As all good things eventually come to an end, so our time on the MV Mahabaahu also came to an end.  We disembarked at Nimati Ghat before boarding a bus to go by road to Dibrugarh. There we were to board a flight  for Calcutta, the first leg of the long journey home to Australia.

As we tied up, we were the most important thing to happen in port that morning!

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The ‘Seven Sisters’ , who had danced for us the night before, were on the wharf to say “goodbye” to us.  One Sister was obviously missing!  They were all dressed up and ready to dab a tika spot on our forehead.  They also had a white scarf, which had an intricate red border, to present to each of us.

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Beads, bangles and brocade, with a bit of embroidery tossed in for good measure and red hand dye, made for a colourful costume.

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Body, face and hands taken care of, it was time for the hair-do.

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…but drinking straws!

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…and Christmas decorations!  Nothing is wasted.

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This pleasant guy was the group leader.

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Colourful offerings were placed in brass bowls on the wharf.  An elaborate hat completed the picture.  I didn’t see anyone wearing one though – perhaps they are just ceremonial hats.

After saying our farewells, we set of in a coach towards Dibrugarh. Along the way we stopped 4km outside Rangpur at the largest of all Ahom monuments, Rangpur Palace.  The complex is one of the grandest examples of Ahom architecture and is made up of Kareng Ghar, which is above ground, and the Talatal Ghar, which is below ground level. Talalat Ghar was originally built as an army base.  These buildings were constructed between 1751-1769.  Together they make up Rangpur Palace.

Some of the well preserved buildings at Talatal Ghar.

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One of the covered walkways with intricate niches on the wall.

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These local visitors were taking advantage of some shade cast by this building.

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A round building with a trishul at the apex.  The trishul, a three-pronged trident, has great significance to Hindus as it represents Lord Shiva’s three fundamental powers of will, action and knowledge.

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The underlying structural brick work of a wall with some of the remaining bas relief that originally covered most of the walls of the complex.

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More bas relief above a doorway.

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Not far from the complex and standing in the heart of Sivasagar, on the side of Borpukhuri water tank (reservoir), is Sivadol, another temple complex.  It was built in 1734 by the Ahom king Swargadeo Siba Singha’s queen, Bar Raja Ambita.

And that was the last of our sight seeing in Assam. From here we headed for the airport and our fights hime.

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Not far from home now!  It had been a great trip that included a return trip to Bhutan, the wonderful ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’;  and a first time visit for me to the NE Indian state of Assam and the Brahmaputra River.

 My next adventure will be with my partner,  Jennie.  We plan to travel to several parts of Europe by train in June and July. Our itinerary includes Switzerland, a little bit of France, eastern Germany, Poland and Austria. In preparing this journey, we found lots of lovely places to visit, spectacular mountain scenery, railways that still use steam trains, steam cog trains that climb steep mountain sides, lake boats including restored paddle steamers and much, much more.  We’ll be adding stories and photos of that trip as we go along when we get any decent internet contact.  We hope that you’ll join us for that journey, too, and follow us on the web site that we use when we travel together:

www.jtdytravels.com

David

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www.jtdytravels.com

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