Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
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I had a free day at Guwahati. I had arrived a day earlier than I needed to, so I can hang around and get a feel of Guwahati.
When I started for North East, I had an impression of Guwahati and rest of the North East in my mind. I had presumed that Guwahati would be a small town nestled between hills with Brahmaputra flowing on one side of the town. I expected the weather would be pleasant to cold and raining at times. I had distinctly remembered reading a news report a year ago that Guwahati is struggling to grow and is suffering from lack of space, resulting in hills in the periphery brought down to make way for construction(illegally, I presume). The mention of these hills had reinforced my impressions of Guwahati as small hilly town.
When I cruised down from airport to the city, I could see that the town is really growing, and fast. Real estate business seemed to be booming like any other city in India. Half the ad-hoardings on the road were of steel bars, cement and the like. As we cruised from airport to city, I realized that Guwahati is not a small town, but fairly big and growing. The city lies in the plains of Assam sandwiched between the hills of Meghalaya on one side and the mighty Brahmaputra on the other side, leaving it without much room to grow. It was just the beginning of summer and it was already getting hot and sticky during the day, not exactly the weather I had presumed.
Eastern part of the city has many small hills that probably mark the end of the Khasi hills of Meghalaya. It is these hills that are slowly brought down to make way for construction. The way Guwahati is growing, it feels just like Bangalore – in a mess!
Next day, I got to see another problem that plagues the city – traffic. In city’s busy Paltan Bazaar area where my hotel is located, traffic hardly gets to move forward. Roads often get choked for hours. The traffic is so immobile at places that you don’t even have to worry about parking space – just leave your car on the tail of the traffic and come back after you finish your work – it is very likely that nothing around has moved an inch and your car is safe where it was left! It is no exaggeration – I did see someone doing just that!
Two weeks later when I returned to Guwahati, it was raining and the traffic scene was worse. There was slush everywhere and the drains were overflowing but the traffic was no different, making it miserable for a pedestrian to move around.
To be continued..
Hi – your description of Guwahati is quite accurate – but since its my home-town I cannot but help talk about some of the nicer areas in Ghy.
The area of Guwahati that is still gracious and pleasant is not the market areas near Paltan Bazaar and Pan Bazaar. If you spend some time around the Uzan Bazaar area, especially the nice road along the river where fishermen bring in fish from the north bank each morning, the Kharghuli hills where u can see the sun over the Brahmaputra and maybe go on a ferry ride, the Nabagraha hills from where you get a beautiful view of the city – they you get a different ( and better) impression of the city.
We the Guwahatians seem to be doing our best to destroy what’s nice in our city though. THe hills around Kharghuli and Nabagraha are suffering from illegal cutting, just like in other areas.
Hope you get to see the remaining good side of the city. And experience some Assamese hospitality!
Thanks for the comment and the tips, Kopili. Will keep this in mind next time I am there.
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Very true about Guwahati.I like the shopping place there.Khamkya temple is also very good. My parents are living after Shillong- Thangskai (Khasi hills)and its a beautiful place.Thanks for sharing this info.