4th Day

27th December:

                         That day our plan was to go to Tawang through Sela pass, so we woke up early in the morning because we had to cross Sela pass which is situated at 13500 feet above sea level. As for our concern about crossing Sela pass after 12 O'clock, was next to impossible because of melting snow and that's the only road which goes to Tawang. Tawang was the destination of our tour. Tawang is famous for Tawang monastery which is the largest monastery in India and one of the largest over the world. We begun our journey at 7 O'clock and on the way to Sela pass we saw an army base.

                         One funny thing happened was last night I found out that my sweet mom packed two different gloves of same palm. So, I had to buy a pair of gloves and that time Adi was literally laughing like a boy at my condition. Today morning’s latest news was, Adi somehow lost his gloves. God knows how he would manage to cross Sela pass without wearing gloves. And the funniest part of this story is after crossing Sela pass Adi requested me for the gloves which my mom gave me and for rest of the tour I don't know how he wore the gloves.
 

Army Base at high altitude - no photography is permitted in its actual vicinity and vehicles are not permitted to stop but still we were able to take picture.

     Baisakhi near Sela Pass at approximately 10,000 ft altitude

                         
                             This place is called Baisakhi and for the first time in our tour we saw snow scattered on the road. Here the altitude was so high that we felt like we were in the same level as clouds. 

Sela pass at 13500 feet

   
                                 After three and half hours of thrilling journey we comfortably reached Sela pass but Sela pass really disappointed us. What we heard that this place is covered in snow in most of the year and offers excellent view but unfortunately we didn't get to see snow as well as snowfall. Though the temperature was very low and deadly wind was blowing at that time.

                          One story is there behind the name sela pass. This story is about one sepoy and a local girl. it is said that  sepoy, named Jaswant, fought a lone battle against the invading Chinese during the 1962 Sino-India war and a tribal woman named Sela who supported him during his battle with the Chinese. This woman brought him supplies and used to tend to his wounds. According to locals  Sela, was Jaswant Singh’s lady love.  She helped him by carrying ammunitions, by providing him and his army with food. When Jaswant Singh was slain by a Chinese bullet, she sacrificed her life by jumping off from Sela Top as she didn’t want to be captured by the Chinese army. For the act of loyalty and bravery the place was named after her as “Sela” Pass.

Paradise lake near Sela Pass

                           
                              That was the first time in my life, I saw a frozen lake. Paradise lake which is situated near Sela pass and gets frozen in winter. By seeing the frozen lake one can get the idea about temperature over here. Though the place was extremely cold but we managed to stay there for an hour and that was one of the most memorable moments of my life. We took snaps, tried skiing, fell down, and lied down on ice for some time. Overall we enjoyed a lot.

Fully Frozen

Ice bed

  
                             Every year during winter the road after crossing Sela pass is suppose to be covered by thick blanket of snow but unfortunately this year snowfall has not started. So we had nothing in our hand except for blaming our bad luck. Though some streams which have been frozen because of very low temperature. We tried to compensate our disappointment with those.

Streams are also frozen

Frozen Stream

                   
                                But suddenly we got excited by seeing the frozen falls. At that point temperature was so low that it froze the water of the falls in midway. After crossing Sela pass temperature started decreasing but still that was tolerable because of clear weather. Sun rays protect us from the chilling wind. 

Frozen Falls

I don't know exactly why we had given this pose, but this is a kind of way to express our excitement

                     

water drops get frozen

  

                              Yeshwant Garh was just five km away from Paradise lake. This war memorial was made in the memory of Yeshwant Singh and his sacrifice at 1962 Indo-China war. This is the place where every indian should feel proud to see those heroes. Here what is written officially about Yeshwant Singh pretty much differs from what is said by locals.

                         The official line that is enshrined in the epitaph erected by the Army, which states that in face of heavy MMG (Medium Machine Gun), which the Chinese had placed at a vantage point to obliterate the post after their two of their attacks had been beaten back by our armed forces. This placement of the MMG hardy 40 meters from the post was slowly tilting the balance in favour of the Chinese. Three brave soldiers, namely RFN Jaswant Singh Rawat, LNK Trilok Singh Negi (Vir Chakra, Posthumous) and RFN Gopal Singh Gusain (Mahavir Chakra) of the 4^th Garwal Rifles equipped with most basic arms & grenades moved towards the Chinese position and from a distance of about 15 meters they threw Grenades into the Chinese bunker and charged at it. They found two Chinese soldiers dead and third dying but still holding on to the MMG. RFN Jaswant Singh Rawat snatched the MMG from the Chinese with both his hands and started crawling back towards his trench, however, a Chinese bullet caught him in his head just as he was about to enter the trench, similarly, LNK Trilok Singh Negi was also caught in a burst of automatic Chinese firearm and RFN Gopal Singh Gusain, though badly injured, dragged back the MMG and this changed the battle scene altogether and the Chinese had to beat a retreat, leaving behind about 300 dead soldiers and many arms & weapons. For this act of bravery on face of almost abominable force, the 4^th Garwhal Rifles was awarded the battle honors of “Nuranang” in 1962, the only unit to have been awarded such an honor during the Chinese aggression.

I salute you

                         
                           Along with the memory of our brave heroes we resumed our journey for next location which was Jang Falls where one music video from Koyla movie was shot. This falls is situated between Tawang and Dirang and one of the sources of Kameng river. This falls usually contains lots of water but we got little bit less water because of winter season.

Jang falls

Huge water content of the falls made it impossible for us to go near it. I got fully wet from behind while taking this picture.

Rainbow has been formed near to that falls

                   After enjoying some memorable time here we were headed to our destination Tawang. Around 4 O'clock we reached tawang and it took approx 8 hours to reach tawang from Dirang. Tawang is a very beautiful city and holds a very religious importance. Full city of tawang lies on the elevation of one mountain. This city had been captured for 6 months by Chinese at 1962 indo-china war.

Bird's View - Tawang Monastery

                       
                           In the evening we roamed around the local market and had spicy local momo. Adi got headache and rest of us were exhausted because of full day’s journey but could not restrict ourselves in hotel and strolled around the city. We had our dinner at 7 O'clock, it was very early but we didn't have any choice as all stores in Tawang city are close at 7 O'clock in the evening. it was too cold in night and life was horrible without room heater and a peg of whiskey.



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