Indian Railways as a viable sleeping dock
In Dimapur, we ended up spending the night at the railway platform waiting room. The actual sleeping time was spent in a 3-tier AC compartment of Intercity Express between Dimapur and Guwahati. We reached Guwahati at around 5:10 am. It was dark outside unlike Kohima which receives the first bursts of sunlight at around 5:00 am. The waiting room at Guwahati was less than ideal place for us to spend two hours time. I ended up finishing my morning chores even though the toilets were dirty and the basin was clogged.
[1]The relatively organised and clean Dimapur waiting room.
[2]The messy and disorganised waiting room at Guwahati.
A stroll around Guwahati Paltan Bazaar
Papon [3], a musician from Assam has become the poster boy for the state. His face is plastered all over the city as part of product promotions or public service announcements. I came across this small boutique clothing store near Nepali Mandir that advertise themselves as the store that dresses Papon.
[4]Papon is quite the posterboy for Assam. The name on the poster is his real name.
We had our breakfast at Sagar Restaurant. They open up at 8:00 am in the morning. We got there early and had to wait in the lounge. The rava dosa and the Uttapam was good. However, they served a green, mint based and a red, tomato based chutney (condiment) that stole the show. I would highly recommended this place for breakfast.
[5]Nandy at Sagar restaurant. They have framed their accolades and hung them on the walls.
[6]Red chutney. Green chutney.
Here is a small piece of information about getting from Guwahati Paltan Bazaar to Airport. ASTC Volvos run from a stand near Ulubari Flyover (opposite to the petrol pump) every hour starting from 6.15. You will have to reserve a seat. At only 130 rupees it is the cheapest mode of transportation. The lady at the counter flatly refused a written or a printed ticket though.
Guwahati airport has shameful 3G signal strength. The free wifi works for only 15 minutes. It is enough to publish this pre-drafted post.