MY ASSAM !!

Assam ! Wat can i say !
I felt sick when i heard i was gonna spend 10 days there. So wats interesting about Assam !
But, man was i in for a surprise. Dunno if u'd believe me. I dont remember the last tim i njoyed my vacations so much.

Let me tell u .. ther's a lot i got to say. So if its bedtime - go sleep.

And if u are the type who likes challenges stick around !
[top- no prizes fr guessing wat it is, but its the state symbol ]
[bottom - A house entirely made of bamboo]

Yay yay Assam |

My first surprise - am i dreaming or have i overslept my time.
I havent seen people more fashion conscious than these here ! People had done something or the other to their hair/face that i didnt know wat .

There were som who just lovd to experiment.
One day i suffered temporary blindness when i saw a guy[maybe a girl... er.. frget it !]
with a hair color that reminded me of algae from biology class !

Dont step out onto the road unless u hav a translator by ur side. Bcos ur rikshaw/taxiwala doesn't speak proper hindi leave alone english !
And people just lov their beetle leaves. They lov their pan 'Thooo thooo' much [:P].
I hav seen boys as small as 10 chewing them & going ahead and painting the town RED literally !!

Places to visit:
Assam state zoo :
Its gr8 becos there r just as many animals inside cages & just as many outside it.
Enclosure maintenance is top class [:P]. If u step out of the zoo alive - its bcos the carnivores r all well fed. Thank the zoo keepers !

And if u hav lost a lot in the BSE[Bombay Stock Exchange] keep off cos the zoo has the most bears and u hav already had ur share past few months !! [:D]

Kamakhya zoo ... er ... sorry temple :
At first impression i thought it was a mini Noah's arc. Every animal domesticated by man cud b found here. Whichever god believes in bloodshed ? This one does , atleast the priest thinks so .
Offerings to god is done through animals. Now this is something i cannot stand. If he thinks his god likes it, he better take his head off next time. That way his god will love him more !
Apologies to those who think wat im saying is blasphemy !

Naukhalikay falls :
This is in meghalaya but a must see , though i didn't. Clouds enveloped us at the inopportune moment. And i was left to feed the goats there. Nowhere else have i seen goats feeding exclusively on Uncle Chips & Ruffles Lays !

Mawsmai caves :
Its near shillong but definitely a must visit. A series of tunnels that requires various yogic postures to complete. A "must" for those with flab. A few trips in & out of it and u vil end up looking really thin, step aside Talwalkars.
Cave's entrance on left.

Dispur Super Market :
Yup - it is called a Super Market but i couldn't find anything super about it but for the super high prices ! If your eyesight isnt all that gud u might just confuse the fish for brinjal as they lie together in one heap ! If u r a veggie u better make a lot of adjustments.
I also came across a few strange looking vegetables but i was in no mood to try them out .
Apart from that there is the usual chaos that we chennaiites are familiar with. The only time when veggies r cheap is in Jan & Feb. The bazaars are more active at noon.
To give u an idea of wats different here:
1.Bamboo shoot pickle [!!]
2.Olive pickle [1st time im seeing it]
3.Corombola [im guessing it s a fruit]

Most products carry a 'Made in Kolkata' apart from 'Made in Bhutan or Bangladesh'. Even the newspapers give equal importance to happenings in Bengal.
Like Dada is cheered more than Sachin !

[Wake Up !]
Stay up for this if u hav dozed through the above .
Few final words:
Inspite of poking a little fun at them. The friends i made here tells me the assamese r genuinely nice people who call a spade a spade whether u like it or not.
Two wheeler riders are at a disadvantage u cant have
anybody riding piggyback ... i mean[:)] ... pillion - bcos of the darned ULFA who i heard hav used motorcycles fr their cause. So more cars less 2 wheelers lesser traffic violations.
Lastly for all u bird watchers ! U will be kept quite busy !! [:P]

Reasons why u need to forgive me :
1. Typos, spelling mistakes
2. More than a few exaggerations[:D]
3. This is no travelogue. So i wudn't know if u r interested unless u comment [:)].

Cheers

[PS : They have many shopping malls - gud ones r : Pantaloons,HUB,PawanSunz .. etc]
Pantaloons' on the left.