The 9th and 11th grades enjoyed a ten-night educational trip

By student Sangey Y. with light editing for clarity

Day one

This was my first trip going with my friends and classmates. We left around 6:00 am. It was a long journey, but we had a lot of fun inside the car. We reached Bhalukpong around 4:00 pm. We stayed there and at the hotel Mendal Khang. It was beautiful, and the people from that hotel were nice. We stayed at the hotel for three nights. In one room were three people; Sonam T., Tenzin T., and I. We stayed together the whole trip. On the first day, we just stayed in.

Day two

We went to Pakke Tiger Reserve. We went in a boat and then walked 14km to Tipi Orchidarium. When we started walking, I saw an elephant footprint tree and another called Pterospermum acerifolium.

There were more than 1500 different plants. I also saw a tall tree that is home to hornbills. There are seven tigers in that forest, but we did not see them. We saw four types of hornbills. 

I also learned a new thing while walking that is when a female hornbill gives birth. The male hornbill will build a door from the outside and bring food for them. Then when the baby is grown up, the male will break the door and let them out. If the male dies during this, then the female and baby will also die. The day was tiring, but it was adventurous, and we had a lot of fun, and we enjoyed it. 

Day three

We learned the summary of the forest. They had made a forest inside the house for little kids so they could know about it. They had captured the sound of the birds, and we could listen to it. There were some fun questions to solve. We did all that and went to the Orchid Centre. There was one sir who was in charge of us. He showed us some plants that he knew, I had seen different kinds of plants and flowers, and I have also seen some flower that grows on rocks and bricks.

I thought the vanilla plant was a flower, but it is a climbing orchid. He also showed us a lab; there was no light, but we went and saw it by the light of phones. At night we had a party with the members of the hotel and played some games. 

Day four

We went to Kaziranga National Park and stayed in a hotel called Lokasha, also called The Hornbill hotel. On the way, we also went to the green hub and learned about photography. We learned about turtles and also a new word which is “videography”.  Videography means that every picture tells a story.

Day five

We went on a jeep safari early in the morning to Kaziranga, and I saw a rhino, elephants, cranes, buffalo, sambar deer, and birds. After that, we went to a school where students were disabled. We met a teacher who was blind and teaches math. We saw books and notebooks for the blind. We interacted with them and had our lunch there. They showed us their dances and sang some songs for us, and we did the same.

It was nice to meet them, and while coming back, I felt gratitude that I am alive and in my perfect body. At night we celebrated Tashi Y’s birthday. Her birthday was on the 4th of December, but we did not get a cake that day, so we celebrated on the 5th. It was fun. 

Day six

We went to the Assam Forest Department for a jeep safari in the morning and went to the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation. They help animals while they are injured. They have six leopards. They are kept there because they are small and don’t know how to hunt. Three of them belong to the same family, so they are kept together, and the others separate. I saw them with my own eyes, and I didn’t believe it. 

Day seven

We went to Assam village and had a trek. Before we started our trek, we walked through the tea leaves. The trek was about 20 to 30 minutes. When we reached the top, we could see all of Tezpur. While coming back, we drank bamboo tea. It was bitter, but after drinking that, we felt refreshed. We went to have our breakfast and ate their local food. It was tasty.

We went to a hotel in the village to have our lunch. Its name was Nampi. We stayed in a tent at night, and we had a fire. They showed us their traditional dance, and we sang songs and then went to sleep in the tents. It was very funny inside the tent between the three of us. We slept crazily. 

Day eight

We woke up around 4:30 am and went to Guwahati to have fun in Accoland. There were lots of games, and we played a lot. We went to see a movie and then played more games. It was crazy.

It was very funny to see how my friends were swimming. I also don’t know how to swim, but I enjoyed it a lot. After that, we returned to Tezpur and stayed in the Basant hotel. I could hear so much noise around the hotel. 

Day nine

We went to breakfast, and then we roamed around Tezpur. We bought some souvenirs and then ate our lunch. Around 4:00 pm we ate pizza and went to the cinema to see a new movie. 

Day ten

We woke up around 5:00 am and headed back to Jhamtse Gatsal. We had our dinner at Jhamtse Gatsal. I went home for a visit the next day with my mom on December 11th.

I hope to get more opportunities to travel. I will try not to miss the trip because it was wonderful and fantastic.