Exploring Northeast India and Looking for Floods The first stop is Lilabari, via an aging Air India plane, into the heat and humidity of Assam. Hotel Maple Leaf in Lakhimpur had an eccentric collection of British memorabilia, such as royal photo plates mounted on the wall. On the way to our first village, we stopped at a local bazaar - an interesting insight into what things people buy in the countryside - chicken in a basket..... Slimy eels from an old aluminum pot, plus fresh palm jaggery in large blocks, sweet jellabi, chilies... Selling spices and fried sweets Women carried non-stop loads of firewood for cooking. Hard to say where it came from since there were very few trees nearby. Everyone was fishing in the flooded areas next to paddy fields and streams. One man posed for a photo as we crossed a small flooded area to reach the village. He carried a net and a small basket to put the fish into. The Mishing community greeted us warmly. Our purpose was to see how well their floo...