Four days after the Winter Solstice on Dec 21 is 25th , the day of the return of the full sun…as I walked sleepily down to the safari counter at 5.30 am, this geography lesson was the lamest sundry thought my brain had ever cooked up in a long time J ..what else do you expect when you sleepily reach the safari counter at 5.30 am and are trudging back towards the main road in about 2 minutes with long faces..?
Just as dawn was breaking the day 2 of the ride started with disappointment (no safari till 8 am,) …and disappointment solved by kpher Jugadgiri. Quietly with only tea estates giving us company on both sides of the road, we sat down at the stools of a tea shop. The owner was not one to be hurried up without a good reason and quite obviously we did not look like reason enough for him to rustle up some quick tea,
Kpher jugadgiri and the tea shop owner's reason ARRIVED in the form of Jani – he came thundering down the road on his bike, long flowing hair on a big frame, with news that Bapu had done some 'Jugad' and 2 Gypsies were ready for our safari. Grinning in those wee hours we drank up to his health and were soon inside the Park !
How very 'different' this Khaziranga topography was and no wonder it was ideal home for the Rhinos…no dense jungle…flat land with trees and long tall grass. The first spotting I could manage was quite frankly just a fat ass of moving animal….The second looked like a huge rock sitting on 4 legs next to a pond..almost as if carved in lifeless stone with the only life around in the shape of tortoise's basking under the sun and a big herd of water buffaloes with horns spanning many meters wide grazing nearby. Rest of the safari was just the silence….we did see a few elephants grazing which jumped our nerves for a second only to be slapped down by somebody pronouncing that they were tame vehicles used for the elephant safari …so much for our wild life adventure!
By the time we got dropped back at the dormitory, kphers were loading their bikes, Doniv was in search of a Barber to become the next shakaal after Pravo. The rum cake was the sole reminder that it indeed was Christmas! The goats nearby got to eat some of the cake and were soon tripping about drunk. Nicky's surprise Christmas gift was the highlight of the morning - Her mom had given St Christopher pendants for all of us and like nice little children we closed our eyes in a small prayer to St Christopher, the patron saint of travelers.. hey Nicky I still have it in my wallet though Im missing this year's travel out with all the gang.
The ride for the day was ready to start and the bikes faced and rode towards Johrat leaving just a couple bikers behind. Biju who was tailing me had a rush of adrenaline and overtook and I only realized that I was now the defacto tail with Biju shooting ahead. Now I really don't like to be the solo tail so Biju just had to be stopped right away as his adrenaline might carry him over from Arunachal to china. Opening full throttle I waved down the Mallu bhai …stop dude or do you want me to kick you! Suddenly from somewhere Biren materialized as well with a "why do you guys make me ride like this, damn it! " look. It seemed that all had stopped for breakfast a few kms back ..no wonder Biren eyes had this stern look - do you guys mind stopping this race to China//Head back..Follow my lead..OK.
We were chastened with all the unsaid words, I was preparing a lecture for Biju on the ride back to the breakfast joint, a small hotel next to the highway and meekly took our chairs. Food was attached without asking for rates and got a hefty bill…the biggest breakfast bill Ive seen on a ride. After some bargaining it was reduced a bit.
We were late and the plan was to reach Dibrugarh were Biren had booked his friend Krishna's lodge for us. I was cheated by the attendant of a few hundred bucks at the petrol stop at the Johrat bypass ….disappointment …disappointment… The sunset was looking to set at scheduled time at 4.30 and there wasn't enough time to ride into Dibrugarh in daylight and nighttime riding was risky proposition on the heavy night traffic road. Now where to go ? Hotel…maybe…we checked out a highway hotel which turned out to be expensive and the next option was what we all love to do "Camping".
A dry paddy field off the highway was chosen as the camping site and the tents were pitched just in time before the dusk set in. SatRao, my shitmate and Biren the one who spoke in the morning with his eyes were my tentmates …the tarpaulin was spread for the shaam e mehfil and dinner in the shape of dal and rice were ordered from a small highway dhaba to be picked up at 8.30 PM. Two bikes rode down …with Biju as my pillion through the mud trail to the highway..to the dhaba was fun to ride …Biju and me stopped at the Dhaba, the other bike went in search of Ciggies and were nowhere to be seen. Biju maharaj maroed France main Chance gulping down 2 pegs of rum with 2 fish fries as shopkeeper broke his head to find vessels to pack our food. It was tricky to carry the hot food on the bikes but we did do a good jugad and reached back without scalding ourselves with the hot food or dropping it by the roadside J ..so you see from the morning gypsy jugad, to this, we were really getting into the riding groove…its getting almost like romancing the roads again…lets eat maadi and retire for the night…lots more jugads coming up tommorow
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