[jyotirupam]

Epilogue :
We came back to the Beat office and said goodbye to the staffs and bowed down to the forest with a promise to come back again. Later in the afternoon we took a diversion and went to the bank of mighty Burhi-Dihing river. Debojit showed a hillock where the great Ahom King Sukapha made his first stop and a base after crossing the Patkai range of mountains. The seed of great Ahom rule was planted here to make Assam proud by his vision and creations. Mr. Phukon spotted some Mynah in a tree near the river and I tried to click some pictures. With a filled heart and a promise to come again I was back in the civilization with some unforgettable moments spent in the day.


The Makeshift crossovers


Those Two beautiful butterflies were very hard to capture


The return path


Last shot inside the forest


The Namsang River falls into this river, Burhidihing












Spotted some Mynah












The Sun was setting down





The last shot of the Day. My Alto was resting for some moments by the river bank near the Tea Garden.

"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes." - E. E. Cummings

-END

[Joy]

Great Travelogue and lovely greenary from an almost unknown part of India. I spent around 2-3 years of my schooling in Jorhat due to father's posting, been to sibsagar, dibgrugarh, tinsukia, etc. but never knew such places. My deepest thanks once again for highlighting such places in NE. Looking forward to more such destination in the future.

[kaushik_s]

Wow, thanks a ton for showcasing us Dehing-Patkai Rain forest. It's one of a kind place and a nice travelogue by you. There is so less information about these hidden gems (in a way it's good) that it's difficult to plan a trip there. BTW, this is the same forest which is next to Namrup, right? If so then I did have set foot on this forest before (as a kid though).
And thanks for showing the Holou, as a kid I always have heard about it (Holou uthil tokou gosot )but never saw one..
That big black spider, even we were lucky to see one of that during our trip to Arunachal (East) last December. That's one very beautiful spider.

[jyotirupam]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Its not a pyjama tucked in to the shoe

Its as follows:

You wear your normal pant/cargos. Then you were a almost knee legth 'L' shapped (like a socks) bag (with draw strings to close the bag ) on your feet and pull the draw string and secure the bag just over your calf muscles over your pant/cargo. Then you were your foot-ware - best is something like Rubber Beach Footware which look like Bata Quo-vadis or equivelent.

This is the best protection you can have whilst working in leech infested forests - specially rain forests. I can testify that it is much more effective than the gum-boots or wellingdons. Beauty of this is that it is not expensive and you can have two or three pairs of this and can dry out over a fire/fan pretty easily.

I have seen this set up being used in forests - specially by forest department staff - from North East India through Burmah/Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Combodia - I used it many times when I was associated a while ago with some "Earthwatch" projects in these area as a volunteer under the sponsoship of my then employer HSBC.

JRD - Very nice report.

Best Regards & Drive Ride Safe

Ram

Thanks a lot r_nairtvm for the explanation.

Originally Posted by venkat_iyer

An amazing log! Thanks for sharing some glimpses of this virgin rainforest. It seems to have an amazing diversity of mammals and birds, including rarities like the clouded leopard. Lovely capture of the female Hoolock Gibbon.

Thanks venkat_iyer. I was very lucky to get the Hoolock Gibbon shots. The virgin forest is a shelter of many animals which are facing extinction threat.

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Awesome narration and pictures JRD. Good to see some more parts of Assam coming into the travelogue section of this forum.

By the way your initials JRD reminds me of JRD Tata

Thanks motomaverick. Even my colleagues used to call me by the initials JRD but I am no match for famous original JRD.
I'm a simple grassroot village upbrings lad grew up by the bamboo blades of Assam. It is my first and last love... The sight of the sunset across the lohit, hills of the Patkai on the yonder sky line, the farmers harnessing the paddy fields, our diverse cultures what I will cherish life long....

Originally Posted by M.R.Boruwa

Superb write-up and Pictures. I always wanted to do Trip to these forests but unfortunately so far it has not become reality. Last disaster was when my plan to visit Dibru-Soikhowa National Park was cancelled after reaching Dibrugarh .

