Velvety darkness falls suddenly -- around 4.30pm in these parts. That's why tea planters talk about 'garden time' and think nothing of getting up at 4am to go to kaam jaari (work).
We are now hastening through Assam's Tinsukia to get to Limbuguri Tea Estate, where we are to stay at the heritage Wathai bungalow, where Brigadier Rao of Purvi Discovery waits. In the dying light of day, I catch glimpses of the Dibru river near what would be Guijan Ghat, the bristling stepping-off point for boat tours of Dibru Saikhowa National Park.