Our stay in Mizoram had been amazing thanks to the ever hospitable Mizos. Alas, all good things must come to an end and we travelers had to move on to our next destination. After getting rejuvenated in Mizoram, we thought we should go to Arunachal – the most touristy of the north-eastern states. We were ready for the arduous journey ahead – nearly 800km – going down from the hills (Mizoram) to the plains (Guwahati) and climbing up treacherous roads in the hills (to Bomdila and Tawang) again.
This time we were determined to get back into the truck circuit and push our average expenses even lower. Also, we were really bored riding in public transport vehicles. This meant a full evening researching the best way to hitch a truck ride and also alternatives in case we couldn’t. The next morning we got out of the city and stuck up our thumbs, again. We were on the road by about 7am and were a little apprehensive because usually trucks leave at the break of dawn. There were very few trucks coming along our way and that did not help soothe our apprehensions at all. Also, some of the truck drivers were pointing ahead and that caused us some confusion – we thought they would stop a little distance ahead and catch up – but they just kept going without stopping. One driver who did stop then told us the reason – there was a truck depot some more distance ahead and most trucks were going there to stop. We debated whether we should go there too, but going there and not getting a ride would mean we would have to take an expensive taxi back to the city and then take a Sumo (public transport). We finally decided that we would stay put and wait for some more time before calling it quits. That decision proved wise as we got our ride just a little while after!
Waiting for a ride
However, there was a catch – this was not going to be a free ride - the driver was charging us some money. We negotiated a little bit and got in and on with our journey. The truck had carried groceries from Silchar the previous night and was heading back to get the next load to Mizoram. They were regulars to Mizoram and knew the local language very well too. Our plan was to take the train from Silchar to Lumding and then another one to Guwahati the next morning. If we could get another truck from Silchar, we would prefer to take that instead. As this truck had already unloaded, we thought the ride would be faster than the one to Aizawl (which had taken nearly 7hrs including breaks). This was not to be, we went about 20km and then the driver was told to go back half the way to get a signature on the delivery receipt! And then, our driver had to take a snack break too. We got talking to the driver at the hotel and he suggested we take the train rather than go by road from Silchar to Guwahati as the road was a little dangerous and there was no telling how much time it would take at the checkpoints. We noted that and decided to take the train – but that meant we had to get to Silchar by 5.30pm or we would miss the train which would leave at 6.30pm – and our pace had not been great till then. We still had hope of making it in time though.
On the way, our driver picked up more passengers like us – now this was another first for us. We had not encountered a driver who charged for rides and picked up so many passengers too. Drivers in these parts are very wary of any passengers at all! We picked up some passengers of the plant variety too on this ride. On the way, our truck stopped in the middle of nowhere and everybody got down. We were wondering what they were up to and then saw the navigator climb up a tree and jackfruits dropping from it! Then we understood – they were taking unripe jackfruits from the jungle home to make some curry. But when the number of jackfruits they cut got more – nearly a dozen – we surmised that they planned to sell them instead. This whole exercise took nearly a half hour and we had all but lost hope of making it in time for our train. We prepared ourselves mentally to spend another night at Silchar railway station (we had spent one on our way to Aizawl earlier).
Our journey after here included stops at various towns and our driver’s attempts to sell the jackfruits, all unsuccessful. Once we were out of the hills, we picked up pace though and got hopeful about our train again. All our co-passengers, except one got off the truck at various places before Silchar. The one who had stayed back was a transporter himself and had overslept and gone further into Mizoram instead of getting off at the border as he intended to, the previous night. He gave us a few insights about the trade on this route and other topics. I mention this person because our talk with him had dispelled our driver and navigator’s doubt that we were drug runners! Have we mentioned that there is a huge drug problem in Mizoram? Apparently, young folks cross over from Myanmar, strike deals with the locals and then hitch rides back. The drugs are then brought over in private vehicles. Most of the crime (whatever little) in Mizoram is attributed to drugs – either the addicts or the Myanmarese people who come across the border. A friend had earlier remarked that nothing good comes into Mizoram from the east except the sun.
Once we got rid of our’drug runner' tag, the driver and cleaner got a little friendlier. We did reach Silchar with enough time to rush to the railway station. We clicked a picture of our driver and talked a little more before getting down. He got so happy that he gave us a Rs. 50 discount on the price we had negotiated for the ride at the start – even got the navigator to stop a taxi for us to take us to the taxi stand near the railway station.
We rushed to the railway station, bought tickets to Guwahati and grabbed some food too. Since the train was starting from Silchar and we were traveling in the unreserved compartment, we had another problem now. The seats were all taken up already – many by jawans (soldiers) of the armed forces going home on vacation. We only wanted place to sit, but most people were not ready to part with any space as they wanted to sleep instead. We just put our bags in the walkway and got on with the dinner we had picked from the platform. After the train started, one of the soldiers invited us to their cabin and gave us place to sit. They were even ready to adjust so that we could take turns sleeping in the limited space available. We spent that night trying to get some sleep, although that wasn’t very easy.
Our train in Lumding was an hour after we got down from our train from Silchar. Enough time to wash up on the platform and get some breakfast, again on the train platform. If our train ride the previous night was hard, our next ride was harder. As the train was coming from another city before Lumding and going to Delhi, it was completely packed. Added to that was that this was an early morning train and there were many passengers to Guwahati, where we were headed too. We were told it was only 3hrs to Guwahati, and we believed it too. We put up our huge backpacks alongside us in the walkway and got busy – doing nothing but standing still. The ride actually took us nearly 5hrs.
Sitting on the floor in the train
It is very easy to tell when you are in Assam – there are lush green paddy fields all around, if not farms there are ponds, and the air is all sticky. Maybe it was just the season we were traveling in, but it is not easy when you standing in a train compartment packed so tight that there is no place to move your foot and you are sweating like a pig. The only comfort is that you are in a moving train and there is a little air flowing in. We managed to get through it in our ways – Inder found a place to sit at the door for some time and I just sat down in the corridor and made myself comfortable (not very comfortable for the people around me, but nobody complained!). Tough times come to an end too and we finally reached Guwahati in good if smelly condition. We were picked up from the railway station by our host’s driver and taken to his home – in an air conditioned car – what a change in fortunes, eh!