India- Northeast Nov. 23 - Dec. 23 2007

Northeast India

47 hours after leaving my house in Niagara Falls, I arrived at the Gulshan Cottage hotel in Kolkata (Calcutta) on November 23,2008. Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal state and is India’s second biggest city. It was a long journey and I'm glad to be here. I flew from Toronto to Paris to Mumbai to Kolkata, total flight time 18 hours. I like to minimize the backtracking I have to do during a trip. For the areas I wanted to visit it made the most sense to fly into Kolkata and then fly home from Mumbai.The flights were a little bumpy but nothing too scary, besides, as long as I have my own personal screen on the chair ahead of me, I’m happy. I watch movies and shows until my eyes sting and I feel like sleeping.Kolkata is kind of crazy, its population of 14.7 million creates way too much pollution, traffic, beggars, poverty, honking horns and too many people! It reminds me of other capital cities of developing countries except with a little more of all the bad stuff I just mentioned. I don't like it but it does feel strangely comforting to be back in a developing country. This is my tenth consecutive year travelling during the winter season. I was glad to be out of my temperate home country of Canada, where winter will be beginning soon. The city is pretty much what I was imagining,it’s no surprise. My taxi got a flat tire on the way to the hotel, a fitting start to the trip, but this only delayed me by 10 minutes. I didn't get my first hotel of choice but a helpful tout showed me a few other places before I settled on the Gulshan cottage. I usually don’t like touts or use their services but even after I told this guy I knew where I wanted to stay, he kept following me. He had a stack of business cards from hotels in the area. He would tell me the stats of the hotel as he followed behind me...good price, close by, clean, many foreigners staying there, and so on.My small,windowless room is very quiet with TV and attached bath for about $12. It’s exactly what I wanted just to rest off the jet lag. I ate my first of many delicious curry chickens with rice and washed it down with a pineapple shake. I crashed off and on for 18 hours, as I always do after a few days of travelling by plane.
The Gulshan is located in the traveller ghetto of Sudder St.. It reminds me a lot of Khao San Rd. in Bangkok with many foreigners around and lots of places to eat,stay and lots of travel agencies. I don’t absolutely hate it here but I still can't wait to leave. I read a local paper and found out that travel agencies are canceling their tours to the Sunderbans due to the cyclone that ravaged Bangladesh and parts of India a few days ago. The Sunderbans form part of the largest mangrove estuary in world and are famous for the large population of man eating tigers.The Sunderbans was supposed to be my first national park to visit but now instead I'm heading north. I’m in India mainly for the wildlife but there are also some non wildlife things I want to do while here. The first one being a trek in the Himalayas. I have trekked in mountains in South America, Africa and South East Asia and I really wanted to trek in the highest mountain range in the world.
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I bought a train ticket to Siliguri, the jumping off point for excursions in the north, about 600 km away.This was the start of a 4 month backpacking trip from the northeast of India to the southwest. My main interests are animals and forest but I would also be visiting some temples, ancient ruins and beaches. I arrived in Kolkata just in time because there was some violence and a small riot on Wednesday (it’s Friday now), but things appear to have calmed down now, though Kolkata is so vast and sprawling that there could be violence going on and I wouldn’t even know it. The weather is dry and warm but not hot like I thought it would be. It’s only about 26C but very comfortable, hey, I'm not complaining! Anything is better than the temperature in Canada!

My train, the Testa Torsa left surprisingly on time for Siliguri at 1.35pm. The train station wasn’t nearly as hectic as I had envisioned it. This was to be the first of many long distance train rides. I got a comfortable bed in second class with air conditioning. The compartment contains two sets of bunk beds. The train is the best and most comfortable option for long distance overland journeys. I get shaken around a bit in my bed during the night and the train is loud but I manage to get in some sleep. Unfortunately I arrived in Siliguri at 3.30am and with an elevation of 1100M above sea level, it’s a bit chilly on the bicycle rickshaw I take to a hotel. My first chosen hotel is full and so are my next few choices. I should have booked something to let them know I’m coming but I didn’t and now I’m paying for it. It takes an hour to finally find a hotel but I am very happy with Hotel Ashiana. I get a very spacious room, 2 beds, chairs, table, TV and hot shower for $13. I’m still feeling tired from my night in the train and sleep till am. I grab a fresh orange juice at a roadside stall and eat a delicious and unexpected breakfast of French toast and omelet, washed down with a sweet coffee. Siligiri is like a smaller, more manageable version of Kolkata with traffic, pollution and poverty.
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I walk to the tourist office and book two nights at Jaldapara Tourist Lodge near the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary. I paid upfront for two nights and if I liked it I could stay longer. The tourist office told me the train for Jaldapara left at 7.30am and took 3 hours to reach the village of Madahirat. I was at the station at 7 but the train didn't leave till 8.30. I had my first (but certainly not the last) tea while I waited. It was chai tea complimented with copious amounts of milk and sugar so of course it tasted good! I'm not into tea but I like this. It came in a 2 oz glass and cost 8 cents! I went back for another cup. I sat on an uncomfortable concrete bench reading while I waited. It wasn’t a busy station and I was the only white face around.
  There was no seat number on my ticket so I just sat on any available wooden bench seat. It wasn't crowded and fairly comfortable except for the wooden seat. My spine would pay for that later. The 3 hour journey took 4 hours and we passed through some forest, rice paddies and tea plantations. The Jaldapara tourist lodge was only 5 minutes from the station in the village of Madahirat. My room was large with a balcony, TV, huge bathroom and hot water. I ate lunch with a friendly French couple and arranged to go on an afternoon jeep safari with them and some other guests of the lodge. I really wanted to do an elephant back safari but they were only going in the morning.
Three impeccably dressed Indian gentleman, the French couple and I squeezed into the back of a small jeep with two benches facing each other. It was a pretty tight fit. I was glad that after we entered the sanctuary they put up the benches and we all stood. We saw Rhesus Macaques on the way in and a few peacocks, the national bird of India. Rhesus Macaques are the most widespread primate in northern India and are often seen in Indian towns and temples. They can be aggressive and fearless towards humans. Out of India’s 15 species of primates, the Rhesus Macaques are the most common. They are a reddish brown color with a bare ass and red rump, weighing up to 11 kg. They are found in troupes of 5 to 50 individuals with a dominant alpha male. I didn’t see any of them long enough to get a good photo.
We drove about 15 minutes into the sanctuary and stopped at a large and sturdy built watchtower. There were some domestic Indian tourists already at the tower. I scanned the tall grass surrounding the tower looking for anything I could see and spotted a few Hog Deer. India contains 9 species of deer and the Hog Deer is only found in a few isolated pockets in the northeast. It can weigh up to 50 kg and stand 71 cm at shoulder height. Their preferred habitat is grasslands and swamp forest. As I was watching them someone spotted a herd of 10 gaur, the world’s largest bovine, also mistakenly called Indian bison (no relation to North American bison). The Guar is a large and handsome animal. Their body is black and hairless and they look like they are wearing white socks. They are found in mixed decidous forest, scrub, evergreen hill forest and grasslands, attaining a height of almost 2m at the shoulder. This herd was too far away for a decent photo but there are many other places where I was able to photograph guar more closely.
Suddenly there was some frenzied commotion,an Indian rhino was spotted! It was in the distance but came out on to the road and I could see it very clearly through my binoculars. I was so happy and surprised to see an Indian rhino where we were, since we weren't that deep in the park and staff were living close by but I guess that doesn't matter when you weigh 1200kg!
There are 5 species of Rhino left in the world, 2 in Africa and 3 in Asia with the Indian or greater one horned rhino being the biggest in Asia. It really does look primitive like it has plates of armor hung over it. It was only visible for a few minutes then disappeared again into the tall grass. We left and drove to another watchtower. This time my mind was really blown when we spotted another rhino, this time much closer. Although it was somewhat obscured by tall grass there was no mistaking it. I watched it till it disappeared again. It was 4.45 and getting chilly as the sun was beginning to set.
  Back at the lodge dinner was mostly the same as lunch, curried potatoes, chicken, rice, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, roti bread and some kind of soup, all very tasty. I wasn't expecting my room to have a TV and fell asleep watching movies. I arranged an elephant ride for the following morning at 6.30.
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A knock on my door at 5.30am meant my mandatory rented taxi into the park was here. I was alone in the taxi, though I didn’t mind being alone, sharing the taxi with someone else would have helped cut down on what I thought was an expensive taxi for just a 7 km ride each way. On the drive in I saw a barking deer. I have seen barking deer before 5 years ago during a 3 month backpacking trip in Malaysian Borneo but I was happy to see them again. Barking deer are named after their intimidating call which sounds like a barking cough dog with a sore throat and can be kind of scary if you don’t know what you’re hearing. Barking deer are also called Indian Muntjac and are found throughout India in hilly decidous and evergreen forests. They are a smaller deer weighing in around 28 kg and are not often seen. I arrived at the Hollong lodge inside the park at 6 which is the starting point for elephant safaris. There were only 5 going on safari, myself being the only foreigner. There is a raised platform used just for getting on/off the elephant. I shared the riding platform with an Indian couple. There is a small sitting area roped to the elephant and laid with cushions, it was very comfortable. It was so cool to be riding on an elephant have seen elephants many times in the wild in South East Asia and Africa but have never been this close. I thought he would smell but he didn't, they are kept very clean and washed everyday. Elephants are more like us than I knew. I learned this after one of numerous river crossings when the elephant farted! Thankfully, the wind was on my side and I didn't smell anything. It was very peaceful and I felt like I was floating among the grass on the giant beast. We also passed through some forest in the park which comprises of a lot of tall trees but they are spread apart and this allows a lot of light to reach the forest floor creating a very dense and tangled undergrowth. This was not rainforest, more like a degraded secondary forest. Technically speaking India's only true evergreen rainforest exists only the northeast. Many of other types of forest but they are mostly monsoon seasonal forests.
 
