Arrangements for our extended trip to Greenwood Tea Garden

Bee has done sterling work in Assam and not only tracked down my Great Grandfathers Tea Garden but has found the owners and arranged for Paddy and I to visit, dine and stay.

 

Hugh Macnish was the manager of the Greenwood Tea Estate located just outside Dibrugarh. It is now owned by the Assam Company India Limited.

 

Bee has made contact with Mr Sanjib Bhuyan the Senior Manager who is now expecting Paddy and I on the 25^th November 2015 for lunch, a tour of the surrounding gardens, dinner and overnight stay. It will be strange staying in the same house my Great Grandfather and my Grandmother lived in so many years ago.

 

Otherwise final arrangements are in place. Injections arranged, passport sent away for my Indian Visa, flights booked and car in transit. One month to go.

 

 

An extended visit

After a bit of a discussion with my old friend Bee I have decided to prolong my visit to India and visit my Great Grandfathers Tea Garden in north east Assam.

Andrew Boyden (Bee) set up his fishing business (www.rivertribe.net) to provide some of the most adventurous and memorable fishing in the world. From a fishing perspective he knows the rivers of India better than anyone and some years ago a group of us went in search of the Golden Mahseer in Arunachal Pradesh as well as visiting the battlefields of Kohima and Imphal. It was a truly brilliant trip in some of the most remote parts of north east India. River tribe is based in Dibrugarh.

Bee has found the Greenwood Tea Garden, contacted the current management (The Assam Company) who are happy to welcome me and if we want to stay the night. 

Greenwood is located about 1 hour outside Dibrugarh which is about 1.5 hours flight from Guwahati where we finish the rally on Monday 23rd November. I have booked a flight on Jet Airways from Guwahati to Dibrugarh at 12.30 on Tuesday 24th giving me some time to visit the old colonial town in the afternoon and to soak up a little of what my Great Grandfather and my Grandmother experienced when they started growing tea in north east Assam. A damned good curry with Bee that night and then off to Greenwood for the day on Wednesday. We may stay at the Tea garden or alternatively we will return to Dibrugarh that night catching a flight to Kolkata and then home overnight on Thursday, landing at 06:40 on Friday.

I think that Paddy is coming along as well which will be fantastic.

Otherwise the car has shipped, tickets booked. I just need visas and jabs and I am done. God how I still hate injections!