01-Feb-2004 -- During a one-month trip through Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, on 1st Feb 2004 I left my colleagues engrossed in the Ahom Kingdom relics of Sibsigar/Similaguri and made my way the c.30km towards Sonari for an attempt on confluence 27N95E. The hard top road took me to within two miles of my target. Turning south on a rough track my jeep with driver and tour guide proceeded slowly past flooded paddy fields, and I began to have visions of standing knee-deep in ooze to achieve my objective. But then the track began to rise on to a sandy plateau at the foot of the Patkai Hills, and we reached a Baptist Church associated with the Napuk tea plantation. Shortly afterwards (at 27:00.542N+94:59.054E) I opted to disembark and walk the last mile alone, to the relief of my perplexed dragomen as we were apparantly in an area of occasional separatist militant insurgency. To my surprise northings and eastings on the GPS were both steadily converging on the target coordinates as I continued to follow the track trending southeast between groves of tea plants. Eventually, by a shade tree labelled 38 Sector 55, I deduced the confluence to be about 100m off to my left and was contemplating clearing a barbed wire fence to approach it through the precious cash crop. But then a path running east opened up before me and I was able to walk to the exact spot without any need to trample or trespass! The local time was 13:20hrs. Photographs of the GPS reading, followed by views looking N-S-E-W, were duly taken - but none of Yours Truly, he being pro tem alone. Instead I back-pedalled and then walked further down the main track to a house that is visible within 100m on the view south from the confluence. There I snapped the first person I had met since visiting the confluence - a surprised but friendly young barefoot urchin who posed and earned a reward of a packet of sweeties. As far as I could establish from the Assamese workers I met there the house was in the village of Kalibari Ekwis.

The journey back to the jeep seemed to take a quarter of the time of the outward walk, I was so elated by my luck in achieving the day's goal with such consummate ease.