Though the elephant ride was a lot of fun we didn't see any animals, but that was ok. On the drive out I saw a large troupe of rhesus macaques. I ate breakfast at the lodge and relaxed. I wanted to go on another afternoon jeep safari but there were no other guests interested and it was much too expense to go by myself. I had to pace my budget and couldn’t justify spending a lot of money in this park. I spent the afternoon wandering around the village a bit and just hanging out. I'll be visiting many more parks and decided not to stay any longer than I had booked for.
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I was on the train back to Siliguri at am. It was a different train this time, padded seats (oh yes!) and much faster, taking less than 3 hours. As soon as I got off the train I remembered what a hellhole Siliguri is. The traffic, the crowds and general chaos. Just negotiating the urban jungle here to me is more dangerous than any wild jungle! It seems like there's always a truck or bus or bike or rickshaw or motorcycle or person coming my way. Horns are always blaring and I always have to watch out. I got another room at the Ashiana but this time it was with one bed and cost only $9, though everything else about the room was the same as the two bed room I had before. I retreated into my room for most of the day.
 
The French couple I met at Jaldapara told me they had just come from Darjeeling and there was some kind of strike going on there. Everything was closed. That didn't sound good because Darjeeling was my next destination. I went to the tourist office and they told me everything was back to normal now, so that’s good. Tomorrow I will go there and hopefully arrange some sort of mountain trek.
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 I took a shared jeep taxi to Darjeeling. It was a smooth uphill ride. Darjeeling is at 2134M and it’s almost winter here in the northern hemisphere. Technically it’s out of the tropics too so it gets bloody cold (for me anyway). It was 11C last night and has barely reached 14C during the day. I'm sure some of you are thinking this is your ideal climate and I understand that but not for the heat loving monger I am. I even bought a fleece sweater and gloves for $3.50. I had brought a snow hat with me from home. Nothing is heated making it damn cold when I have to get up in the middle of the night to relieve myself! The hotel supply lots of blankets and I had them all on last night but then woke up in the middle of the night sweating, guess I didn't need them all! I was staying at the Tower View for $6 a night but the room was concrete with a bare and cold concrete floor and very simple and I thought I could find something more comfortable but it would do for one night. I had been walking around for a while on Darjeeling’s hilly streets and just wanted to settle on a place, even if it’s only for one night.
 
Darjeeling is on a steep ridge with fantastic views though the snow covered peaks of the Himalayas have been obscured by clouds since I got here. I checked out a few travel agencies and put my name down as interested in a 6 day Singalila ridge trek offered by Trekmate. The guys at Trekmate told me that 5 minutes after leaving someone came in who was also interest in the trek. This is great news. I trek was a bit expensive to do on my own but dividing the price between the two of us brings the price right within my budget and with the added benefit of some company for the trek. The trek goes through some forest but I’m doing it mostly for the scenic panoramic views. There's not much trekking in India's parks so this might be my only time for an epic hike.
  I like the laid-back atmosphere of Darjeeling. It's kind of touristy with lots of foreign and domestic visitors, souvenir shops,restaurants and hotels but nobody is pushy or persistent. There are many pretty girls here with features more like Nepalese people than Indian. A large portion of the population are Gurhka, decendents from Nepal and they are advocating secession from West Bengal state for their own state. On one of the many hilly streets in the center of town there is a hand written type of news bulletin on the side of a building. Though I can’t read it, there is always a crowd gathered around it getting the latest news.
There is only some traffic and it’s easy to get away from it. The streets are very narrow and steep and vehicles don’t have 24 hour access to all the road. There's towering 20M Cryptomeria trees and even wild Rhesus Macaques hanging around. I'm amazed at how cheap some of the street food is. I had five of these little fried orange potato patty things for 12 cents. I also ate some very tasty samosas on the train on the way back from Jaldapara for 5 cents each. Even eating in some restaurants is very cheap with a meal and drink for under $2. I searched around for other hotels and found a room to my liking and within my budget at the Hotel Dil. My room is large with attached hot shower and TV for $7.50. I haven't even stayed at a hotel mentioned in the guidebook yet. There's just so many places to stay that aren't listed in the guidebook. What do I care if it’s in the guidebook or not as long as it’s satisfactory to me. I had lunch in the Glenary cafe where they have some super fantastic delicious desserts. I wolfed down a delectable dessert known as 'death by chocolate'. There are many Tibetans here and Tibetan restaurants. I found my favourite one called Kunga and eat there frequently. A big bowl of fruit, muesli, yogurt and coffee for $2 became my regular breakfast.
 
