The Earth Moves

No, Lynnette didn't join me here in India this week, but rather Debbie and I experienced a moderate earthquake the other evening during supper.  The news said it was 6.4 on the Richter scale (I don't know if that was enough to make any news reports where you are), but it was an interesting experience for a Saskatchewan boy!  No casualties or damage, but we were quite ready to sprint for the exits upon any sign of more action!!

Saturday, being a day off in our schedule as teachers from Mizoram and Manipur travelled here to Assam for the next session, we decided to head to Kaziranga National Park for the weekend.  The plan was to engage in a bit of an adventure by taking a jeep and elephant safari to see up close the famous Indian one horned rhino.  Little did we know that half the adventure would be simply getting to our adventure!

In short, we began an hour later than what we thought we had arranged but started down the road for our destination 6 hours away.  This was no ordinary excursion to Edmonton!   Our driver was dodging cows, dogs, goats, hand carts, bikes, motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks, construction equipment and potholes all at breakneck speed.   He got lost a time or two, asked for directions several times, took many detours all while ensuring that he used his horn generously and, of course, that made all things right.  After all, beeping your horn can solve any traffic difficulty you might encounter!

Truck transport on the road

Yes, on top of the bus are chickens!

The more usual modes of transportation

At the park we checked into the hotel (that went smoothly – although the rooms were the most “rustic” we’ve encountered so far) and then were whisked off to our jeep safari.  Well we weren’t sure what we were being taken to or if we were being taken, but it was absolutely fantastic!!  We saw many kinds of birds, several kinds of deer, huge wild buffalo, wild elephants – including a great big male “tusker”, and of course the white rhinos as close as anyone in their right mind would want to.  Then, to top off the evening our guide received a call on his cell phone that a Bengal tiger had been sighted – a very rare occurrence, even in the park.  So our jeep driver rushed over at breakneck speed – literally – and sure enough there was a Bengal tiger sunning itself in the setting sun about 500 meters away.  Quite an awesome sight!  I think the guides were every bit as excited as we were!!  Unfortunately my camera chose this inopportune time to give me difficulty, so I have no images.  Debbie has some I will share with those interested when I get back.

Wild Buffalo....

Wild Elephants....

A rhino!

 

We got back from the jeep safari badly needing supper, as we had only stopped for snacks for lunch, and were told that we had to pre-order and return after 7:30.  In the meantime however, we should book our elephant safari (which includes riding the domestic elephants to see all the above named animals – only closer) which was leaving early the next morning.  We were under the impression this had already been pre-booked for us by our fine friends in the teachers’ organization, but there appeared to be a glitch.  Well after one hour of eight guys loudly arguing and about a dozen phone calls to our contacts, we were confirmed for a 5:30 a.m. departure for our pre-booked elephant safari!

The next morning we received our 5:00 a.m. wakeup call so we could be at the elephant departure point at 5:30.  Unfortunately our driver was nowhere to be found.   I did, however walk to the lodge he was staying at, much, much more rustic than ours, have him rousted out of bed and got him to our hotel to pick up Debbie and again, at breakneck speeds, get to the departure point.  We made it there considerably late, but on time, if you know what I mean.

The elephant safari was worth every bit of challenge and money, as was the jeep safari.  Close up views of buffalo, a variety of deer and rhinos, all in the cool mist of the morning, is something I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to repeat.  It was fantastic!!

That still however leaves the adventure of our five and a half hour drive back to Guwahati and every minute of those hours involved some bone crunching and rearranging of my internal organs.

Working on rice paddies

Interestingly enough there were a variety of paving crews working on this highway that will eventually lead all the way to Thailand.   There was a continuous pour concrete crew on one section, a fairly modern asphalt crew on another section and a third more labor intensive crew on another section.  The labor intensive crew was most interesting.  Today was a hot day and these guys were working with hot asphalt and attired in their usual flip-flops (not steel -toed ones either in case someone from OH&S is reading).  One young man had the unenviable job of being bent over spreading out hot oil with a 10 inch hand trowel onto the old asphalt so the new stuff would adhere better.  Think of that for 12 hours a day.   Every now and again I wonder why are we here doing professional development with teachers so they can apply more child centered approaches that will keep their students motivated to stay in school longer.   I would like to think it is in part so as to give this young man and hundreds of thousands of other young men and women (and boys and girls like him) an opportunity to engage in a safe, satisfying experience and safe, satisfying work that would open a range of opportunities for their future.

But the adventure wasn’t over yet!  While driving back to Guwahati we stopped for some snacks at a roadside market.  I bought some apples and oranges along with our host who drove back with us - the General Secretary (Borah is his name - the most gracious host you could imagine) of the Assam Teachers' Organization.  He had been busy most of the day Saturday with a protest involving 7000 teachers and their concerns with having level (grade) 5 added to mandatory schooling without any attention to the number of teachers required or the professional development needed to teach the new material.  Everything at our snack stop was good until I bought a couple of small packages of peanuts from another vendor.  I asked the fellow how much it cost, 10 rupees the reply, I gave him the money, started eating the peanuts and everything was good, so I thought.  However, Borah stepped in and soon an animated discussion was occurring in Assamese that grew louder and in closer quarters as time went on.  Borah was very angry - kind of reminded me of my General Secretary when she gets wound up!   ;-).   A fight was clearly brewing here.  It appears that I was grossly overcharged for the peanuts and Borah would have none of it.  The peanuts, he later said, should have cost me a maximum of 5 rupees and they were taking advantage of me simply because I was a foreigner - "they are very bad people", he stated.  I tried to assure him that i likely had been taken advantage for sums greater than 5 rupees during my time here, but he felt strongly that it was a matter of principle and that this should not happen in his state.  Oh yes, the five rupees i was overcharged was the equivalent of about 10 cents!!  For a person like Borah, it was a matter of principle none the less!

Well we did arrive back at Guwahati in one piece, always a good thing, and feeling very much refreshed in body and spirit as we had a couple of days to breathe fresh air, look at the stars, drink in the lush vegetation (including a number of historic tea plantations – where we were able to purchase premium Assam tea for 50 cents a kilogram, yep, a KILOGRAM!!) and best of all we were able to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  Tomorrow brings a fresh group of teachers that we’re looking forward to and absolutely confident that they will be every bit as motivated, kind and eager as the previous groups. 

Amazing that in only a week left and then we will start the trek back to Canada.