Couple of question for you
How is the Current road condition Sibsagar onwards?
Is there any accommodation around the park?

Thanks M.R.Boruwa. Dibru-Saikhowa is an excellent place; recently a river cruise boat with accommodation facility is also started near Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.

Regarding your queries about the current road condition after Sivasagar I can say that the stretch to Sivasagar to Dimou is bit damaged but Dimou to Moran stretch have better quality roads. I have seen the entire Sivasagar-Dibrugarh part of NH37 is constantly under repair but in many places the tarmac comes off after a very short period which results nasty surprises for the suspension system.

Originally Posted by Joy

Great Travelogue and lovely greenary from an almost unknown part of India. I spent around 2-3 years of my schooling in Jorhat due to father's posting, been to sibsagar, dibgrugarh, tinsukia, etc. but never knew such places. My deepest thanks once again for highlighting such places in NE. Looking forward to more such destination in the future.

Thanks Joy. The entire NE region is a dwelling place of rich flora and fauna. I will definitely try my best to share my travelling experiences in this forum.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Wow, thanks a ton for showcasing us Dehing-Patkai Rain forest. It's one of a kind place and a nice travelogue by you. There is so less information about these hidden gems (in a way it's good) that it's difficult to plan a trip there. BTW, this is the same forest which is next to Namrup, right? If so then I did have set foot on this forest before (as a kid though).
And thanks for showing the Holou, as a kid I always have heard about it (Holou uthil tokou gosot )but never saw one..
That big black spider, even we were lucky to see one of that during our trip to Arunachal (East) last December. That's one very beautiful spider.

Thanks Kaushik_S.
Yes, this forest is a part of the thick forest near Namrup which you did have set foot. The (un)famous Lakhipathar Forest area one which had training camps of Ulfa militants is also a part of this huge green cover.

I agree that these places should be preserved and free from any commercialization. Mr. Phukon (my companion in the trip) told us that the dilapidated condition of the roads is actually saving the forest as the speed of the vehicles are often automatically regulated. But we should introduce these natural reservoirs to the younger generation so the seed of nature can be planted in the very early age. We should encourage activities like Trekking, Bird watching for the young generation from an early age which will definitely play a vital role to respect the wildlife.

Thanks all once again.

[mallumowgli]

Nothing like spending a day deep inside a evergreen forest. Loved your travelogue. Thanks for sharing

[dutta_d1]

Awesome photos. Seemed like I was browsing some pages of Nat Geo itself. This is proof enough of the rich vegetation and forests of Assam.

But I guess there is no official tourism activity here like Kaziranga or Manas? May I know which camera did you use?

[jyotirupam]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Nothing like spending a day deep inside a evergreen forest. Loved your travelogue. Thanks for sharing

Thanks a lot. Truly, a day like that cleanses our souls, rejuvenates us to the core and feels like getting Niravana!

Originally Posted by dutta_d1

Awesome photos. Seemed like I was browsing some pages of Nat Geo itself. This is proof enough of the rich vegetation and forests of Assam.

Thanks a lot. You are right, the richness of these forests can give a feel of Amazon or Sumatra. But these forests are disappearing alarmingly due to the deforestation activities. Recently I have seen a news that boulders of the Namsang riverbed were illegally loaded into trucks.

Pic of the River Namsang:


These kind of activities will destroy the ecological balance of the entire eco-system of the Rain forest. However the process was stopped after strong protests of the locals and student organisations, but we can not say that these activities will not start again by managing the prevailing SYSTEM.

Originally Posted by dutta_d1

But I guess there is no official tourism activity here like Kaziranga or Manas? May I know which camera did you use?

Tracking facility inside is available by obtaining permission from the Range Officers or Beat Officers. Recently some NGO's are arranging guided tours inside the forest. I had seen about 8-10 different track routes for such activities. Recently some NGOs had started lodging facilities near the forest as Eco-tourism activities. But, there is no such controlled and professional tourism activities like Kaziranga, Manas.

I am using a humble Nikkon L-310 Point and Shoot with 21xZoom till now and hopefully I will migrate to a DSLR soon!