I’m going to wait a few days to begin the trek to help myself get more acclimatized. Everything is included in the trek and we will be staying in trekkers huts along the way so I don't need my tent. I only have to carry my clothes,sleeping bag and personal items. Other than that I just have to hike, sounds easy to other treks I've done carrying 12 kg of gear or more. I haven't done a mountain trek quite like this before. The closest thing would be the Inca trail in 1998 and summiting Pico Humboldt, Venezuela’s second highest peak at 4095M which I did in 2000. I've done some mountain climbing and volcano climbing during the last 7 years but most of these started at sea level and were a straightforward up and down affair and hardly reached the altitude I'll be trekking at now. This time I'm starting at 2100M and peaking at about 3600M. Nights are going to be really cold but hopefully clear skies and amazing stars will help me not thinking about it too much. I'm really going to appreciate the warm lowlands after this, that’s for sure! My last day in Darjeeling before the trek was fairly lazy. I visited a botanical garden but other than that just relaxed and rested. I went to bed early because I would be waking up at am.
 
My 24 year old guide Arpan picked me up from my hotel at 7.30am. We picked up Warner, 43, American, who I would be doing the trek with. Warner and I instantly got along and I knew we would have a great trek together. We have been to many of the same countries and he has been travelling seasonally for the last 20 years. He just came from trekking in Nepal. We drove for an hour in a minivan to our starting point. We had breakfast and then started the hike. To Warner's and my surprise we started walking on a road and stayed on a road for the first 4 days of our trek. But this was not a frequently used road and we maybe saw 2 jeeps a day. It was more like hiking on a 3M wide trail.
  The trail climbed until our view below was obscured by clouds. We stopped for tea after a few hours and we were literally in the clouds. It started to get chilly and we kept hiking. By 1.30 after 4.5 hours trekking we arrived at a cluster of trekkers huts known as Tumling. We ate lunch here and then had the option to sleep here or sleep at a less appealing government run hut another 6 km further on. They left it up to me to decide and I choose to stay in Tumling. Our dinner was to be the staple of most meals in the Himalaya - rice, dal (lentil soup) and veggies, with some variations.
I've had an upset stomach off and on for a few days and it doesn’t bother me when I'm walking but it does bother me when I'm resting. I thought it was too early in my trip for my old enemy Giardiasis to return so I started taking ciproflaxin but it had no effect yet. Giardiasis is an intestinal parasite caused by Giardi lamblia and is found in contaminated food and water and is the result of fecal contamination by humans or animals. It’s common in developing countries but also found around the world. The first time I was diagnosed with it was in 2000 after returning from a 4 month trip to Ecuador, Costa Rica and Venezuela. My symptoms weren’t severe but included rank smelling loose bowel movements, excessive gas, occasional cramps, loss of appetite and a generally unwell feeling. I thought it was just travellers diarrhea and would go away. It was only after the intense urging of my friends to see a Doctor did I find out that it was actually Giardia. Thankfully it’s easy to take care of with a few pills. Since then I haven’t been to a Doctor to be officially diagnosed with Giardia again but I have had Giardia a few more times. I know the symptoms now and administer self treatment. Almost any pharmacy in a developing country can supply you with the proper pills at a ridiculously low cost. I’ve met many travellers who have also had it. I just hoped it wasn’t Giardia this time because I left my pills for it along with most of my stuff at my hotel in Darjeeling.
 
For some weird reason the road dips into Nepal for a short stretch and this is where Tumling is, so I have unexpectedly visited Nepal.Tumling is at almost 3000M but we couldn't see anything and were totally enveloped in clouds. It dropped to 4C at night but I was warm in the sleeping bad provided by Trek Mate. I also took advantage of a down jacket they offered which I wore in the evenings before bed. Sleep was made even warmer by the hot water bottle that the lodge gave us to stick inside our sleeping bags. I have never had that before and it was luxury, since I can’t sleep with anything but my boxer shorts on. I have tried and it’s just too uncomfortable. If I get cold, instead of putting on more clothes, I put the clothes inside the sleeping bag with me and use them as tiny extra blankets. I was going minimalist on this trek, carrying only what I needed. The warm down filled sleeping bag provided by Trekmate was huge and filled most of my  22L day pack. If I wanted to bring more stuff then I would have had to carry my large 70L pack. I didn’t want to do this because it would add more weight and most of my pack would be empty, so I decided to go minimalist. I carried a change of clothes ( which I didn’t use), headlamp, toothpaste, toothbrush, moisturizer, alarm clock with thermometer, water purifier, camera, extra batteries, and toilet paper.My water bottle and down jacket were on the outside of my pack as were some goodies I picked up in Darjeeling. I told the owner of a small shop I was going trekking and he recommended chunks of yak milk about half the size of an ice cube. He said they had no taste and he was right but there was a slight buttery/rubber taste but I didn't mind it. I chewed on single piece for hours to keep my mouth moist. Warner didn't share my taste for them! I also had chocolate ' lollipops' which everyone liked.
I am a gear junkie and like to have some of the best quality and lightest gear while travelling. I really like travelling minimalist style. I don’t need much to get by. If I didn’t read or camp, I could travel with hardly anything at all, but I like to have lots of books and all my camping gear with me on every trip.This causes the most weight in my pack. I always travel with 2 packs, a small day pack, which contains my most important possessions - camera, money, guidebook, journal and my main large pack which contains everything else. My large pack usually weighs around 20 kg. Unfortunately for this trek, I was a little bored at times when we weren’t hiking. I didn’t bring anything to do, no ipod and no book. I talked with Warner at these times or just stayed in bed trying to keep warm.
Warner and I shared a two bed room and our attached bathroom even had a flush toilet with western style seat. As Warner put it ' This place is the Hilton!' Before I crashed I noticed the sky was crystal clear but it was too cold to stay outside to appreciate it for long. Today was a short day as we only walked 13 km but we gained almost 900M in elevation.
 
 
Arpan woke us up at 5.50am in order to see the sunrise on the mountains. We could see 4 of 5 of the world’s highest peaks, Everest (8850M), Lhotse (8501M), Makalu (8475M) and Khangchendzonga (8598M). Khangchendzonga is the third highest mountain in the world and the highest point in India. It was amazing to see the sun illuminate these snow covered ranges. The sun also warmed us up. I put some of my clothes in bed with me so they weren’t freezing cold when I put them on. After breakfast we carried on to the small village of Sandakphu were we spent our second night. Along the way we stopped for tea a few times. I really like the trekking here, it’s easy, the views are spectacular and the best of all, we almost have the whole trail to ourselves.
 
