Assam

Our flight from Mumbai landed in Guwahati and we spent 1 night here. We stayed at Hotel Mayflower, which had a good location, good food, clean and comfortable rooms and efficient service. We had a taxi booked (for the entire trip) which was waiting at the airport. You can also book Zoom car if interested in self-drive. Places to visit here are:

• Kamakhya Temple: It is on the way to the city from the airport. Unless dictated by religious compulsion, there is no need to buy inner sanctum expensive entry ticket.
• Basistha Ashram
• Kalashetra: Depicts history, life style and crafts of Assamese people. Avoid visiting after sunset if insects and mosquitos bother you.
• Brahmaputra river cruise and sunset: Very enjoyable. Highly recommended.
• City tour

Kaziranga is around 194 kms from Guwahati and 270 kms journey from Shillong. Good road and choice of eatery places on the way. Try popular restaurant serving Assamese food about 80 km before Kaziranga. On entering the national park, it is quite common to spot rhinos and elephants from view point along the road, with thick forest cover and many water bodies.
We stayed at the IORA Retreat, which is a good hotel.

Their Assamese restaurant is very good and they offer cultural shows in the evening. They even take care of booking the elephant and jeep safaris for you.

• Kaziranga is the most popular wild life sanctuary in Assam. There are many others too.
• Recommend to take both elephant and jeep safaris in the morning when chances of spotting wild life are better. Wild life likely to spot includes rhinos, elephants, deer, monkey, bison, alligators and a variety of birds.
• Tourist department run restaurant on the main road near jeep safari starting point is a good place to eat.
• Other places to see include tribal village, Orchid park (must see), tea estates and cultural show at convention centre.
• One can buy good tea at Hatikali tea centre run by Tatas.

120 km of scenic drive from Kaziranga. Both sides of the highway are tea gardens with occasional tea factories. We stayed at Manor Hotel, which was probably the best in town.

• Visit famous Tea Research Centre and Tea Estates.
• Assam produces over 60% of tea produced in India and Jorhat is the main centre. There are many shops to buy tea from.
• Jorhat has air connectivity.

Majuli is around 45kms drive from Jorhat. Here we stayed at Yadrasil cottages and liked the place with large open spaces.

• It is the largest river Island. Drive to Nimati ghat and take a ferry carrying passengers plus vehicles to Kamalabari ferry terminal in Majuli
• A must visit place to see the 500 year old Vasnavite culture (holy satras and Musk making). Houses are built on stilts as the place gets flooded due to rising levels of Brahmaputra during rains. Most houses have ponds to provide water for agriculture and fish.
• Due to a large number of wet lands the island has many birds.
• Visit Samaguri Satra, famous for musk making culture. Village bazzar Annaiti satra, Kamolabari satra, Garmur satra, local mibing tribal villages and musk making centre.

220 kms from Majuli on the western bank of Brahmaputra, lies Tezpur. Stayed at KRL Hotel, which has a shopping area with excellent deals.

• We only took a halt here after a long drive on the way to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Tezpur has a military base and airport
• Visit Agnigarh, Maha Vairal Temple, Ganesh Ghat and take a boat ride on the river.