As nice as Guwahati was, now that I’m in Shillong, I wish I’d come sooner. It is cool, almost cold, and the rain is thus far rather light. My hotel here is the first one I’ve paid for that seems worth it (despite the fact that I’m paying more since they put me in a double room). It has one of the nicest bathrooms I’ve seen in India, and an actually sort of nice view.

I might have been able to make it up here yesterday if it hadn’t taken two hours to check out of my hotel. Even though I told them in the morning I wanted to check out when I returned, nothing was prepared when I did return. At least I got to see the golden langurs out near the Umananda Mandir. Beautiful and gentle monkeys with long fluffy tails. Dying batteries meant not a single picture came out, though.

Once I left Hotel Nova (which I heartily recommend against if you ever visit Assam) I went off to a nicer place last night (Hotel Blue Moon), though even they charged me the full rate while still kicking me out early. ‘Early’ in this case meant 9 a.m., about three or four hours after sunrise, so it wasn’t so much of a problem as I tend to wake up when it’s light. It’s only early in the sense that no businesses (except a few restaurants and shops) are open yet. I was able to leave my bags there and finally get some Assam Tea, which is oddly difficult to find in Guwahati unless you know where to look — the government emporiums.

From here I’m looking to make my way into Bangladesh, overland through Dawki/Sylhet. Likely no updates until then.