#Xplorebharat reaches Guwahati

We went to Amritsar yesterday, today let me take you along the banks of one of the major rivers of Asia, which flows across China, India and Bangladesh, to Guwahati, the capital of Assam. And the river in question, the mighty Bramhaputra ofcourse!

How to reach

Guwahati is well connected by Air and Rail from all major cities of India.  If you are travelling from Delhi, you can take the Dibrugarh Rajdhani express which takes about 27 hours. A better bet could be taking a flight which is faster and will probably cost you the same if you can book a little in advance.

We stayed with my cousin, hence the information I have on accommodation is based on what is available on internet. I did find a lot of options for hotels; there were some airbnb properties also available. You might however want to make advance reservations

What to do

The major attractions in Guwahati are the various temples that are there, we visited the Kamakhya temple and the Umananda temple

Kamakhya Temple

This hill top temple is one of the most revered temples in India. The Kamakhya is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths where Sati’s genitals fell when Shiva performed the tandav with the remains of Sati’s body (you can read more here ). Kamakhya is considered the centre of Tantra worship and has various tantric legends associated with it.  Given that we visited the temple in the evening and our Panda (priest) was an excellent storyteller, I wouldn’t deny that the surroundings gave me quite an eerie feeling.

You must visit the temple with ample time in your hand because it is quite crowded. It’s a good idea to take the services of the Panda so you can do the puja well, else you might just be pushed along by the crowd.

Umananda Temple

This is a Shiva temple located on the peacock island in the middle of the Brahmaputra There are ferries that you can take from the Fanzy Bazar Ghat to reach the temple.  It’s a beautiful ride and not to be missed at all.

Guwahati Zoo

Call me juvenile, but I love visiting zoos, If a city I visit has a zoo then I have got to go there. The one here is a zoo, cum museum, cum Botanical garden and also includes the Hangrabari Reserved Forests and covers a huge area.

What to eat

Here comes my favourite part of the travelogue. If you have read my previous posts, you would know by now that one of the biggest attractions any place holds for me is the local cuisine and Guwahati is quite a place for the foodie in you.

Guwahati has great street food. I visited Pan Bazar and Fanzy bazar and loved the variety of street food that’s on offer. Most of the street food is ofcourse Chinese and Tibetan. You must try the pork momos and the piping hot thukpas.

Guwahati also has some amazing restaurants where you can try exotic stuff like pigeon meat (called paro mangsho) and duck meat. We ate at Bhut Jolokia (named after the hottest chili in the world) and the food was delicious. You must try their Masoor Tenga, a tangy fish preparation. Mashed potatoes are quite a hit in Assam, and hence you will find them in the menu of most restaurants, called aaloo pitika.

If you plan a visit to Guwahati you can also add a few days and cover other nearby places like Shillong, Pelling, Cherapunji….I for one absolutely love this place!

So go ahead spend some time on the banks of the mighty Bramhaputra before visiting Dalhousie tomorrow

This post is a part of the #XploreBharat BlogTrain hosted by
Aditi, Esha, Maheshwaran, Preeti, Saba, Pragun, Sanjota, Sudip, Suhasini andSupriya

Finally a big shout out to our sponsors KAIV and FABZANIA for taking this Blog Train experience even further.

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