Thursday had nothing to recommend it, just a travel tale. Jim was sick but, being up early, had already found us a bus to Nagaon from which we hoped, the same to day, to get on to Tezpur, the departure point for western Arunachal Pradesh. (We all needed a day off, and two night in Tezpur was looking like just the ticket!) We loaded up and settled in for another bone-jarring transit to Nagaon. But not 10 minutes out of town we came to a bridge from which a girder that just fallen into the river leaving a truck-sized hole. Cars and trucks were lined up on both sides, and one look told everyone that it was going to take a few days. The problem was that this was THE bridge. So, back to Lumding, bus canceled, tuk-tuk to the station, no trains to Nagaon (ever!), and so we caught the “fast passenger” train back to shitty old Guwahati, again after dark. (I have since read that some say that Guwahati is the filthiest city in India; there’s some competition for that record in India, but I think Guwahati might just hold it.)
The next morning we took a packed bus from Guwahati to Tezpur, getting there only in time for admin. stuff (wash, finding the guy with our permit, scheduling a Sumo for the next morning, etc.) We did manage a good meal and some internet time at a place with some speed, and the next morning I enjoyed a very nice market, but NO DAY OFF!