Arpan woke us up at am for sunrise. It was 0 degrees again. Today is our longest day because there is no place to stop for tea. Arpan isn’t too happy about this but I don’t care. Stopping at small huts to have tea is a luxury I’ve never experienced on the trail before, so I won’t miss it if it’s gone. We left Sandakphu at 9. At 12 we stop for lunch on a sun drenched grassy hill. Arpan brought us a pack lunch consisting of a chocolate bar, chocolate chip cookies, muffin, fruitcakes, macaroon and a mango juice box. The whole lunch was too sugary and dry for me and I only ate the bar, cookies, muffin and savored the juice box. From here it was only about an hour to reach Phalut at 3600M. We will have walked 21 km, but it’s kind of strange. 21 km sounds like a long distance and it is but it doesn't feel like it. I can walk for hours before I even look at my watch and think ' Holy shit, it’s been that long!' Even though I haven't done much physical activity for a while since I finished work 2 weeks before leaving for my trip ( the weather wasn’t conducive for outdoor activities), my legs have been strong and give me no problems or get sore.
  Phalut is on an exposed ridge and consists of one large government run trekkers lodge. No electricity or generator here. There were 2 private rooms with 4 beds, Warner and I shared one of these. The main room was large and had about 20 beds in it.The sun would come and go behind the clouds so I stayed in my warm bed until dinner. The temperature in the kitchen were we ate rose to 11 degrees C from the cooking fire. The stars again were amazing and again to cold to appreciate them for long.
 

We trekked 19 km today and reached an altitude of 3600M. The last uphill bit was slow going for me. I’m in pretty good shape, well, my legs are anyway from weekly mountain bike riding at home. Warner walks with me sometimes but mostly stays ahead. I know how important it is to walk at your own pace so I understand him walking ahead. Arpan stays behind and walks with me. He says I maintain a consistent medium pace which is similar to other Indians he has guided except I break far less often. They will break up to a dozen times when I would only break once. The sun was shining when we arrived in Phalut and I lied down outside for a bit to let it warm me. After I jumped into bed because that was the only warm place until they got the wood stove going in the 'dining hall'. I hung around the stove waiting for our dinner. We had the special treat of chicken if we wanted it. Apparently they just killed one and I would have to give my order for them to save me some, so I did. It was tasty. I spit most of the small bones back into a small dish. After I was finished with it Warner emptied it onto his plate and ate the rest which had some sauce in it still. He's an animal and wanted me not to forget to write about it! After that there wasn't much to do but go back to my warm bed.
  Again we were treated to an absolutely brilliant night sky but now it was way too cold to appreciate it for any length of time. I'm also glad I brought the sleeping bag because 'mattresses' here are super thin. I used the blankets provided for some extra padding.
 

Arpan woke us up at am for another mountain sunrise. It was zero degrees C and very hard to get out of bed. I got dressed very fast and went outside to get warm in the sun. Everyone experiencing cold temperatures in the northern hemisphere have it bad, no doubt about it but at least they live in a warm house. I'm sleeping and waking in 0 degree C temperatures and it’s challenging for me. All my friends know I love the heat so this is a new experience for me and surprisingly I'm still enjoying it, maybe because I know it’s only for 6 days. I knew it would be cold and so I’m not going to complain about it.

Today is our rest day according to Arpan. We only have to walk 14 km and it’s all gradual downhill. We leave the barren mountain slopes and enter dense Rhododendron and bamboo forests. Seeing plants and animals in their native habitat has always been a goal of my travelling so it was really cool for me to see a common garden plant like a Rhododendron growing wild and huge. Some of the Rhodos were 10M tall and had a very thick trunk. I can imagine it must be spectacular in the spring when they are all blooming. The more we descended the less rhodos I saw until we entered a temperate cloudforest. Everything had a thick layer of moss on it but the forest was fairly lifeless for animals.
  This is all part of Singalila National Park which we entered yesterday. The park consists of dense evergreen forests which are home to such elusive animals as the red panda. We didn't see any wild animals on the trek but we did see lots of shit on the road from domestic animals. We descended from Phalut at 3600M to the small valley village of Gorkhay at 2400M.It only took us about two and a half hours. It was noticeably warmer at Gorkhay and the temperature in my room skyrocketed to 15 degrees C. There were 2 small rooms available so Warner and I each had our own room. It felt strangely like I was sleeping in someone else’s bedroom...maybe because I was. When they weren’t taking in trekkers at this house, it was lived in by the inhabitants. My room was decorated with pictures of soccer stars and Bollywood celebrities.We had our usual dinner of rice, dahl and veggies and then it was off to bed for me. I thought due to our lower elevation it wouldn't get as cold at night but I was wrong. The wind caused the temperature to drop to 4 degrees C. We were lucky we haven't had any wind so far on the trip because it could have made the exposed ridge site of Phalut very cold. Whatever temperature it’s been in my room it has always been 2 or 3 degrees C colder outside. I had a small window in my room and a view of a river that separates West Bengal state from the state of Sikkim.
 
We slept in until 7 because there are no sunrise views from this valley. We put our breakfast table out in the sun to enjoy our porridge and omelet. Our trek today begins through a forest of giant japanese cedars. Most of the trek is through the temperate cloudforest again. We stop for lunch at a beautiful place in the forest beside a river. I eat a massive lunch of french fries and curried pumpkin with rice. My stomach troubles of the first two days have thankfully been cleared up and I feel healthy and strong. Arpan says I'm the opposite of most hikers. Usually they get sick further into the trek, not get better!
After lunch we encounter some roadwork on the trail. They’re in the process of converting the trail into a road. I've never seen a mountain road being built before and it was very interesting. Men and women of all ages are working, splitting rocks, carrying heavy loads of rocks and doing general labour. After lunch the trail becomes a road further on and it’s gradual and very easy. We reach Rimbick (2286M),our final destination of the trek around 3.30. It’s the biggest village we've seen with a real road and a few cars but it’s still very quiet. We stay in a lodge on the outskirts of town. We walked 19 km today. I get to take a hot shower here, the first in 5 days and it feels great to be clean. The floor of the shower is tile and very cold on my feet. Thankfully they supply a small plastic stool which I stand on.There is even a menu to choose from for dinner and I go with spaghetti for something different. It’s a massive portion of noodles, cheese and sauce and quite tasty for Himalayan pasta.  My room had great view of the surrounding mountains. At night what I thought we a few stars I could see out my window, were actually spread out lights from dwellings on the other side of the mountain.
 
