (Shiva Dol), where they found a lingam 1000 years before (I was the only one I heard ask what a lingam is); then an auditorium where the royals viewed cockfights, elephant fights, and bull to bull fights, which was shaped like an upside down boat and steps into it originally at elephant height (Rang Ghar); and last a palace ( Talatal Ghar) which had lost its former glory due to centuries of earthquakes. At the temple we all got oil lamps and painted on the forehead. The place was unbelievably jammed with people because Monday is Shiva’s day and people came to wish for something.

                                                      Connie makes friends everywhere we go.

                                                                   Rang Ghar

                                                                                   

                                                         The picnic ground at Talatal Ghar

Then silk shopping in a busy town. I think the US should follow India’s lead and honor cows, goats, and street dogs and let them all wander freely- this would slow traffic down considerably. If India is short of protein from meat, there are plenty of dogs available- just joking.

                                                             Cows do wander wherever they want

We a late but delicious lunch at a tea estate that had been in the same family for 4 generations. The owner sat with us at lunch. She is beautiful, speaks excellent English even with the idioms we use, and was so nice. Unfortunately she has MS and has lost use of her right leg.

Then there was a short discussion about Assam tea from the manager of the estate- I learned a lot about tea. Who knew- all the varieties of tea come from the same bush, a Camellia sinensis. And each plant here is harvested about 7 times a year.

I think I saw about 10 to 15 new species of birds today by watching the roadside- it is too scary to watch the oncoming traffic. One of the added dimensions for us today was we rode in the car with a native Indian guest like us and he could help with the birds and tell us about saris and yoghurt displays and squatters and how the government works.

Majuli Island- Jan. 30

Today is the first day we have had idle time. It is also the first time the Mahabaahu (Mighty Arms) has moved. I am catching up on the blog, but Connie stayed up late last night and posted some photos to FB so I am behind.

The day began with an early (6am) birdwalk along the bank of the river. I probably saw 20 new species but the best was a rufous treepie. 

Later we went by skiff to one of the largest river islands in the world , Majuli Island. Majuli means land between the rivers in one of the 74 languages spoken in Assam. It used to be the largest in the world after it was created in 1750 by a giant flood. It has now shrunk to one third the original size but is still huge at 350 sq. Km. Majuli is home to some of the Mishing people who live in small houses on bamboo floors and stilts. Mishing means “good people” and we visit a more purely Mishing Village later. Many houses have a loom underneath where the women weave. About 200m people live on the island.

We visited a satra which is a monastery where there are about 300 boys in training for the Vishnu the Preserver sect of Hinduism. We saw an elaborate dance with drums and cymbals which was part of a long prayer service. After that we went to an open air area where different dancers re-enacted three different parts of Hindu mythology about the 10 portrayals of Vishnu (the Dashavatar) and a detailed bit about Krishna, Sita his wife in the forest, a kidnapping, help from Hanuman the monkey god, and his defeat of the bad guy (the Mukha Bhavana).

On the way back to the ship thru the small town Connie and I and Gosh, our new Indian friend from the ship, saw the equivalent of a murmuration of lesser whistling ducks in which perhaps a hundred of them rose out of the water, flapped their wings, and then suddenly disappeared. I kept looking for them in flight but instead they all dove and then popped back up at different times. We watched them do this twice. Amazing!!

The rules for navigating the Brahmaputra include no navigation at night. This morning we figured out why- there is no set channel and it moves. On the way to Majuli and then the way back in the skiffs we ran aground, as did the other few boats in the area including a ferry loaded with people, cars and motorcycles. On the skiff there is a mate whose job is to pull out a bamboo pole with the depths marked. He kept probing and searching until we found the channel. I guess a depth finder would be too expensive?

At dusk the Maha pulled up to a deserted island made of river silt (the banks of the river look like steep but not as high versions of the white cliffs of Dover) for a bonfire. After some appetizers and general conversation, each passenger got a small boat made of a 12 inch curved piece of banana bark and its smooth inside layer plus a lighted oil lamp, and we individually set them a sail into the river with a wish. Our wishes were similar to the ones the beauty queens always state- world peace, an end to India’s poverty and a general environmental clean up for India. When I launched mine I had a chance to touch the slate gray river water- it is mid 50s in temp, good for trout but so silty they couldn't see any bugs and they would all be eaten by the people pretty quickly.

The ship spent the night anchored in the silt to this island. At dawn I could see nothing but silt and river and some trees off in the mist. It was quite beautiful- the Sahara and the Mississippi at the same time. Some went out walking but got a little lost between the gray silt, gray water, and morning fog.

Into the Kaziranga Park- Jan. 31

The first morning activity was a short slide show on the Brahmaputra River, Assam, and then the Mishing people.

India is about 2000 miles across. The Brits took over Assam in 1826, ending the Ahom rule (see earlier). The largest town in Assam is Digboi where there is oil. The city got its name from the Brits’ commands to the native boys concerning the oil wells ("Dig Boy!!"). Assam has 34mm people, 33 districts, and 45 languages. The population has a 72% literacy rate. We saw markings put on the side of residences to be sure the health authorities kept up with the population for polio vaccination counts.

