Friday, 6 October 2023
It was now time to bid adieu to Meghalaya & travel to Assam. A sure sign that our Meghalaya vacation was coming to an end. Today we will be checking out from Hotel Centre Point at Shillong (Meghalaya) & would be driving to Guwahati (Assam). But as per the travel itinerary designed by the 50+ organizers we had one more tourist spot to visit in Meghalaya. Umiam Lake.
When we had booked the Meghalaya tour Geetha & myself quickly looked up the places in the travel itinerary we were to visit. So, I was looking forward to visiting Umiam Lake. I remember reading a few days back that “Meghalaya has adopted Artificial Intelligence enabled robotic technology to keep it's beautiful tourist hotspot Umiam lake clean, as the lake at an altitude of about 4,900 feet is also a major hub for water sports and boating in hill town Shillong.”
After a quick breakfast, we checked out of the Shillong hotel and after about an hour’s drive we reached Lake Umiam. But to our disappointment boating and other water sports activity was not allowed at that time as the lake was full and almost overflowing. So, our activity was limited to admiring the beauty from the shore & clicking selfies & fotos.
The authorities had constructed a canopy walk way along the shore of the lake. The voyagers had a nice time walking along this way. But this was a short one & the walk lasted less than 5 minutes. This was an elevated path constructed with wooden planks with railing on both the sides. It was an enjoyable experience using this walk way.
Having
nothing else to do here, we boarded the bus on our journey towards
Guwahati. After a short Tea break at Hotel Jeeva we continued our road
travel & reached Hotel Gateway Grandeur at Guwahati by 1:30 PM.
After check in the voyagers had a filling lunch at the inhouse
restaurant (Florentine). Rutuja wanted us to relax for some time before
leaving for the river cruise at Brahmaputra.
We had been reading
about floods caused due to overflowing of the Brahmaputra River almost
every year. Even about a couple of days back, when we were at
Cherrapunji news arrived that Brahmaputra was overflowing & several
villages were damaged. Having seen the Umiam lake overflowing a couple
of hours back I was not very hopeful about the Brahmaputra cruise
materializing.
By 4:00 PM we got into the bus for the river
cruise. On arriving at the river front the Brahmaputra River looked calm
& serene. The cruise, it seemed, would materialize after all! Rutu
purchased the tickets & all of us boarded the vessel.
Cozy seating arrangements were available. In sets of 6, the voyagers picked their chairs & waited for the vessel to start. The vessel had a capacity of around 50 passengers, out of which the voyagers numbering 21/22 formed the single largest group inside the vessel. There were a few young couple, a couple with 2 school going children and a couple of families with family members aged 3 to 60.
At around 5:00 PM the vessel started sailing, and the attendants, placed light snacks on all the tables. Option of tea / coffee / soft drinks was available. The snacks & beverages I believe were part of the ticket cost. For those interested, alcoholic beverages were available for a separate cost.
As the passengers were enjoying their snacks & tea, the in-house musician started singing the omnipresent bolly wood hindi film songs. He started with a slow number & as the pace picked up the voyagers entered the dancing stage & started enjoying themselves. Rutuja ensured that not a single person was left out & each and every one participated in the dance.
The other passengers were wonderstruck seeing senior citizens dance spiritedly. Depending on the nature of songs one could see disco, samba, tango, hiphop, Zumba and what not on the dancing floor. Not to be left out of all the fun, the youngsters, the couples, the family, practically every one in the vessel except a couple of very senior citizens joined the dance session. Gradually the karaoke music was replaced with DJ music. The DJ gradually increasing the tempo of the music. When the positive energy level and the good vibes was at its highest, when the music was at its crescendo the DJ ended his show & ensured that his guests left the ship in high spirits & a very joyous mood.
By the time we de boarded from the vessel it was 6:15 PM. A few voyagers opted for shopping. The rest returned to the hotel. After freshening up we reached the dining room by 8:00 PM. It was not a surprise to find that long after the dinner got over the voyagers were unwilling to go to their respective rooms to retire for the day. Everyone was aware that this was probably the last opportunity to have a relaxed chat with their new 50+ friends. The next day morning would see most of us visiting the Kamakhya temple where the atmosphere would be totally different.
Back in the room I spent some time with my e reader and went to bed by 11:45 PM.
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