A pit stop at Tezpur, before taking off to Tawang

We stayed at Tezpur for a very short span. What stuck me in Tezpur was the stunning long bridge across Brahmaputra and the delicious food.

The stunning view of river Brahmaputra from Kalia Bhamora bridge near the entry point to Tezpur. 

After leaving Majuli, our next destination was Tezpur. Not that we were particularly interested to visit Tezpur or spend time there, but it was a pit stop for us before beginning our long journey to Tawang.

It was a short travel of 4 hours from Jorhat to Tezpur. Like always, we didn’t get a government express bus from Jorhat to Tezpur, which would have been made our travel shorter and better. Anyway, we ended up hopping on to a private bus, which was overcrowded, yet would stop frequently to allow more people board the bus.

The sly bus conductor would frequently stare at us during the journey. May be he wanted to talk to us and know our whereabouts. Finally, I guess he couldn’t resist from talking. He came and sat next to me and began pouring questions. He wanted to know where are we from, why we were in Assam that too on a local bus with luggage bags, why were we going to Tezpur etc. The moment he got to know that we are from Bengaluru, he said he knows Bengaluru very well. It was my turn to wonder.

Agni Garh, a hillock with mythological significance in Tezpur.

On probing him further, he said he had worked as a security guy in Bengaluru for 3 years before shifting back to his hometown in Assam. I asked him the reason for leaving Bengaluru. Pat came the reply, “Madam, I wasn’t able to survive with the meagre salary I used to get there. Here in my hometown, I am not paid much for being a bus conductor. But expenses are less. Moreover, I am living a peaceful life,” he said.

I told him, one among the three of us is from Kerala. Surprisingly, he said he is familiar with Kerala too! “I know Malayalam quite well.” He was so confident when he said. How, I asked him. He went on to tell that he has worked in Kerala too! It was my turn to introduce the Keralite fellow-traveller Sandhya to the conductor. “Chechi!” (sister) he called her. While she began talking to him in Malayalam, I realised that he could understand the language a bit, but couldn’t actually speak in Malayalam. “Chechi,” is all he knew!

Yet, it was fun. The fun of using public transportation when you travel. Dependency on public transportation allows one to interact with local people, helps to learn new things, and gets us introduced us to new culture and language. 

Tezpur and its enchanting bridge

Around evening we reached Tezpur. As we were about to enter the city, we witnessed one of the best views and a sunset, that will last long at least in my memory. The Kalia Bhomora bridge, is a very famous bridge built over river Brahamputra and is an entry point to Tezpur if you are arriving from Nagaon district.

We were on the bridge at the the right moment, when the sun was all ready to set. Being a die-hard romantic when it comes to nature, I couldn't ask for more. The sunset that I witnessed as the bus plied slowly on this 1.6 km stretch, just made my day. I got immersed in watching the sunset and its reflection on the mighty river so much that I was even reluctant to use my camera. The point is, if you click pictures of the things that you would like to behold, you would end up not experiencing the moments. And the moments once lost do not come again. It was a sight to behold and cherish for a long long time. Such a fan I have become of the sun sets and sun rises, these days! The sun set that I saw on Tezpur bridge made me fall for the colour phenomena all over again!

Before checking in at the hotel in Tezpur, we had to finish an important work. We had to book a taxi for our next day’s travel to Tawang. When we enquired about the taxi counter with the bus conductor and driver, they just turned out to be extremely helpful. The bus driver drove us an extra kilometre from the last stop of the bus to the taxi booking counter, only to help us. It was yet another moment, when we felt so grateful for the kind people of North East.

The ticket booking counter was located in the bus station premises. The counter was mostly empty and there was a gentleman standing at the counter. When we said we want to book three tickets in the shared taxi to leave to Tawang next morning, he said we were lucky to get the remaining last three seats in the Tata Sumo. He asked for our Inner Line Permits and said that seats are booked only for those with ILPs. As we had planned in advance, we had our ILPs ready and got the tickets. We were asked to be ready the next morning at 5 am.

Once done with our work, we went to the hotel in a cycle rickshaw. Hotel DL was located in the centre of the city and was pretty decent and convenient. After freshening up, we decided to roam around the city for a while. In fact the bus driver had told us that Tezpur is a city with bustling night life and it’s safe for women travellers to go out at night.

As it was already late, we planned to visit only Agni Garh and the market. We asked the hotel manager to help us in the process. Luckily there was a rickshaw driver chatting with the hotel manager. The Manager suggested us to travel in his rickshaw. That was one good thing that happened on the day.

The auto driver was an extremely nice man. He ensured that we reach Agni Garh before its closing time. Agni Garh is a hillock located in Tezpur having mythological significance. We quickly took a stroll around the place that was almost vacuum. The top of the hillock offered a glittering view of the city, a view, that I think none who visit Tezpur should miss.

The driver then volunteered to take us to a local temple which too had some mythological story behind it. As it was time for us to wrap up the whirl-wind visits, the  driver dropped us at the market. For taking us around for more than one hour, he charged us a minimum amount. A nice driver he was!

The market caught our attention for the food. Street chats sounded delicious. We could not resist the urge to eat. We didn’t eat, but hogged a variety of items atfood stalls and they served our taste buds. After a bit of shopping, we headed back to the hotel. We were so eager at the same time a bit nervous about the next day’s travel. We knew it was going to be one heck of a drive to Tawang.