Trip to North East India (Day 5)

Day 5
This was a day full of travel. We had to reach Shillong from Gangtok.

5:30 AM
We had requested the hotel reception for a wake-up alarm at 5:30 AM. We were told that it takes nearly four hours to travel from Gangtok to New Jalpaiguri station. Our connecting train was scheduled at 11:00 AM and so we wanted to leave Gangtok well in time.
After quickly freshening up, we checked out of the hotel and hailed a shared taxi to NJP. The hotel receptionist provided a helper to carry our luggage to the boarding point which is around five minutes walk from the hotel. There were only two seats left in the Sumo-type of taxi and we had to pay Rs. 150 per head for the ride. The taxi departed from Gangtok at around 6:00 AM.

9:30 AM
The taxi ride was as usual very scenic with the River Teestha in the backdrop for more than half the journey.

The driver had to overtake many a lumbering truck on the narrow winding highway. As we approached NJP, people started getting off at their respective places. Initially we were a little apprehensive whether we could make it in time for the train. However to our pleasant surprise, the taxi reached NJP at 9:30 AM, half an hour before expected. We had breakfast at the IRCTC canteen in the station.

11:20 AM
We had nearly an hour to spare till our train arrived. We spent the time in the upper class waiting room on the railway platform. From the Statesman we learnt of the storm that had lashed West Bengal the day before and the widespread destruction it had caused. Providentially we had escaped the fury of the tempest by just 24 hours! There was some entertainment for us in the waiting room when an irate passenger took the railway staff to task over the ill-maintained toilets there. The Rajdhani express bound to Guwahati arrived on time and we boarded it at 11:00 AM. The train left NJP station by 11:20 AM.

6:30 PM
The train journey was uneventful and we traveled through the length of Assam. As we neared Guwahati, we had the first glimpse of the great River Brahmaputra from a railway overbridge. A fellow passenger pointed us to IIT Guwahati in the distance, several kilometres before the railway station. The scheduled time of arrival for the train was 6:30 PM and the train did keep up to its schedule. However just outside the station, there was a big signal which stalled the train for over forty five minutes. Hence it was nearly 7:15 PM by the time we could come out of the station.

7:45 PM
There are a couple of exits from the Guwahati station and we had a very harrowing time trying to figure out which way to go to catch a taxi to Shillong. Each of us had a heavy bag to carry and it was exhausting to run about from one end to another. Finally a police official directed us to the private taxi stand behind the station, but the worst was yet to come. We had to go to a place called Barapani where our hotel was situated about 15 kilometres before Shillong. There were touts all over the place who gave us misleading information about the mode of transport to take. At last one of them led us to a reluctant taxi driver who demanded some Rs. 1200 to take us to our destination. His claim was that he had to come back empty from Shillong which was not very credible. Besides we had heard that the usual fare was Rs. 300 per passenger. It was getting late and so we haggled with the driver to take us for Rs. 900. He agreed but he was waiting for more passengers to share the taxi with us.
Fortunately or unfortunately for us, there was an army man and his colleague who were also waiting to go to Shillong. They were also firmly bargaining with him over the amount to be paid. Finally after what seemed like eternity and heated arguments, they agreed to join us and the taxi left Guwahati at 7:45 PM.

10:30 PM
That taxi ride was one of the most difficult rides we ever had. The army chaps kept rebuking the driver continuously throughout the journey for demanding excess fare. We were in the dark as to whether it was sincere or whether they were in cahoots with the driver for some fiendish plan. The drive takes nearly three hours and the road was not very good for the first several kilometres of the stretch. Moreover it was pitch dark with few vehicles on the road for some distance. The driver was also driving a bit rashly. Finally we reached the Umiam Orchid Lake Resort in Barapani at around 10:30 PM. The army guy made us pay only Rs. 500 even though the driver kept insisting on getting Rs. 900. Altogether we were a bundle of nerves by the time we landed in our hotel room.

11:30 PM

We had pre-ordered dinner in the hotel over telephone. Cold parathas and a vegetable curry awaited us in the hotel room, and we consumed it before retiring for the night.