We have to get up at am because our transport back to Darjeeling wants to leave by 7. We have our own private jeep. Warner rides on the back for most of the three and a half hour drive and I get a whole backseat bench to myself. I thought Warner was a bit crazy for wanting to ride on the back of the jeep because it was very cold with the wind outside but after he told me another reason for riding on the back which I understood more. Warner is a tall guy, over 2m, most Indians are 1.5m or less. This means that Warner doesn’t have much room for his longs legs and was actually more comfortable riding on the back standing up.
I really enjoyed this trek and it’s sad to be going back to reality but I'm not going to miss the cold. We arrive in Darjeeling around 11. I say goodbye to Arpan, give him a nice tip and make plans to meet Warner for dinner later. I go back to my hotel and get a room. It feels good to be back in Darjeeling, like I’m coming home to a place I know and like. It’s even colder in Darjeeling than when we left. My room hovers around 10 degrees C all the time. I take a hot bucket shower, though as soon as the hot water stops pouring on me it gets cold and I have to towel dry fast and jump back into my warm bed. I only have one blanket but it’s so thick and heavy that it’s enough to keep me warm.
I meet Warner for dinner and we have a feast of chicken masala,garlic nan bread and beer. Warner is a really cool guy and good company and we might meet up again in February in the south.
I packed up my things and left Darjeeling around noon to go back to Siliguri. I shared the jeep with some Nepalese teenagers. We talked for a while, they were very interested in me. I told them I was from Canada and they asked me if I had been to Niagara Falls. They were really surprised when I told them that Niagara Falls is my hometown and I live just outside the city in the small village of Chippawa.
I work a seasonal job in Horticulture taking care of the gardens right near the Falls themselves. It’s kind of funny, I see tons of foreign visitors in my 8 month season and then I am a visitor in a foreign country for 4 month layoff. This year’s trip to India is special because it marks the anniversary of a decade of seasonal travel. My travels have taken me to every continent except Antarctica ( which I am planning to visit, hopefully in the next 5 years ). With the exception of The Netherlands, I always go to tropical countries for a number of reasons. They are warm (I hate the cold Canadian winters), cheap and have all the things I like, such as rainforest, mountains, volcanoes, ruins, hotsprings and beaches.

 I bought a train ticket for Guwahati, which is pronounced ‘Gwati’. I found this out after being laughed at for the previous way I was pronouncing it. I just said it like it looked like it would be said but I was wrong. I leave at 6.15pm for the 10 hour journey. Guwahati is the capital of Assam state, the gateway to the northeast were I would be off the beaten track. In Darjeeling there were healthy numbers of foreign visitors but outside of there, I haven’t seen many foreigners.
 
I’m very happy to be back in warmer temperatures again but I have not yet experienced any super warm temperatures. I like it 30 -35 degrees C during the day and around 25 dc at night but it’s more like 26 degrees C in the day and 15 - 20 degrees C at night, which I can handle and like ok but I'm just saying it could be hotter! I want to sweat dammit and not just from the food, which has been excellent. Even the food on the train is spicy and tasty. I not a huge adventurer when it comes to food but I am willing to try many new things. Though on my own, I often stick to some of the same foods because I know what I am getting and know I will like it. I look at a menu here and don’t know what I’m looking at. I’m not like some people who travel for food. I like to enjoy my food but I can be very simple about what I eat and it takes me a long time to get sick of a food I enjoy. For example I started eating a simple caesar salad with chick peas last year for lunch at work and proceeded to eat this five days a week for the entire season.
 
I wanted to get the morning train to Guwahati but it was fully booked so I had to take the night train leaving at 6.15pm. My hotel was nice enough to let me stay in my room till 4 without paying more money. I went out to eat and arrived at the station an hour early so I would have plenty of time. I found out after I arrived that a train had derailed not far from here and this was delaying all trains, that sucks! I met a nice Indian family and hungout with them until their train arrived, then I hung out alone reading and listening to music till 9.45pm when my train arrived. We left at 10.15 and arrived in Guwahati at am. I had second class A/C which was the same I had from Kolkata to Siliguri and it was comfortable. I got a top bunk this time, closed the privacy curtain and went to sleep. I walked from the train to the Assam tourist lodge which is only five minutes from the station. I have a big room, hot shower and balcony but no TV for $8.
 
I went to some tour operators to find out about tours to national parks that are difficult to visit independently. I was very surprised to learn that one agency said it would cost me 12000 Rp, ( $300) a day to visit Manas National Park! WHAT! HOLY SHIT! That’s even way more than I paid for safari in South Africa and even more than my most expensive tour I ever took which was in Gabon. There is a daily entry fee of $60, Indians pay a very affordable $2 a day entry fee. Why the huge price increase for foreigners? I don’t know but as I would later learn this was the same all over India. There is a foreigner price and an Indian price. I was willing to break the budget a bit for this, because Manas is one of the only parks I was hoping to visit that is lowland rainforest, but can’t afford this.

Northeast India contains 8 states, 4 of these ( Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur ) require permits for foreign visitors. As for visiting these restricted states, it took 22 days for a permit to be issued but I would still need to have more than one person on the permit. It looks like I won’t be visiting any restricted states but it’s not all bad and it was not a waste of time coming this far east. I can still visit Kazaringa National Park independently and other places without a permit so it’s not a loss for me. I'm just missing out on some places I thought might be possible to visit. Live and learn, but I still can’t believe they want $300a day to visit Manas national Park. This isn’t Africa, there’s no guarantee of seeing any animals. I'll save my money for another place.
 
As for Guwahati city, it’s a complete shithole. Huge masses of trash litter the street. It makes me crave the lesser shithole of Siliguri though I did have some delicious Thai green curry and an interesting ( non alcoholic) fruit beer. It’s been hard to find beer in India so far, a lot of places don't serve it. Maybe I’m being too hard on Indian cities, really they are not that much different that many other cities I’ve seen in other developing countries.
  While I was waiting in the lobby of a tour operator I saw a photo of a golden langur in the newspaper at a local temple. The temple is known as Umananda and is on a small island reached by public ferry for 25 cents. The golden langur is a golden colored primate and one of the rarest primates in the world. I don't think I'll see it in the wild here so this is as close as I'll get. They have long, fuzzy, out of control hair and a super long tail. They are free to roam the island but I am pretty sure they are not native to the island, someone must have brought them here. I got some really good close up photos. One of them was almost on top of me as I was photographing another on a railing. I turned around and he was right there behind me. I thought he was looking for a hug. Either that or the more likely explanation that he thought I might have food for him. I wandered around the island a little looking for the monkeys. I unknowingly wandered into sacred area near a temple with my shoes on. I removed them as soon as I realized. A holy man was saying something to me I didn’t understand and I felt a bit guilty coming to this temple island just to see the monkeys.
 
 I left Guwahati at 9.30am on a bus for Kohora, the village closest to Kaziranga national park. I had a soft seat and it was a comfortable five hour ride. Kohora is a village based around tourism in the park. It’s mostly lodges and places to eat and buy souvenirs along a main road. I got a room at the Bonoshree lodge for a reasonable 260 Rupees, $6.50. The room was large but fairly simple. Kaziranga is a park well known for its rhino population and elephant safaris. Elephant safaris must be booked the night before. The office for booking is strangely only open for booking one hour in the evening. I booked for the first safari at 5.15am.
 
  I'm up at 4.30am for morning tea brought to my room by the lodge. I meet my ride to the park at am. I am sharing the car with an Indian man and his 14 year old son. It’s very foggy and a little on the cool side. I share an elephant with the man and his son too. This time we sit on the elephant facing forwards. I was sitting facing one side of the elephant during the elephant safari I took in Jaldapara. There are only 3 seats and I get the last one over the elephant’s ass and yes, he farted many times! I liked sitting facing forward because I can see more but straddling an elephant isn't the most comfortable thing. We were riding one of the only males and he had a very commanding presence. His name was J Raj and he was 55 years old with massive tusks. There were 14 elephants in total out on the safari, all filled with domestic Indian tourists. I was the only foreigner. There were also two small two year old elephants. They will begin their training at five years old but for now they stay with the group weaving in and out of the herd trying not to get trampled by the other elephants. I wonder about these elephants. Obviously the little ones were born in captivity but what about the older ones? Are they taken from their forest home and forced to have their spirits broken till they become a working elephant? It’s also kind of distracting to have all these elephants around. I found myself constantly looking around at all the elephants instead of concentrating on the safari at hand. I have never been this close to so many elephants and couldn’t help from looking at them.
 
