Yes this is a big island in the middle of the Brahmaputra river, if fact its the largest river island in the world.  There are rice fields and expanses of water bursting with water hyacinth blossom are everywhere.   The locals are laid-back as no where else in India (as of late).  We enjoyed a wonderful stay at a local guest cottage.  A signature dish of Assam is sour curry and we enjoyed it here every day.  The official report is that Majuli Island is disappearing and because of erosion, it will be gone in 20 years  Try telling that to the locals.  Everyday we rented bikes and tooled around the island visiting, pottery making castes and birding.  The mask makers on Manjuli are world famous and London theater companys order all the masks from Majuli when presenting stories from the Ramayana. Also there are 22 satras (Hindu Vaishnavite monasteries and centers for art).  The Maskmaking center is a satra.  Monks live in small rooms and there is a lot of offering ceremonies on a daily basis.

After a few days getting reacquainted with Kolkata we flew to the capital of Assam, Guwahati. We met a tour guide whom we stayed with (www.jungleideas.com). And with Arunav Bora we visited Pobitora National Park, this is a great park for water birds and the extremely rare one horned rhinoceros.   We spotted 6 of the rhinoceros in our 3 hr game drive by open Jeep, and 20 different species of birds.  Nemeri National Park  was our next stop across the Brahmaputra River in upper Assam.  We stayed at the Eco camp for 4 nights and we started bird watching in the very early mornings.  To get to the park involved a 20 minute walk on a trail and then a river crossing by a wooden row boat.  On the river banks were tracks of wild elephants, tigers and wild buffaloes.  Spotting 145 species of birds in pristine forests through varied terrain (log walking and forest trail with some leeches) was great fun. This was where I drew the first blood of the trip by a leech.  The guide was good and he did have a bird book. We had to have an armed guard with us as well because of possible tiger or elephant attack, and possible poachers.  The resort was lovely with great food and large safari tents as rooms. ($23/ night).  It was fun to think about the various wild animals coming down to drink just some hours ago.   We also visited a village that was known for having black magic practioners.  An interesting museum reported various exploits of black magic from the past with pictures of recent healing too.  After we left the area the newspaper reported several poachers killed by the forest guards and 1 rhino killed by the poachers