A BOAT RIDE ON THE RIVER BRAHMAPUTRA TO NORTH-GUWAHATI

Photo Travelogue :

I am mighty scared of waters. I freak-out whenever a bus or train crosses a bridge over a water-body. My heart always lands in my mouth whenever during a flight to and fro Bombay, the plane goes over a stretch of the Arabian sea for a while, before taking a turn back to land. Reason for this phobia is naturally ~ my not knowing swimming. Hell, I was even scared to learn swimming in the first place. So, taking a river-ride was always a big NO for me! I did once though take a cruise in Goa, over the river Mandovi; also, another one at Bhopal's Bhojtal lake. So, it only seemed fair to face the challenge of taking one over the river Brahmaputra too, which falls in my native state. All the more reason to finally shed my fear. Guwahati is a river-port city and has daily commuters in the river route ~ people coming from north-guwahati for work, and vice versa. So, the inland water transport here is quite robust; fast and cheap too. I went to the place where most ferries take off - at fancy bazar ferry ghat ( near the kachari ghat ). Here's my entire boat ride ~ enjoy!



arriving at the FB ferry ghats...it and uzan bazar ghats are where one can board a ferry...


some distractions on the river beach here ;-) kahi bhi kapde sukhalo, apna hi beach hai :s


there are couple of ferry operators that run the show here, I chose this one...


that's my streamer...


ah...be careful with these though, even in 21st century we have jetties like these :|


I'm ready to go off, but, it seems the steamer is not quite ready yet...DUH!


so, I simply wait and take in the views of the mighty brahmaputra river...


the steamer is not filled yet, so, we are shifted to a smaller motor-boat instead...


I'm happy to board it as well, it seemed more exciting and adventurous...And soon, it is filled with people, goods, vehicles and even cattle...ah, what fun, I love it! Over-loading like this often leads to capsizing of the boats, oh, well...the greed of people!


a peak inside...The boat-man asks me to sit inside...I prefer to stand outside, instead. Apparently, they are reluctant to let any female stand outside ( don't understand the logic of it ), but I insisted saying I wanted to take photographs and cover the journey. Atlast, they let me do what I wanted, phew!


leaving the shores of guwahati city behind...


spotting the peacock island...Umananda ~ smallest inhabited river island...


another boat speeding past...


its a half hour ride and the north-guwahati shore shows up...


an anchored steamer waiting to go back to guwahati...


view from the north-guwahati banks...


some distractions on the beach ;-) apna hi parking-lot hai yaar...
I spent the day visiting few sites in north-guwahati and returned home by late noon...


RETURN TRIP...

my speed boat...guess, I wasn't destined a big steamer that day!


perched on the nose of the boat ( allowed reluctantly again ), I enjoyed rest of the trip...


an anchor - that keeps a boat/ship grounded...An anchor ( temporary or permanent ) is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current.


another boat passing by ~ these are common sights in the river...


the sun setting over the river brahmaputra and I head home...
O Maanjhi Re
Apna Kinara
Nadiya Ki Dhara Hai...

Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia, a trans-boundary river which flows through China, India and Bangladesh ( wiki ).

Address : Fancy Bazar Ferry Ghat, Fancy Bazar, Guwahati
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