WrittenPost

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Assam - Kaziranga - Rhinos I

As I have related to some of you, travelling to India is a LONG (-ass) way to go. Central India is on the back side of the planet from Houston, you can fly east or west to get there...doesn't matter, distance is same.

So, my typical trip is to leave on a Monday or Tuesday, stay the week, stay over the weekend, then come home the end of the second week. On a shorter trip, you'd spend all your time flying.

We've visited three refineries in Assam, and very nearby is a wildlife refuge call Kaziranga National Park. The refinery town's are small, so the best place to stay is near the refuge.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

As usual in India, there is a bit of driving time. We flew first Delhi to Jorhat, then drove west to the first refinery. After the visit, we drove on westward toward the park, arriving after dark.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Also, you need to coordinate visits to Assam to arrive after the rainy season is over...they get a LOT of rain in Assam. As the sun came up on Saturday morning, the dew was heavy, but the sky was a beautiful blue.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The lodge restaurant is on an open air deck, overlooking the Diphlu River. A local rsident slips by on a raft built of a few bamboo poles.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

It's called the Diphlu River Lodge. It's a tiny place, with only 12 bungalows.
Small, but with very nice, professional staff. Made us feel quite welcome.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Similar to the lion preserve (Gir Forest) in western India, they take you in open jeeps to tour the preserve and look for wildlife. You can see hundreds and hundreds of bid species...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The biggest danger driving on the road is NOT hitting a deer.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

In lieu of jeeps, some people go by elephant. If you think you are significantly safer on an elephant instead of being in the back of an open jeep, Google "Kaziranga Tiger Attack"...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

To keep guests from getting trampled by accident (presumably), guests walk up stairs and can feed some treats to the elephants before boarding. As we watched, one young elephant climbed halfway up the steps before being dissuaded by the mahouts (...because that's where the treats are !)

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lots, and lots of birds...some posing...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Others "less interested" in posing...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

All sorts. Some even posing with other park residents.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I mean ALL sorts, here are pelicans headed to one of the lakes.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

And there, on the far side of the lake, was one of the prime targets of the visit. The Asian Rhino. This area has many, but the place we would see on Day 2 had many more, and much closer.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We stopped to climb up a watch tower, always wary of what may wander (or pounce) from the forest of elephant grass.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Momma and her baby...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Other residents hanging out at the river.

More in the next post...
Y'all take care.
- Mark

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Tea, Tea Trees and Pepper...Assam, India

Drove through parts of Assam in far eastern India recently.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Flew from Delhi to Guwahati, skimming along the southern face of the Himalayas.

Started our drive quite early in the morning, light fog, sun streaming through...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Encountered some "heavy traffic"...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Saw a great pair of Tatas !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...and Tea...miles and miles of it, on both sides of the road.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

On a prior trip, I had noticed many trees growing among the tea plants. Seems this is part of the method of growing tea. The "tea trees" have a tiny leaflet, and when the trees are pruned to be taller than they are wide, they give off a partial shade that the tea plants need.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

So the trees are regularly placed, all through the fields.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

But then I noticed some vines on the trees. We stopped at a road-side tea shop, and they explained that Black Pepper vines grow well there.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

So the tea plantation produces tea, and black pepper. You can buy fresh dried pepper corns at the tea shop and they'll grind them for you.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Since they are constantly pruning the trees, I expect they are producing firewood as well.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

My optometrist recommended that I wash my eyelids with Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, to reduce an irritation. And, lo and behold, there on the shelf at the tea shop was Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, yet another product of the plantation.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The tea plants are rigorously pruned to about 3 feet high, and the not-so-tall ladies pick the freshest, uppermost leaves. They take them in large baskets to the processing shop where they are dried and fermented to make black tea, or just dried to make green tea.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A dusty ride through highway construction,
in the midst of some otherwise very lush, green, monsoon-nurtured forests.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Beautiful !!

Y'all take care.
- Mark

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Switzerland - III / Zurich (Vacation 2018)

We ended our vacation in Zurich (we took a bus around to Munich and Bren flew home from there).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Zurich sits at the end of a glacial lake, where a river forms and runs on into Germany, becoming part of the Rhine.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

There;s a cool pedestrian bridge, crossing over to the Old Town.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Residents and tourists put "love locks" on the fence-like railings (the new, silver one at center-frame, is ours). ;-)

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A beautiful, sunny for walking through the Old Town.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The river forms a pretty prominent feature, separating old town from the modern city center, with several bridges to make it easy to get over there for lunch or dinner.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

One thing that was quite cool, was the water-taxi. You can get on and just ride it for the 2-hour loop, for only 8 Euros each ! You can side at a table, a waitress will bring drinks and sandwiches, and you can enjoy a leisurely loop around the lake.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lots of sail boats out in the late April weather.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A roadway along the lake connects Zurich back south toward the Italian boarder.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Homes and churches all along the way, with beautiful views of the lake.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

An interesting site in Switzerland and in Germany...a tree, likely a fruit tree I suppose, is pruned annually to keep all the limbs and eventual fruit within reach from the ground (and also making a tree that has a nice shady area beneath).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Night falling, lights coming on in the riverside restaurants...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Steeples silhouetted against the sunset...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Beautiful place.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Y'all take care,
- Mark

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Switzerland - II ... (Vacation 2018)

Our day on the Glacier Express ended in the 5000 year-old Swiss town of Chur. It was a bit of a gray day, and we only had the late afternoon and evening to wander around, but we had a very nice walk around the old-town, and a nice dinner.