"A fun-filled family time," Documenting visit to Borail Eco Camp

Earlier this month, I took a trip to Borail Eco Camp with my family. It was newly formed at that time and we got to know about it through newspapers and news channels. The camp is located at the Borail Sanctuary range which also has a quarry. Assuming the weather to be chilly we took jumpers along with us but as we dashed through the roads in our car we felt the heat due to the sunny weather and were soon out of our winter wear. It took around one hour for us to reach the Eco Camp from Tarapur and we halted on the way to capture pictures with the tea garden in the backdrop.

I would like to denote the road that took us to the Eco Camp with the help of a statue. The statue of a prominent Manipuri figure leads to the Silchar Kumbhirgram Airport if we go straight, and it takes us to the Eco Camp if we take a left turn just before the statue. As we went ahead we were greeted by sceneries of hills and tea gardens by the roadside. It was a surreal moment for us.

The road condition was good but as we moved further ahead to the interiors, the chassis of our Baleno kept on hitting the ground. As soon as we reached the destination, we parked our car outside and entered the Eco Camp. Coincidentally, it also happened to be the day when the Environment and Forest Minister of Assam Chandra Mohan Patowary, was also on his maiden visit to the Barail Eco Camp.

As I entered the camp through a very narrow road, I saw some Khasi people working as labourers there. I also saw a Khasi basket lying there traditionally used by the women of the tribe to carry goods. I took the basket and even got myself clicked with it.

We couldn’t order food at the Eco Camp as the Minister was about to visit the Camp. Only people who ordered their food online could avail of it. We ate some pithas which actually tasted like oily malpuas, a little less sweet though. We also had tea in bamboo cups made from bamboo shots. I was expecting to see Flora and Fauna at the Eco Camp but got disappointed as there was a dearth of them.

As we marched ahead through the narrow road we reached a stone quarry with a water body marking the end of the Eco Camp. We entered the water body and soaked our feet in the chilly clear water. It was said that we could do fishing too but didn’t see any facility for that. There were tents along the camp for camping at night and for changing garments. It was also great to see a toilet facility being provided by the Eco Camp authorities. On our way back, my cousin climbed a tree, which he could never find in the concrete jungles of Maharashtra. It appeared though as if he had regained his youth by climbing a mere tree and we also enjoyed his mischief.

It was time to depart after exploring all corners of the camp. Unfortunately, as we were returning, we took a wrong turn. We asked the Khasi locals for road directions and they helped us. While going back we were stopped by police officials for some time as the convoy of the Forest Minister was passing through. It might be mentioned that the Eco Camp is located in a remote area where the internet doesn’t work and thus you cannot avail GPS. If there were road markers, maybe we wouldn’t have lost our direction. This is a suggestion that the Eco Camp authorities can work upon.