I Went Out For A Walk In The Dangerous Area Anyway

I wanted to see if the monkeys were going to be in the same trees or not. I also wanted to go farther along the road to see what was there. Well the monkeys weren't there and when I went farther along the road I saw what seemed to be a small village that looked like any small village. So I turned around and headed back, only to meet a couple coming along the road as well. They told me there was an ethnic village at the end of the road that showed the traditional housing of the various tribes in the northeast. They invited me to accompany them as they went to see it. So I did.

We had a good time looking at the rather deserted ethnic exposition area. There seems to be little promotion of these sorts of things, with only Assam Tourism and a few others knowing about them. Yet they are not utilized as tourist draws. It's kind of like the Mini Indonesia area in Jakarta. They are there but they are not being utilized effectively to increase tourism. But the houses here were interesting to look at.

As we headed back towards the hotel area, they explained why it was actually dangerous to be walking around in the hills. And it turned out that what I had heard the man say earlier was not what I had interpreted to be wolves. It was ULFA. This is a militant group in Assam that seeks some kind of independence for the region. In the fairly recent past this has meant bombings and other acts of terrorism. Lately they have threatened to take hostages and such. And the area in the hills around Kaziranga is one of the areas where these militants are operating. Hence the warnings about where to go and where not to go. I guess it's a good thing that I only found this out after most of my visit was complete. And maybe it's not, although I have not felt in the least threatened while I have been here.

Our final stop before returning to the hotel area was to a temple for Ganesha. Inside the “priest” blessed us and wrapped a string around my wrist that is for protection. Maybe that's a good thing. I'm not sure.

Then the couple told me about how to get a bus ticket to Guwahati. They even accompanied me as I went down and bought it. Then we had some tea. We returned to their hotel where they were to make arrangements for an elephant ride in another part of Kaziranga in the morning. They invited me along. I decided that I would at least hear the guy out who was going to take them. But when he got there, he informed me that foreigners weren't allowed in that part of the park, so it was a moot point about whether I was prepared to spend the extra money or not.

While we were sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for him to come, the couple explained a lot of Hindu customs and religion to me, including the significance of a temple in Guwahati that I have heard a lot about. When I get back there, I will have to go and have a look at it.

Then we went and had dinner together. They are a very interesting couple. I hope we get a chance to interact a bit more. But this is likely as they also gave me a line on a hotel in Guwahati. I will take them up on that as I had such a large amount of trouble finding a place to stay the first day I was there.