We wait for 20 minutes for the fog to clear up and minutes after the safari begins we spot an Indian rhino. I'm surprised the rhino doesn't flee with the sight of 14 massive beasts coming his way. A herd of swamp deer which are very rare and only found in a few Indian parks are about 20m away and also not bothered by us. We see a mother and baby rhino and get a bit too close because the mother almost charges us. 'Get the hell away from my baby!' is what she's saying and we do and give them some room. In total we saw 8 rhinos on the one hour safari, which I was very happy with.

Indian rhinos are thriving in the park with almost 1800 individuals at last count but this wasn’t always the case. In the 1800’s, Kaziranga was the hunting grounds of local rajas and they nearly exterminated the entire population. Their numbers plummeted to an estimated 12 individuals in 1908. Protection measures were put in place in 1926 to save the species and the Assam Rhino Bill was passed in 1954 providing the special protection the rhino needed. Kaziranga became a national park in 1974 and is now a World Heritage site covering 820 sq. km.
I team up with the Indian man and his family for an afternoon jeep safari at 1pm but I’m really tired now from getting up at 4.30 so after I eat breakfast I crash for a few hours. Getting up a 4.30am isn't too fun but it was totally worth it.
  I meet the Indian family (whose name he told me and I forgot, but even he admits it’s too long!) at one and we drive for 30 minutes on the main road to reach the eastern range of the park. We drive on dirt roads until we reach the park gate. Villagers are very friendly with kids waving and wishing us goodbye. They usually skip 'hello' and go straight for the 'bye-bye'. We arrive at 1.45pm but have to wait, permits aren't issued till 2pm.
  Most of the drive is around a huge shallow lake. This area of the park is absolutely teeming with wildlife. Within minutes we see a lone Asiatic wild buffalo, only found in pockets in the northeast and central parts of India. The Asiatic wild buffalo can weigh up to 1200 kg and stand almost 2m at the shoulder but even this massive animal is under threat from habitat loss and cattle grazing. They are also losing their genetic diversity by mating with domestic buffaloes.
Later from a bit of a distance we see a herd of 40 buffalo and about 20 Asian elephants in the lake. There are also lots of hog deer. We also see rhesus macaques and a few lone buffaloes much closer. India’s largest deer, the sambar are present as are wild boar. We stop at the banks of the mighty Brahamaputra river and I see my first signs of a wild tiger. There are month old pug marks in the banks. To see a tiger in the wild was one of the main reasons I came to India though I didn’t expect to see any in Kaziranga. There are other national parks in the center of India famous for tigers and it’s at these parks that I hope to catch a glimpse of the elusive cat.
  We stop at a few ranger stations, each with a lookout tower. Over another shallow lake we see more elephants,rhinos and hog deer. We drive through some forest and at one point round a corner and scare the shit out of a rhino that was only 3M from the road! We were almost as startled as it was. The rhino took cover in the dense bush not far from the road but was very hard to see.We see more rhinos, barking deer and buffaloes. We didn't go more than 10 or 15 minutes without seeing animals during our two and a half hour drive. The best part was we were completely alone, not a single other tourist jeep. I liked visiting the park by elephant safari but the jeep covers more ground and is much better value. I can share the price with up to 6 people. The elephant is a fixed price per person and for me it cost $19 an hour.
 
On our way out of the park we see local kids playing cricket less than 100M from 3 wild buffaloes which are considered one of the most dangerous animals to encounter. I'm surprised how close humans and animals live but not everything is kosher in the park and poaching is still a problem. I read in a newspaper the following morning about a rhino being poached the previous day. One of the poachers was shot in the shootout with forest rangers. About 18 rhinos a year are being poached for their horns, which still figure prominently in traditional medicine.Other animals are also poached and I think that’s the reason for the high number of forest ranger stations I saw scattered throughout the park.
 
The Indian family and I agree to go on another jeep safari the following morning in the western range of the park, so I'm up again at 4.30am with my morning tea. I meet the family at 4.50 for our drive to the western range. They are going on an elephant safari at 5.15 but I don't go and wait for them.I'll save my money for the jeep safari. On the way to pick them up the driver and I see buffaloes, rhinos and hog deer. We drive to the park gate to pay for our permits to enter the western range. It’s 7.25am but we have to wait again,permits aren't issued till 7.30am. With the plethora of park fees I have to pay they are bound to forget some and that’s exactly what happened this morning. The Indian guy put me on his permit and I just had to pay entrance fee and my share of the jeep rental. They forgot the camera fee for me, saving me $12, I'm not going to say anything, their mistake. I have already corrected others mistakes if I like the place and feel the fee is justified but as a foreigner I'm already getting charged a shitload more than Indians to visit their parks so it’s not my fault they forgot! At a restaurant in Darjeeling they forgot to put a soft drink on my bill and I alerted them to their mistake and paid the proper amount because I liked the place and it was only about 25 cents anyway.
  The safari drive through the western range was a little shorter than the eastern range and the animals weren’t as abundant. Most of the drive was through tall grass with no water holes. That said we still saw buffaloes, deer, wild boar and many rhinos. At one time I could see 8 rhinos.
 
I eat breakfast and go back to the lodge and checkout at 11.45 to start the (unexpectedly long) journey back to Guwahati. I wait on the main road to flag down a passing bus and it doesn't take long for me to get a bus but there are no seats so I sit upfront on a pad on the engine with the driver and his 7 buddies. After we stop for lunch I get a comfy seat in the back of the bus. We stopped for a minor bus repair that took 30 minutes and then we’re on our way again. Everything was going smooth until we began to climb a twisty mountain road around 5pm. The bus was quickly dying....it's dead. Everyone got off and the driver began to flag down passing buses or jeeps for the passengers. It’s now dark out and I waited till everyone else got a ride and was the last one to leave.I waited about 30 minutes till I finally got in the back of a jeep and the driver paid for me. I thought I was on my way back to Guwahati but the jeep stopped five minutes later to let me out at a busy intersection of some small town. This was a busy intersection with people piling on every over crowed bus that stopped. It didn't' look good for me. I was carrying both my backpacks since the Assam tourist lodge wouldn’t store any luggage for me the 2 days I would be gone. It’s not easy to jump on a crowded bus carrying my bulky packs. I was thankful when a nice Indian guy started talking with me and helped me get a ride. A bus stopped and he motioned for me to get on. I didn't see any room but did what he said. The driver made room for my pack at the front of the bus and I even got a seat beside him. I haven’t been overwhelmed with the kindness of the majority of Indian people, most of them push and shove their way in a line or on a bus and have no inclination to help out a foreigner. Some, though are very friendly, helpful and curious.
 
