An unintended stop leads to a curious but crumbling monument in Assam

Talatal Ghar turned out to be an interesting archeological monument with well-maintained gardens and a poorly-maintained toilet

Often, on long road trips, one passes town after unremarkable town until something changes. An unscheduled stop for a flat tyre, an inviting dhaba or the sudden urge to drink tea at a roadside stall could make you realise that the place you’re in isn’t unremarkable after all. In my case, the town was Sibsagar in Assam. And, what piqued my curiosity was an architectural monument made of — and I kid you not — bricks, duck eggs and sticky rice!

We’d stopped to find a clean toilet only to be told there was none suitable for women. So our