Guwahati Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Train

Trains to Kolkata take around 24 hours, so to arrive early morning take the 7.15am Kamrup Express to Howrah (sleeper/2AC Rs 299/1212). For Darjeeling or Sikkim take the 10.30pm Kanchenjunga Express to New Jalpaiguri (sleeper/2AC Rs 164/663) arriving at 7.35am. For Jorhat (6½ hours) the 6.30am train via Dimapur (four hours) is much faster than buses (no service Sunday). Trains to Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia cut through Nagaland, but you don’t need a Nagaland permit as long as you stay on the train (that’s not true for buses).

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Air

Guwahati’s pleasantly orderly Lok-Priya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport is ‘international’ thanks to Indian Airlines’ Wednesday flight to Bangkok.

There’s considerable competition between domestic carriers:

Air Deccan (DN; 1-800 4257008; www.airdeccan.net)

Indian Airlines (IC; 2264425, Ganeshguri)

IndiGo (6E; 9910383838; book.goindigo.in)

Jet Airways (9W; 2668255; GNB Rd)

Kingfisher (IT; 1-800 1800101; www.flykingfisher.com)

Sahara Airlines (S2; 2548676; GS Rd)

spiceJet (SG; 1-800 1803333; book.spiceJet.com)

Helicopter

Pawan Hans Helicopters (2416720) shuttles to Shillong (Rs 725, 30 minutes, twice daily), Tura (Garo Hills, thrice weekly), Naharlagun near Itanagar (Rs 3000, 1¼ hours, six weekly) and Lumla (Rs 3000, twice weekly) for Tawang. Phone your booking then pay at the airport if the service actually decides to fly.

Helicopter travel in India has a poor safety record.

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