Well, Day one was a day of firsts. First long trip this year. First time in Kolkata (even if it was only at the airport for an hour). First time on an Air India flight in aeons. First time in North East India. First time i've sung Karoke. First time i heard of the Naga Chili. First time i ever saw a time lapse being setup.
Most important and memorably, the first time i ever (in fact this is a first for everyone in the group) heard a song called "Purty woman milkin' her cow".
So we set off from Namma Bengaluru at the unholy time of 3:45 and one false start later (due to our standard procedure of re-checking on the iron box being left plugged in) we left by 4.15AM. Woke up a friend who lent us a camera but forgot to lend us the battery charger and got him to meet us at that crazy hour of the morning near Hebbal (We owe you lots for that one, Mug). Reached the airport on time. Got through check in and security without being asked to take our camera bags apart. Got through both legs (Bangalore-Kolkata and Kolkata-Dimapur) with no AI pilot strikes, congestion or other natural airport mishaps.
We reached Dimapur on time, and we were in esteemed company as we got to know later. The Nagaland CM was on board our flight (though at that time we presumed it was the governer). S&P met us in their Scorpio Getaway and Karachi biscuits within the vehicle. Given that i had demolished 80% of a one KG box of the same in exactly 7 days, i took it as a sign from above that it was perfectly okay to continue doing so...
So we drove (okay...S drove and i sat in the rear seat with P) to Kohima through winding roads. I learnt about Dimapur being the fashion capital of the north east, the concept of innerline permits, the natural tendency of the Nagas to be neat and organized as evidenced by the stacking of veggies and fruits in a chai-stop enroute and the Naga Chilli.Incidentally, the Naga Chilli is touted as the hottest chilli in the world on the Scofield scale. Wiki however claims that the record was surpassed in 2010, but that is a matter of contention.
We were staying at a guesthouse in Chedema, and en route from Kohima "downtown" area, we stopped for a glimpse of Kohima village from a random vantage point. Not sure why it is a village when the place is ostensibly large and city-like. There were colorful houses nestled in the valley and we planned (but never did execute the plan) to come back in better light for more pictures. We passed through curving roads and cutting through a BSF camp to reach our guesthouse.
A couple of days later, we heard that the gate next door our guest house was a camp for the National Socialist Council of Nagaland ( NSCN) which is an underground organization that runs a parallel government. The NSCN and its modus operandi dominated quite a few of our conversations during the trip.
Settled down in our rooms and we went up to check out our terrace. S helped GW set up a time-lapse .. about which i knew next to nothing (except that this Google advert was made using time-lapse , i asked dumb questions and settled down to watch the setup. Some pumpkin bajji and two cups of tea later, it was quite dark (at 4.30 PM - this is more to the east than Kolkata). So that was the end of our activities for the day...or so we thought!
After a simple and tasteful dinner, which challenged our chef who couldn't comprehend why and how someone could want to live without fish, meat or eggs, we were all set to retire for the night when the Karaoke set came out. Ended up scoring 100s on "Anne's song" and "Zombie", but we were stumped by a song that was called "Purty girl milkin' her cow" (we referred to it as purty woman for the rest of the trip)... And that ladies and gentlemen, was definitely the learning for the day!
Most important and memorably, the first time i ever (in fact this is a first for everyone in the group) heard a song called "Purty woman milkin' her cow".
So we set off from Namma Bengaluru at the unholy time of 3:45 and one false start later (due to our standard procedure of re-checking on the iron box being left plugged in) we left by 4.15AM. Woke up a friend who lent us a camera but forgot to lend us the battery charger and got him to meet us at that crazy hour of the morning near Hebbal (We owe you lots for that one, Mug). Reached the airport on time. Got through check in and security without being asked to take our camera bags apart. Got through both legs (Bangalore-Kolkata and Kolkata-Dimapur) with no AI pilot strikes, congestion or other natural airport mishaps.
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| Roadside market...neatly stacked |
We reached Dimapur on time, and we were in esteemed company as we got to know later. The Nagaland CM was on board our flight (though at that time we presumed it was the governer). S&P met us in their Scorpio Getaway and Karachi biscuits within the vehicle. Given that i had demolished 80% of a one KG box of the same in exactly 7 days, i took it as a sign from above that it was perfectly okay to continue doing so...
So we drove (okay...S drove and i sat in the rear seat with P) to Kohima through winding roads. I learnt about Dimapur being the fashion capital of the north east, the concept of innerline permits, the natural tendency of the Nagas to be neat and organized as evidenced by the stacking of veggies and fruits in a chai-stop enroute and the Naga Chilli.Incidentally, the Naga Chilli is touted as the hottest chilli in the world on the Scofield scale. Wiki however claims that the record was surpassed in 2010, but that is a matter of contention.
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| Kohima village |
We were staying at a guesthouse in Chedema, and en route from Kohima "downtown" area, we stopped for a glimpse of Kohima village from a random vantage point. Not sure why it is a village when the place is ostensibly large and city-like. There were colorful houses nestled in the valley and we planned (but never did execute the plan) to come back in better light for more pictures. We passed through curving roads and cutting through a BSF camp to reach our guesthouse.
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| The sun breaks out at dusk over Kohima |
Settled down in our rooms and we went up to check out our terrace. S helped GW set up a time-lapse .. about which i knew next to nothing (except that this Google advert was made using time-lapse , i asked dumb questions and settled down to watch the setup. Some pumpkin bajji and two cups of tea later, it was quite dark (at 4.30 PM - this is more to the east than Kolkata). So that was the end of our activities for the day...or so we thought!
After a simple and tasteful dinner, which challenged our chef who couldn't comprehend why and how someone could want to live without fish, meat or eggs, we were all set to retire for the night when the Karaoke set came out. Ended up scoring 100s on "Anne's song" and "Zombie", but we were stumped by a song that was called "Purty girl milkin' her cow" (we referred to it as purty woman for the rest of the trip)... And that ladies and gentlemen, was definitely the learning for the day!
