Above: View on the flight from Delhi to Guwahati.
Having retired early last night, I was up before my alarm and left the hotel at 0615. Delhi before dawn is a different world with people sleeping on the streets, stray dogs sleeping on the streets and hawkers starting to fire up their tea stalls. Quite unexpectedly at this time in the morning, I ran into a religious procession with chanting on Main Bazaar.
I got to the metro about 20 minutes later after a wrong manoeuvre into a fenced carpark but was helpfully corrected by this half-asleep man under a tree who noticed me. In the station, I had just missed the train to the airport which meant a 20 minute wait. As the metro surfaced above ground in the daylight, I noticed the city was in a brown haze again.
I arrived at the airport around 0730. The city check-in hadn’t opened for my flight so I got my boarding pass from the kiosk at the airport (since I wasn’t sure how they would handle a mobile one with the stamping after each check).
Security queue was short but we were a little held up by this woman who couldn’t stop arguing with one of the security men. She wasn’t rude but was very insistent about whatever issue she was having. I can’t believe how the security staff didn’t brush her off or warn her but actually engaged with her for quite a long time.
Since my last visit to India, it is no longer a requirement to have hand luggage tagged so that security staff can stamp and sign their check. It was a very-easily missed step for foreigners who often have to run all the way back to check-in to get a tag.
I got to the lounge for some breakfast around 0800 and stayed for about 45 minutes before the long walk to the gate. The Jet Lite 737-800 for Guwahati left promptly. winging me to the north-east of India, a region completely new to me. With a few rude and demanding passengers, I was surprised how polite and obliging the crew were at all times.
I thought Jet Lite was Jet Airways’ budget arm and didn’t expect a meal. So it was a pleasant surprise to receive a hot meal. I chose an omelette followed by some tea (plus a few sweets).
Unfortunately, we flew quite far south of the Himalayas. I had expected us to skirt just south of it. While I could see beautiful snowy peaks poking through the clouds in the distance, they didn’t make good photos (one photo above).
Flight wifi entertainment on my phone gives an idea of where we are as I look out the window (banner photo above).
We descended into the green of Assam and landed in Guwahati airport on time. I was out quickly with no luggage and was guided by one of many taxi drivers wanting passengers to Shillong. I was first in the shared taxi which meant I got the front seat. The down side was that I had to wait, and wait.
It was frustrating to see another taxi fill up and go but I had no one else. Just bad luck. Then came this Assamese guy (looking very Burmese or even Vietnamese). He was in a hurry to go. He asked if I would pay half of the INR2000 and we’d go with just the both of us. I said, I’d be happy with another passenger (instead of two more) as I wasn’t in a rush.
He wanted to leave ASAP so I offered to pay a third, about INR700 of the INR2000. The journey took 3 hours to Shillong in Meghalaya state, including a tea break. Most of the roads were quite good but windy in parts, except for a stretch of roadworks where it was unsealed.
At first sight, Shillong wasn’t a particularly attractive hill station. Like many others, ugly concrete buildings have sprouted up and overtaken the more elegant historic ones.
I stayed in the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and had dinner in the inhouse restaurant. Much of their menu wasn’t available so I resorted to the Szechwan Hakka Chow (noodles). I don’t know how something can be both Szechwan and Hakka; it’s like saying a “French Danish pastry”!