Life Along The River
After yesterday’s break we resumed our journey early in the morning, leaving behind Guwahati, stilled wrapped in the morning mist. Brahmaputra at this point is perhaps at its narrowest and there is a rail & road bridge that spans her at this point.
The river was broad and there was fair amount of water for most part. But of course at paces the sand banks forced us to jump out and push our boats to navigable channels. At noon we stopped in a very neat and clean village on an island and interacted with the people there. All young men were perhaps away fishing or working in the fields, so except for one old man we were surrounded by the women folk only. The villagers treated us to some tea and puffed rice and provided ample opportunity for images of life on a riverine island.
As we approached Goalpara, some hills appeared on the skyline and that added to the beauty of the riverscape. Goalpara also has a huge bridge spanning the massive width of the river here. To find a good camping site away from the crowded settlement, we returned a few kilometers back from the bridge and camped on a nearby island. It was a nice spot where we had our privacy and also a good view of the hill across the river. At night we had a nice view of the twinkling lights of the settlement reflected in river waters.