My small stature (5’8”, 140 lbs) has paid off numerous times while travelling, being able to squeeze into some small spaces, though, my broad shoulders don't always fit in and can make for a tight fit. I was finally on my way back to Guwahati but this was a local bus and stopped almost every five minutes to pick up or drop someone off. They dropped me off and it was a five minute walk to the tourist lodge. It was now 8pm, 3 hours after the bus died and I was getting exhausted. Keep in mind I got up at 4.30am (with no nap). I ate dinner and then crashed, no energy for my planned email writing. I like to keep my friends and family updated during my trips with detailed emails. These formed the base for this book.

The next morning I left early for Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state.It was a comfortable 3 hour ride in the front seat of a jeep (called sumos here) to the hill station of Shillong but my final destination was Cherrapunjee. Unfortunately by the time I arrived there was no more transport to Cherrapunjee, so I had to stay the night in Shillong.I didn’t mind it there. I ate a huge portion of delicious butter chicken masala. My small room had a TV and I spent the night watching movies. Watching movies comforts me and helps me relax and unwind from the travelling and craziness of India. The next morning I was in a sumo for the one and a half hour ride to Cherrapunjee.
 
Cherrapunjee is the world's rainiest place, though I've heard this claim made about other places in Hawaii and Cameroon. It receives 90% of its rainfall from March to October, dry weather prevails for the winter months. The most rain it received was in 1974 when it was pelted with 24M (80'!) of rain. Now that’s a lot of rain! It also received a record of 1.5m of rain in one day! The whole region is a mosaic of forested canyons and very scenic. From the sumo stand in Cherrapunjee (also known as Sohra) I had another 15 km to go to my final destination - the Cherrapunjee Holiday Resort. I wasn't quite sure how to get there besides hiring my own taxi which due to the price was going to be my last option. I asked a local woman and she was more than happy to help me. Her name was Wanda and she was a short and tiny middle aged woman whose long black hair was more than half her whole body length. Her English was pretty good too. She kept saying ' Don't worry, I'll help you get there.' We walked down the road to her cousins house and had tea and biscuits. They said there was a local bus but it came in the afternoon. It was 10.30 now and I didn't want to wait that long. Wanda said she would feel worried until she was sure I got a ride to the resort. Her cousins joined us for the walk to a junction where we waited for the possibility of hitching a ride, but no one was going my way.
  After getting tired of waiting I decided my best option was just to hire a taxi. Wanda even got the price reduced for me. I finally arrived at the resort at 12. The ride there was spectacular along the canyon with sheer cliffs on my right side and forested drop offs to my left. The resort only has six rooms and they were all full. No problem, I have my tent, that’s why I never book ahead. They had their own tents too but I have mine so I might as well use it. I told them I would pay the same price as their own tents, which was a pricey $10 a night, but I didn't mind. I always travel with my own tent. I like to be self sufficient. The only thing I’m missing is a stove which I leave at home because the fuel for it can be hard to find in the countries I go to.
The resort is in a fantastic location at the top of a hill with views all around. The super friendly and accommodating owner, Dennis, supplied me with towels, soap, shampoo (which will 'put the shine back into my black hair'),blankets and hot water for bucket showers. Even though we are at only 900M it got cold at night, down to 13 degrees C., though it didn't have the cold bite like Darjeeling had. Warm air blows up from the plains of Bangladesh and keeps it a bit milder here.
 
I was here to see the living root bridges I read about in the Lonely Planet guidebook but today I just went to a few viewpoints that were close by. One of the canyon and the other of the plains of Bangladesh. There are some foreigners here and domestic tourists. I don’t like to book anything ahead usually because I know I have my tent as a back up. Some might say I’m roughing it because I’m sleeping in a tent but I’m roughing it in comfort and never dread sleeping in my tent. I’ve actually moved out of hotel rooms before to go into my tent for a better night’s sleep.
I use the self inflating prolite 4 thermarest mattress which turns any ground into a soft bed and it’s compact and light. I use a cheap but durable vinyl blow up pillow with t- shirt doubling as a pillowcase. I sleep in a silk sleeping bag liner and a lightweight warm weather sleeping bag but they will only keep me warm when it’s above 12 degrees C. I had to borrow a few blankets from Dennis for the chilly December nights. December and January are the coldest months in India. I didn’t expect it to rain but I wasn’t worried anyway. I know my tent can handle a lot of rain. I climbed an extinct volcano in the Philippines and did an 8 day trek in Madagascar, both of which I experienced rain that lasted over 22 hours straight! I slept in the driving rain for hours and hours and stayed dry.
I slept in till 8.30 the next morning. After breakfast and washing some clothes I left for the closest root bridge. The bridge is located over the river at the bottom of a canyon which meant descending 2500 steps to the canyon floor. I took my time and got to the bottom after one hour. This root bridge is 15M long and the most well formed being about 200 years old. The bridges are made from the secondary roots of the Indian rubber tree (Ficus elastica). They use the trunk of a dead betel nut tree cut in half down the center and lay it over the river. They train the roots of the rubber tree onto the tree, filling in holes with rocks which the roots will eventually encircle. They take up to 25 years to be formed and are like nothing I've ever seen before. I think it’s safe to say they are unique in the whole world to Meghalaya state. The roots anchor themselves in the ground once they reach the other side of the river and become very sturdy. This root bridge didn't even budge when I jumped on it. I hung out with it for an hour and a half before I hiked back up to the resort. The air was warm and it felt great to be sweating and hiking through the forest again, now that’s what I'm talking about!
 
Before falling asleep my first night at the resort in my tent, I had discovered a tick on me. Earlier that day I was experiencing some pain on my right armpit but thought it was from carrying my pack that morning.It wasn’t until I was gliding my hand over my back that I found a tick behind my armpit. I immediately grabbed my tweezers and my mirror and pulled that son of a bitch of out me. I hate ticks so much, I would rather have leeches on me any day instead. It was a very painful bite and the whole area around the bite was sensitive for almost 2 weeks. It was red around the bite with a curiously symmetrical triangle shape with the bite in the middle. I put some polysporin on the wound and covered it with a band aid. It wasn’t the cleanest tick removal and I might have left some of it in me. I figured this was the case because even months later I had a scar from the bite that would itch periodically.
 
The next morning I told Dennis about it and showed him the bite mark. He knew what to do and grabbed a piece of ginger root, peeled it and firmly rubbed it into the wound, which stung like hell! Ginger has antiseptic properties and he gave me a piece to use later but I couldn't bring myself to rub it into the wound again. Dennis was very concerned and asked daily if I was feeling better. I'm not sure where I contracted the tick but I think it was the grassy area where I put my tent or at Wanda's cousin’s house. Dennis said I was the first person to get a tick bite here. I've been doing a lot of research about tick bites and the Doxycycline ( malaria prophalactic) I'm taking is supposed to help with any tick bourne diseases but also more importantly the tick has to be infected itself and has to be feeding for over 24 hours which it wasn't. I'm confident I shouldn't have any problems but I'm going to keep a close watch on it. The redness and the triangle went away after one day but it’s still sensitive and feels like it’s going to take for a few more days to heal. Always a new adventure!
 
