Helen's Travel Diary - Textiles and Tea (and elephants) in Assam

An extract from Helen Hazon's travel journal in India. Helen has a keen interest in all things textile related. She is a lifelong stitcher, currently enjoying quilting and embroidery but always keen to learn new skills. During the last fifteen years Helen has travelled extensively around the world and has visited many areas of India - twelve visits in total mostly under Amit’s expert guidance.

I have just returned from another wonderful tour organised by Amit and his team. This time we spent two days in Kolkata then travelled on to Assam for the remainder of the two week tour. Amit had packed an amazing range of activities into our time in this beautiful area – really something for everyone. The main focus was, of course, the textile heritage of Assam but there were also the productive tea gardens and the beautiful Kaziranga National Park to be visited and enjoyed. All of these activities were balanced by having some free time built into the itinerary so that we could relax and recharge – walking, swimming, stitching – whatever we chose.

We visited several places where the local people make their living using traditional methods of textile production - spinning and weaving silk to make beautiful fabrics. In one small town we were shown round a college where young people are taught these methods and are also trained in the skills needed to run their own successful businesses in textile design and production.
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Assam is justly famous for its tea and we had several opportunities to visit tea gardens (plantations) and learn about the whole production process from leaf to drink. Our hotel for several nights was situated within one of the tea gardens inside the National Park. We had wonderful facilities and were able to spend relaxing times in our beautiful surroundings while enjoying stitching workshops prepared specially for us by Pat Archibald. ​

All of us in the group appreciated the time we spent deeper in the Kaziranga Park watching the wildlife. We had two visits – one an early morning ride on elephants to see the animals as the sun rose over the grassland, the other an afternoon jeep ride going further into the park to see even more of the animals and birds that clearly thrive there. 

What a splendid tour this was! So many wonderful memories. Extra special highlights for me personally were the two opportunities we had to make roadside stops to meet working elephants on their way home after their day at work in the forest. A real treat to be able to be so close to these splendid animals. The whole tour was just wonderful!​