Picto Diary - 28 December 2015 - Kaziranga (4) Brahmaputra River

Above: Raftsman paddles down Diphlu River. 6:30 AM. Kaziranga National Park. Assam. Northeastern India. 28 December 2015.

Image captured from restaurant/bar deck of Diphlu River Lodge.

Today, after breakfast, we would take a "jeep safari" through the west section of Kaziranga National Park. The west section purportedly had large numbers of Rhesus Macaque, Gibbon, and Capped Langur monkeys.

We had expected to do the elephant walk again, but due to a large number of local holiday travelers visiting the park, the forest service, which manages the elephant walk, had restricted park visitors to one elephant walk per park visit.

Ranauk, our handler, said he would compensate for the missed elephant walk by bringing an elephant to the lodge at lunch time in order for the kids to give it a bath in the Diphlu River. That sounded intriguing.

I didn't mind missing the "second" elephant walk as the distance covered is limited (though the elephant ride experience is a "must do" at Kaziranga). The Jeep safaris go deeper into the park and cover a lot more area.

Above: Diphlu River Lodge. Kaziranga National Park. Assam. Northeastern India. 28 December 2015.

Mustard field and lily pond in the foreground.

The hotel/lodge was much better than the government guest house I stayed in while visiting Kaziranga 42 years ago. Showers, cleanliness, beds, sheets.... all good. Food, buffet style, was basic but the restaurant had an abundant quantity of fresh "ovened" nan...which I don't need, but, find hard to resist.

In a small bar, outside on the deck level of the restaurant, we'd meet at cocktail hour - it was dark - with other guests of the hotel , with small fire pits intersticed, and exchange travel stories. One British couple, 45 something, talked of their river cruise on the Bramahputra. A lone Swiss fellow, sitting at the bar, noted that his son was in the tech business in Seattle. A 55 something Belgian couple from Antwerp relayed their concern about growing fears of Islamic terror in Europe.

I'm very intrigued by the Brahmaputra River cruise.... I'm trying to persuade TIMDT to check it out... particularly before the big companies.... Viking et al.... find out about it. Apparently the boat stops at remote villages along the river which are inaccessible by road.

Above: Sign at west entrance at Kaziranga National Park. Assam. Northeastern India. 28 December 2015.

Above: Outdoor haircut. Kaziranga National Park. Assam. Northeastern India. 28 December 2015.

Barbering image was taken well within the park at a ranger station/residence.

Above: Barking deer. Juvenile. Kaziranga National Park. Assam. Northeastern India. 28 December 2015.

Above: B1b and Drums observe the confluence of Diphlu and Brahmaputra rivers. From lookout. Kaziranga National Park. Assam. Northeastern India. 28 December 2015.

The Brahmaputra forms the northern border of the 450 square kilometer Kaziranga National Park.

The river, one of the major rivers of Asia, originates, north of the Himalayas in Tibet. It flows across southern Tibet through the Himalayas in great gorges, into India, and southwest through the Assam Valley (where we are today), then south through Bangladesh where it merges with the Ganges... then through a massive delta into the Bay of Bengal.

The Brahmaputra is important for irrigation and transportation. It is navigable for most of its length. The river is highly prone to flooding resulting from the Spring run off when the Himalayan snows melt.

Average flow is 19,000 cubic meters per second; over 100,000 cubic meters per second at flood stage.

My first encounter with the Brahmaputra river was in 2009. I was riding a Royal Enfield motorcycle south from Bhutan. I and a dozen friends crossed the river bridge linking the north side of the river with Guwahati, Assam. While riding across the bridge spanning this mighty river I experienced a tear up moment as I tried to get my mind around the significance of this river, the majestic mountains it drained, the millions of people whose livelihood depended on its existence, and the simple fact that I was lucky enough to be there to take it all in.

The Chinese are starting to build dams on the Brahmaputra. The river's political significance grows as a consequence.

Addendum:


great shots ! thanks Steve. HNY :)

Brand,
Venice, CA


Dear Steve,

I well remember a visit to Kaziranga game park in the mid '70s. We stayed at a small government lodge / cabin that came with a local cook. Alcohol was banned but he managed to find some rough 'black rum' that went down well enough with lots of coke and lime.

The highlight was the elephant walks in the morning and evening. The evening walks were best...we had a good chance of spotting rhinos and maybe a tiger.

One evening after the sun had set, we came across a small herd of rhino on the trail back to camp. They can't see very well, so we managed to get close. They didn't seem to mind the elephants. Then someone took a photo with a flash. Boom! The rhinos bolted every whichway, the elephants started moving, the mahouts started shouting, the rhinos ran left and right of us. Luckily, no one fell off, none of the elephants were struck and calm returned when the rhinos disappeared in the dark.

Needless to say, the mahouts were not pleased and talked among themselves as we made our way back. You can imagine what they thought of us.

The bird life was incredible but we hadn't a clue what we were looking at since our guide didn't speak English after all. We saw lots of wild boar and water buck in the marsh.

Now, forty years later, I wonder what Kaziranga looks like. Have the rhinos gone?

Ciao

Bosco,
Dallas, TX

Hi Steve:

I felt sorry that you did not see #5, the tiger(s) on your India trip and elephant ride, so I've attached a pic of 36 Tigers (beers) I saw earlier this year. They were caged in the three boxes on the back on my Thai prototype Kawasaki. It was tough over the next weeks, fighting them down!

Best,

Dr. G
To be in Bogota, Colombia 12 hours from now for the start of my third motorcycle journey through South America, possibly with a bit of adventure along the way.

Bogata, Columbia