Tour of Nagaland 2022 | Last Day | Guwahati – Guwahati | 0 kms

Today was the last day of the tour. I had a flight to catch back to Pune in the evening. Everything on the trip went as planned without any major challenges. Special credits to my bike. She had taken the toll of Nagaland’s brutal roads and never let me down. At some point, I felt she might cave in with the bad roads but, like a determined fighter, stood tall and braved it all, without disappointing her rider. I had covered more than 5000+ km in this trip and now it was time to return home.

I had got up early, freshened up, and taken a bath. Today was Sunday. I was to go to the much-revered Khamakya Temple. Kunal Gurung advised me the previous day that the temple witnessed a huge rush during evenings and mornings so he told me to plan early morning so that I could get the ‘darshan’ and come back out of the temple quickly.

I had woken around 4 am and left the hotel by 5 am. Around 5:30 am I reached the temple premises. There was already a huge crowd waiting outside the main temple gate. Even by 5:30 am standards, I was late. I heard that some people were waiting in the queue from the previous night itself. A huge crowd had gathered in front of the gate as the gates were about to open. Some had maintained a line while some were dispersed. At around 6 am, the gates were opened and people rushed in to form a line.

I came to know that there were 2 lines. The one I was in was a paid line with a ticket of 500rs. There was also a free line but the line was too long. This was the line where people had been waiting since the previous night. Its entry to the temple was from the other side. Once the line was streamlined, there was no other thing to do other than wait and gaze at the surroundings nearby. The temperature was not that cold and was pleasant. The line progressed at a snail’s pace and as it went further through the halls, where people were made to sit on chairs and released one by one the crowd further in the line eased.

It was only around 9:30 am when my turn came. Photography was strictly not allowed inside the temple so whatever photos I took were only of outside areas. It had taken close to 4 hrs to take the blessings of Maa Kamakhya. Once done, I retired to the parking lot and went straight towards the Guwahati Railway station.

At the railway station, I found a shipping agent so that my bike could be packed and shipped back to Pune. Once all the necessary paperwork was done and I had received my Bill of Transportation copy, I left the place. On the way, I stopped to have something for breakfast.

After that, I went straight to my friend Danny whose garage I had visited when I had reached Guwahati for the first time on this trip. That time he was not available but now, he greeted me with open arms. I had to meet him because, before the start of the trip, I had sent him empty travel trolley bags so that I could pack all of my stuff in it including whatever shopping I had done in the tour, and could bring all the items safely and securely. All the non-essential non-fragile stuff would come home in saddle bags along with the bike. I collected the 2 trolley bags from him and told him that I would be coming over to his garage once again so that we could talk in a relaxed fashion. I was not going to sit still till I had this bike and luggage issue sorted for good.

I went to the hotel again and checked myself out to avoid another day’s charges. The staff agreed to keep my trolley bags at the reception. I repacked all my stuff which I won’t be needing for the flight journey into the saddle bags that I had planned to send along with the bike. I again went to the Railway Station to get the Saddle Bags booked under luggage. Once, I received that Bill of Transportation copy too, I heaved a sigh of relief as I knew half the part of me was now ready to go home. The other part of me was to wait till evening to catch an Indigo flight.

I headed again to Danny’s garage where I spent a considerable amount of time talking to each other and gazing at this wonderful motorcycle garage and store filled with many paraphernalia. He even showed me his Alligator skin wallet which he had specially brought from Thailand. He presented me with his garage sticker which I took it proudly. He offered me lunch which we had in the store itself and I thanked him for the gesture. I gave him an open invitation to visit Pune and told him that I would be there whenever he plans to come.

After the wonderful meetup, I hailed a cab from outside his store and took it to the hotel so that I could get my stuff and from there I headed straight to the Airport a bit early citing traffic issues in Guwahati as advised by Danny. I rested there for one final time clearing all my checking and security formalities. I had a small issue though during the security check as the Naga chili that I was carrying was not allowed in hand baggage. I had kept the fresh chillies citing that they might get damaged if I sent them through check-in luggage. I had to go out of the security section and to the airline counter again. With request, which they obliged my check-in baggage was brought back in where I transferred the chilies and then again went in for the security check which I passed comfortably now.

I caught the flight back to Pune around 11 pm which officially marked an end to my ‘Tour of Nagaland’.