The Brahmaputra forms a question mark in its course. At the bend it actually is coming so strongly out of the Himalayas that it flows uphill for a while. It is about 2000 miles long with about 900 in India. We will cruise about 250 miles of it. The river starts in Tibet where the Indus and Ganges also start and eventually joins the Ganges in Bangladesh to form the largest mangrove area in the delta. Fourteen hundred miles of the Brahmaputra are navigable.

I have already written a bit about the Mishing. The only other thing to add is that their language is unwritten. They live by fishing, growing mustard (rapeseed) for cash, and fabric.

When we pulled up in the skiffs near the village, there was quite a welcome party of villagers, children and dogs to meet us. The pigs did not seem to care.

Even the smallest child carried fabric for sale. They were all very friendly. Today was a school holiday of some sort but the kids gladly went into the school and posed behind their bench for us.

The welcome party followed us back to the skiffs which were anchored to the silt bank by driving a long bamboo tent peg.

The next activity for today was a skiff ride along the edge of the park looking for large mammals but we only found birds. Lots of good one but I was hoping for a rhino. The crew says we saw a Ganges dolphin but all I can say is that I saw a ripple where the dolphin should have been.

At dinner I asked our most rabid birder about his count so far and he said this excursion brought his total to 68 (his goal is 100). I think this is high but then I don’t count the birds the way he does.

For today’s afternoon we had a short Indian cooking class and some talks on jute and silk production to be ready for tomorrow’s field trips. There is now a kind of silk production where “no silk worms were killed in the making of this silk”.
Tonight was obligatory Indian dress up night. Lots of fabric for both males and females.

Now we go into three days where I am not sure what is happening. I think we leave the Mahabaahu tomorrow morning at 3:30 to go on an elephant ride but we also transfer to a lodge where one of those Brit princes and his wife stayed, before babies I guess. I think we have two nights there and then to Delhi.

Jute and Silk- Feb. 1

This was the last full day on the Mahabaahu. We went into another little town to look at some Shiva temples (Bishwanath Ghat). This town is much more well to do than the Mishing village. A cell phone is not new here.

 Then we had some true leisure time and it was a nice day so I took advantage of it by sitting outside on our little deck. Still no dolphins. Some on the top deck saw birds and mammals but they didn't call them out over the loudspeaker so I missed them.

When we stopped we went to Assam Jute Factory Number One. Words can’t cover it so I will just have to attach photos.

Kazirhanga again, Feb 2

This is the day my quietly developing cold or flu hit overdrive. It also was the day we had to wake up at 3am to get to the park for the elephant ride and then a Jeep safari. Lots of species of birds (I think I am at about 65 now), and 4 out of the Indian Big Five- water buffalo, swamp deer, one horned rhino ( lots of them), and a glimpse of a tiger with a kill.

We then checked into Diphlu River Lodge (Connie and I got the cottage where Prince William and Kate stayed in 2016), ate lunch and I crashed for the rest of the day.

More Kazirhanga- Feb. 3

Connie and I also skipped today’s Jeep safaris. This trip has gone long enough and I am ready for the trek home. Still chills, coughing, and stuffed nose.

Back to Jorhot for the pretty straight 46 hours of coming home- Feb 4

Whoever designed this itinerary must have been a marine drill sergeant . Up at 4, 2.5 hour drive to the gibbon sanctuary, another drive to lunch, then another drive to the Jorhat airport, a 35 minute flight in the aisle seat to Guaharati, then a 4 hour flight in the middle seat to Delhi, a 40 minute drive to the Radisson Blu hotel in unbelievable traffic at 7:30 Sunday night, a buffet dinner without much food available, a break long enough to take a shower, then back to Delhi airport (the traffic had cleared), a couple of hour wait in the airport, 4 hour flight to Doha, all to get to the 14 hour flight to Dulles on Feb. 5. While at first I was convinced that everyone in our group had an upper respiratory infection, now I am convinced everyone in India has a URI.

As I write this, we have each watched 2 movies and slept a tiny bit. We still have 8 hours to go, it is 7:15 at home, and I have already had 3 mini breakfasts.

Although I know I will have a rough time getting back to east coast time, I will be so glad to get home.

                                                        Mount Everest in the distance
                                                             

                                              Very glad to be in the Doha airport

Once we got home I went to the doctor who gave me an antibiotic for my flu, which, of course, was manufactured in India.

Odds and ends about our fellow travelers:

One is second cousin to Matt and Hunter Thompson.

One couple from Atlanta has a daughter who lives in Norfolk and recommends A Taste of Asia which will be in the Norfolk Bot. gardens March- May.

A brother and sister from the Pacific NW originally. He was a vet and she still teaches at Pitt.

A couple from Madison WI. The dad of the woman died of a heart attack at a Packers game.

A single, kind of gruff guy who is very into writing down the birds whether he sees them well or not. Seeking numbers.

A very intelligent couple from Birmingham AL but I haven’t mustered the courage to ask them about the recent senate race.

A couple from Colorado traveling with another friend, an avid birder who just lost her husband.

A couple from Sacramento. The husband had his career with P&G and did a stint in Malaysia for them.

Then the 10 who were not with our group but were on the boat- all Brits, some from Oxford (Roman history), Birmingham UK and elsewhere. One woman with pretty serious emphysema.