Jenny and Steve in India, Netherlands and Greece 2024

 0600 - ubiquitous Uber to Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary. The driver didn't really know where he was going and I'd just guessed an entry point from Google Maps. As the road became track became path he left us walking past the final few dwellings before the park. One lady gave us a beautiful smile and good morning, and confirmed that we were heading into the park so "be careful of wild animals".  At nearly 80 square kilometers we barely crossed the boundary, and certainly didn't see any of the big cats and elephants that make it famous, but we did finally get to walk away from any other people while serenaded by early morning birds - even saw a fair number of them, but beyond herons and egrets we could name very few. The path crossed a few streams and at the first I slipped off a stepping stone; it was rather liberating to stop worrying and just wade through and I'm sure being alongside helped Jen stay dry-footed. As the path dwindled and steepened we slowed and e...

 Our host had offered us English breakfast. At the appointed time he brought us the trays with soggy everything apart from the egg which was chewy. The spicy veg in sauce was lovely, the rest unpleasant. Ah well. Corn flakes tomorrow. Message from Airbnb telling us our booking for Kolkata is not avaliable. Tried to find somewhere else - narrowed to four possibles.  Our plan was to find somewhere to do our laundry then Uber to a wildlife sanctuary about an hour away, Pobitora, spend an hour or two if possible then head to the river in Guwahati to join our booked sunset cruise. "If possible" because we've struggled to find any information beyond availability of jeep or elephant one-hour trips. The park is famous for one-horned rhinoceros but we're more interested in a stroll to see what birds are around. We'd decided the only way to find out was to go there and maybe fit in another trip tomorrow.  The first laundry place was closed so we walked on to the next, which...

 Jenny didn't feel up to much this morning, perhaps sleep deprived from my snoring, and returned to bed after our first "normal" breakfast in six weeks or so. The blend of corn flakes and muesli in uht milk (fresh milk here is never used cold) was refreshingly bland! Alas, the apartment doesn't have bowls, but improvisation was simple. Tablets are anti-malarials I headed out for a walk, first away from the city to the incredibly overdone footbridge (it had escalators!) where I crossed over and walked towards the busyness. The next possible place to cross without climbing the central fence was about a mile further in from the footbridge, and that was a take-your-chances-with-the-traffic broken section of fencing. But the footpath was excellent for that mile, though gradually there was more broken paving, increasingly deep and wide holes and the common blockages of parked cars, scooters and shack cafes forcing pedestrians into the road.  Bamboo scaffolding - one scaffol...

 Our unscheduled hotel stay ended this morning and we made the most of breakfast being supplied - toast for Jenny while I added a chilli omelette. After our unpleasantness when we arrived being overcharged by an auto-rickshaw driver it's quite a relief to be able to book an Uber - so simple and far cheaper than we were charged for the rickshaw! We headed for the river where there's a cable car crossing the Brahmaputra. Wonderful experience, though being charged more than double the rate for Indians and a limit of two hours across the water was a shame.  Peacock Island in the middle of the Brahmaputra houses an ancient Hindu temple North shore terminal North Guwahati is a bizarre contrast to the south - so quiet! We strolled a while, mixing with cattle and goats which wander freely. It's dry season just now - wet season raises the water level considerably.  Tiny kid Don't know what these were here for - waiting to be washed away in a few months?  View to the south cit...