Arrival

We had a great flight - sitting in 'plus' seats so we could stretch our legs for our nine hour flight. The pilot pulled out at the last minute citing a too strong tail wind, so he flew round and landed the other way! We were about an hour late due to a late take off - it was a full and very busy flight.
We were met by the Tiger Trails man and Toyota van and drove to the centre and our hotel - the Taj Bengal, and got to 'bed' at around 5am. Breakfast would be at 9.30, which we made! All quite normal. After we walked out to the pool and saw some tiny striped squirrels playing around the sun loungers. We could see hooded crows and kites circling high overhead. There were wagtails hopping around the pool and little sunbirds in the trees. We wandered along the hotel shops; sat in the lobby and finally went back to our rooms for a rest. A guide met us in the lobby at 13.00 to take us on a city tour in the maroon Toyota van. We saw lots of yellow taxis all honking their horns just like our driver who squeezed into non-existent gaps in the traffic. We drove by some great Victorian buildings and saw the goats grazing on the Maidan along with cricketers, family picnics and general milling about. First stop was Queen Vic's Memorial set in acres of gardens where the locals picnic and play cricket. Next door is the huge race track for horse racing! It was very interesting. We next drove along to a riverside view point to see the new and impressive suspension bridge (4 lanes each way toll bridge) built only a couple of years ago. People were coming to bathe in the rather murky water of the Hugli River a tributary of the Holy Ganges. Mel claims to have seen a dolphin in the water - then we walked back over the railway track for the van. Now we drove over the old bridge and back - it seemed even busier. Then Asif took us to the wonderful Paresnath Jain Temple dedicated to the tenth of twenty four ‘perfect souls’. We took off shoes to go inside where we saw the opulent interior including the 19th century chandeliers from Paris and Brussels.
Next was a 'short cut' through the back streets and we watched the local people rushing home from work. Eventually we were dropped off with Asif and walked along the shops, had pomegranate juice, saw the old cinema showing 'Oceans Twelve' - not out in UK yet! Also loads of motor bikes parked including an Enfield or two. We piled back in the van and headed for the hotel. Tea in our room; a snooze, shower and change; then a magnificent meal at the Sarangaon restaurant in the hotel. Now totally exhausted its time for bed!

We breakfasted early - after a jet-lagged night. The guide met us at 9am and whisked us off to the airport. Efficient check in then several security checks before waiting at the gate. Another check as we boarded and relaxed into our business class seats. A quick taste of chicken, fish, paneer and cauli curry with cashew roll. A slice of choc cake and tea. Then into land and so fast through the airport and out to the TaTa Sumo to drive to Wild Grass Resort, Kaziranga. On the plane Dougal saw lots of mountains including, possibly, Kachenjunga and Makalu. The drive was quite hair raising and we saw the road being made by hand - men and women placing stones, heating up tarmac etc. Arriving in Wild Grass we were taken to our rooms and invited to dinner as soon as possible. We heard music and they told us there was dancing, but we had missed most of it, so we will visit it tomorrow. Tiger Trails Ltd