Manas National Park – Local Villages
The Bodo people are a major tribe of Assam are the dominant inhabitants in the villages around Manas National Park. 
The Bodo are amongst Assam’s original inhabitants with a vibrant culture and traditions, something the tourist should not miss out on. The Bodo’s have been associated with forests and wildlife since the earliest times and it is great to see the Bodo today making a strong stand to protect what is left of their forests and wildlife around Manas National Park.
Tourists to Manas have the opportunity to visit one of the villagers and see for themselves how the people live, with an insight into their traditional customs ad lifestyle.
We received a very warm welcomed by the villagers who were keen to share what they had with us. This included some of their rice beer. As I understood it, the beer was fermented for 5 days or so, prior to the elderly lady (our bird watcher guide’s mother) did the final preparations of pouring backwards and forwards repeatedly and filtering it through some palm leaves. It was very drinkable.
Great credit must go to the villagers for their increased awareness about the need to protect, preserve Manas, it;s forests and wildlife.