20 day journey: Itinerary coming soon

Assam is a land of myths and mystery. “The land of red river and blue hills,” as it is described, has a unique landscape with sprawling tea gardens and unending stretches of paddy fields interspersed with groves of coconut, areca nuts, and banana trees. Its cultures, peoples and climate with South-East Asia. Assam is a popular destination for wildlife tourism. It’s culture and  peoples are a confluence of streams of different races and tribes like the Austrics, the Aryans, Negroids, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Tibetans, and Mongoloid. They have enriched each other and have evolved to give a distinctive identity to the Assamese people.

Located south of the eastern Himalayas at the gateway of Northeast India, Assam is separated by Bangladesh from mainstream India. The state is bounded in the north by Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan; in the east by  Burma; in the south by Bangladesh and in the west by West Bengal. Assam is a popular destination for wildlife tourism.

Kaziranga National Park, A World Heritage Site, (host to two-thirds of the world’s Great One-horned Rhinoceroses. Kaziranga boasts the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, also a World Heritage Site, is  a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it is contiguous with the Royal Manas National park in Bhutan. The park is known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam Roofed Turtle,Hispid Hare, Golden Langur and Pygmy Hog.

Meghalaya, a small state in north-eastern India and one of the most important ecotourism circuits. The word “Meghalaya” literally means “The Abode of Clouds” i nSanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip bounded on the north by Assam and by Bangladesh on the south. The capital is Shillong also known as the Scotland of the East.

The Meghalayan subtropical forests have been considered among the richest botanical habitats of Asia. These forests receive abundant rainfall and support a vast variety of floral and faunal biodiversity. A small portion of the forest area in Meghalaya is under what is known as “sacred groves”. These are small pockets of ancient forest that have been preserved by the communities for hundreds of years due to religious and cultural beliefs. These forests are reserved for religious rituals and generally remain protected from any exploitation. These sacred groves harbour many rare plant and animal species. The Nokrek biosphere reserve in the West Garo Hills and the Balaphakram National Park in the South Garo Hills are considered to be the most biodiversity rich sites in the Meghalaya. In addition, Meghalaya has three Wildlife Sanctuaries. These are the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, the Siju Sanctuary and the Bhagmara Sanctuary.

Tribal people (aka “hill tribes”) make up the majority of Meghalaya’s population. The Khasis are the largest group, followed by the Garos. Other groups include the Jaintias, the Koch, the Dimasa, Hmar, Kuki, Lakhar, Mikir, Rabha and the Nepali.