I left the resort at 9.30 for the hike to the much advertised double decker root bridge. I walked 5 km to the village of Tyrna. From Tyrna I began to descend mass smooth concrete steps to the village on the river at the base of the canyon. The path split here and before going the way to the double decker I went the other way to visit two other root bridges. One of them was 30M long, the longest of any root bridge. The other shorter bridge was close by but not used anymore. I stepped on the front of it and it felt really unstable, like it was going to collapse. I didn't like the look of the 30M one either so I didn't cross it, I wasn't going that way anyway. Once I reached the river, which at this time of year is very low, I had to cross a fun and bouncy steel wire suspension bridge. This might freak some people out but I liked crossing it. From it I could see 3 old and broken root bridges. This whole area is littered with root bridges. I climbed a small hill and crossed two more steel wire bridges.
  I finally reached the village of Nongriat, home of the double decker. To enter the village I crossed a very short but very well formed root bridge. It was only a five minute walk to the double decker. It was absolutely amazing, the upper level is five meters higher than the lower and both are well formed. I took photos from every angle, which I did for every root bridge. Locals washed clothes and kids played in the water below. I walked further past the double decker and crossed yet another steel wire bridge connected to a huge boulder in the river. On the other side of the boulder was the last new root bridge I was going to see. I climbed down the boulder to a natural swimming pool area. This area is far from a village so I decided to take a short naked swim...and short it was! The water was about 10d C, I jumped in and jumped out, just long enough to wash some sweat off. I often swim naked at remote places, keeping my clothes. I ate my pack lunch consisting of a huge chicken egg roll and chocolate bar and let the sun dry me.
 
I began the hike back to the resort, all uphill now, which I actually prefer. Downhill is easier, as in you don't sweat or get out of breath but it’s very hard on the knees. I liked going uphill and getting another good sweat going. I made it back to the resort in good time, six and a half hours after I left and that was taking my time at the root bridges. I relaxed with a milk tea when I got back.
 
 
My first two nights camping Dennis supplied buckets of hot water for showering. There is an existing cold shower surrounded by tarps but it’s much too cold to even think about taking a cold shower. Dennis has some guys coming to remove the tarps and turn the showers into a concrete enclosure with western toilets and a locker for camping guests. I’ve been taking hot bucket showers in the enclosure but after the hot water stops flowing it gets cold fast. I towel dry quickly and put my clothes back on. . It seems about 50/50 here with hotels either having a squat toilet or western style. The masons began building the shower enclosure my second last day at the resort. There was an open room in the resort and Dennis let me use the hot shower in the bathroom for my last two nights. It felt great to have hot water fall on me effortlessly and to wash my hair.
 
My last full day at the resort I just took it easy and took a short hike down into the forest towards the river and back out again. On my walk back to the resort I came across Dennis driving to the nearest village to look for more blocks for the showers. He asked if I wanted to join him. We found the guys and he sorted out the brick problem. He gave the local guys some betel nut and I decided to try it too. I have seen evidence of betel nut chewing everywhere. It creates a lot of red saliva which is either swallowed or spit out. A lot of people spit it out and huge red stains of spit are scattered all over the roads and sidewalks. There are even signs (in English) telling people not to spit in certain areas, like the train station.
I have been offered it many times by local people on buses or wherever. Betel nut is a stimulant and like natives of the Andes chewing the leaves of the cocaine bush (which I also tried but much more preferred them in the tea form available in restaurants in Cuzco, Peru),natives here do it for the same reason of increased energy and suppressed appetite. Betel nut comes from the Betel palm known scientifically as Areca catechu. This attractive and thin growing palm can be up to 25m tall and the seeds contain alkaloids that stimulate the body and mind. These alkaloids are also toxic to intestinal parasites. Betel nut is treated the same way as cocoa leaf with a piece of lime to stimulate the active ingredients. I wrapped my lime and betel nut in a leaf and started chewing. Holy shit, does it create a lot of saliva! I swallowed one huge gob of spit but it was kind of harsh and nasty and burned a little so I was spitting hordes of the stuff out. I chewed it for about 30 minutes and got a photo of my mouth all red and then spit it all out. Not something I’d do again but it was worth a try. Natives here in certain places love the stuff and their mouths and teeth are stained red and they can be hard to understand when they talk to me with a mouthful of betel nut. They have to spit out a big gob before I can understand them.
 
The next morning I sadly left the resort. I really liked the place but had done most of the things in the area and still have plenty left to get to. Before I left Dennis asked if we could talk. He asked what I thought was fair for the camping price since I didn't use their tent, only their facilities. I told him I had agreed to pay the 400Rp price but he thought it was too much. Just before I was going to suggest 1000Rp for the whole 4 nights he suggested 800Rp ($20)! Hey, that works for me. I left a nice tip for the girls who cooked the food and served me. I never had one bad meal there.
 
Dennis had his driver give me a ride to Cherrapunjee for free. From there I caught a sumo back to Shillong but I wanted to get all the way back to Guwahati to sleep. Wanda asked me to call her from Cherrapunjee before I left, so I did. She said she would meet me at the sumo stand in Shillong. It took me a bit to get a seat because a sumo would show up and everyone would rush it for a seat which I couldn’t do with my large pack because I needed to put it on the roof. I asked a local guy to help me get a seat and he did but we took a shared taxi instead which was fine with me. It was a small compact car with three adults in the front, three adults including me in the back plus two kids,it was a typical full load. As I walked away from the sumo stand back in Shillong I looked for Wanda but she was so short I knew she would be hard to find. I had a feeling she would see me first. Myself walking through a crowd of Indians with my tilley hat and backpack stick out like a sore thumb to say the least. Wanda did find me and we went out for lunch before I took another sumo back to Guwahati. It was a smooth ride and I arrived in Guwahati about 8pm. I took a room at the tourist lodge again and went out to eat green Thai chicken curry, very delicious at the Silk Route restaurant. I ate here every night I was in Guwahati and had the same meal. The staff started to recognize me. On my last visit I met the owner. She had heard about me, the foreigner who was coming in a lot and always eating Thai curry! She was very friendly and spoke good English. It’s too bad this was my last time eating there, I wanted to show her the recommendation for her restaurant in my guidebook.
 
I booked a train back to Siliguri. It was a night train and left at 10.30. The lodge let me keep my luggage there till I had to go. Fortunately the lodge is right beside the train station. I killed the day writing emails, walking around, eating and reading. The train was on time but it took 11 hours to reach Siliguri as opposed to the 9 hours it took coming the other way. I like taking night trains, I go to sleep in one city and wake up in another.
I have another long train journey tomorrow to Varanasi leaving at 10.30am. The train left almost on time from Siliguri junction at 11am. It was a comfortable journey and in the 8 person compartment I had to share it with only one other nice Indian guy so that was really relaxing and quiet. No scenery to speak of along the way, all rural, flat India with brown rice paddies and some villages....boring! The train arrived in Varanasi at 6.30am the next morning, almost 20 hours after leaving Siliguri.