1st & 2nd Day

Arunachal Pradesh Tour:
 
                       Almost one and half years of waiting came to an end on 24th December as we started our next journey to Arunachal Pradesh. After the successful completion of Meghalaya tour myself and Ronee had already decided of Arunachal Pradesh tour but I was transferred to Hyderabad for my job and Ronee also got busy with his job too. So due to some unavoidable reason we had to postpone our tour till December 2010.

                      Arunachal Pradesh means "Land of the dawn lit mountains" in Sanskrit. It is also known as "Land of the rising Sun" because it is the easternmost state of India. Much of it is covered by the Himalayas, and Gorichen peak is the highest peak in this region.


                      This time we took the help of one tourist agent named "World Vision". This time though there were some changes in team members but number of people remained same. Along with me, Ronee and Mrinmoy two new friends Adi and Avishek joined us.

Our Team - from left to right Adi, Ronee, Avishek, Mrinmoy and me

24th December:
                
                      Early in the morning we took a flight to Guwahati. As our flight got delayed due to fog we reached Guwahati at around 11 O'clock. There our car driver was waiting for us. Our driver Jaidev is a man of joy. I haven't seen so casual and tension free person like him. Our tour could not have been successful without him.

Ronee & me in front of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (Guwahati Airport)

                     
                         Overall, our first day was very hectic. We started our journey around 11 O'clock and it took us 6 hours to reach Bhalukpong, border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. There we stayed for a night at Prasanti resort. In Prasanti resort maintenance was pathetic. There was no power when we reached our hotel and manager was also missing, we waited for an half an hour before the manager came in. Above all they said power will come at night. It was a horrible experience, we felt like we were staying in a haunted house with only one candle. Meanwhile being student of Art College, Ronee and Avishek started showing their skill in photography and took some ridiculous photograph using candle light and I had to suffer many a times by giving some extra ordinary poses. One thing I should have warned everyone that better not to expect leisure hotel in Arunachal Pradesh tour. We had dinner at 11 pm and then went off to bed.


25th December:

Jia Bhareli river

                      
                          Though we were very upset about Prasati resort, but in the morning after seeing the view outside from this lodge our mind got changed. The Jia Bhareli river which is coming from Arunachal pradesh, is flowing next to this resort. We spent a great time on the bank of the Jia Bhareli river, enjoying a beautiful sunrise.

Me & Abhisek

Ronee is holding me so that I could beat him in a perfect way

                       
                         After having breakfast we headed towards Dirang through Bomdila. But here in Bhalukpong Inner Line Permit (ILP) was required to enter Arunachal Pradesh. Inner Line Permit is a permit for those people who are outsider but want to visit Arunachal Pradesh. This permit is easily obtainable from Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Office situated in Kolkata and Guwahati, or any tour operator also takes all the responsibility to get this ILP.  After crossing the border unexpectedly we got a companion, a local girl named Purnima. Actually she wanted to go to Bomdilla and we are always happy to help people.

                        On our way to Bomdila we saw one beautiful falls but sorry I couldn’t find the name of the falls. That day Purnima became our guide and showed us many unnamed spot during that journey. Being a local girl she knew everything about the place, so we didn't face any problem recognizing any place. Usually north-eastern people are very friendly and Purnima is no different.

                     Adi had brought one Notebook with him and sometimes while travelling he noted down name of some places. When asked, he said that he wanted to keep a record of places we were traveling. I am sure after returning home he won’t even turn over a single page of that notebook.                   

Beautiful Falls

                        We stopped here by seeing the beauty of that falls. Purnima didn't know the name of that falls but that didn't bother us from getting down to that falls. We all spent a very good time there. Today Mrinmoy was looking quite happy as he was sitting besides Puja but most of the time we kept talking to Puja leaving no time for Mrinmoy.

Near that falls

                            After enjoying here, again we resumed our journey but were not able to go far because we were spellbound by the view of a hanging bridge.

adventurous but risky

                           It was first time that we saw a hanging bridge which was made of wood. While walking on the bridge, it started to shake because of resonance. That's a real experience we have had. Before coming to Arunachal Pradesh in many Blogs I have seen countless wooden bridge, but now a days they are replacing all those wooden bridge with iron or concrete bridge for safety and losing its ancient beauty in the process.

nice pose

                                          We had our lunch near Nag temple on the way to Bomdila. Then we halted at Bomdila, went to Puja's hotel and had tea in free of cost. Here we had to leave Puja as she lives in Bomdila. So after some chatting we resumed our journey and reached Dirang in the evening aroung 6:00 pm. Our room was already booked in Dirang hotel. Dirang hotel was very nice and the whole structure is made up of wood and has all the required facility.



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8th & 9th Day

31st December:
                       
                           We’re told to be ready at 6 O'clock as we would start our journey early in the morning but unfortunately we got our permit at 9 a.m. Still we could have made it but in that permit it is written that only 4x4vehicle were allowed having approval of a brigadier. In spite of this we continued towards Bumla pass with a little bit of hope that we would be able to convince army guys at check post. But we had a misconception about Army. In spite of repetitive request they didn’t let us to cross that check post. So our dream of visiting Bumla pass remained unfulfilled. If we hadn't listened to those stupid Bengali families advice we would have visited Bumla pass. So we didn't have any choice but to say good bye to Tawang.

Snaky road near Sela Pass

A little kid watching us

                        We reached Dirang at 5pm and it was already getting dark and still a minimum of two hours of journey was left to reach Bomdila. Journey from Dirang to Bomdila was full of thrill and adventure. Our car was moving in complete darkness. We were not able to see anything. That time I am pretty sure everyone including me were praying but our world class driver was driving like a man. The way he was driving is like he has designed the road himself. Anyway after a three hours of mind crunching and exciting journey we safely reached Bomdila around 7-30pm. As that day was 31st December so we didn’t waste our time to begin New Year celebration.

at sunset

1st January:
                      

                    Though it's a first day of new year but our last day in Arunachal Pradesh, today we were going down to Kaziranga forest. Today all of us very upset and especially Adi, because he had to leave Puja and Purnima. I would not be surprised if he had already decided to marry one of them. During our tour he kept telling me some of his dream about Puja. Anyway what I realized after that, many of us were also upset due to the same reason. So after some emotional drama we started our journey back toward plains. But before that we went to visit upper monastery in Bomdila.

Avi has given a peculiar dancing pose in front of Upper Bomdila Monastery

                             The Gentse Gaden Rabgyel Ling Monastery, Upper Gonpa, Bomdila was started by the 12th reincarnate of Tsona Gontse Rinpoche in 1965 - 66. The Gonpa is a replica of Tsona Gontse Monastery at Tsona in South Tibet, which was established during 15th century. The 12th reincarnate was born in the Morshing, Kalaktang Circle, West Kameng. Before his dead in 1966, he constructed this modest Gonpa. The present Rinpoche, the 13th Tsona Gontse Rinpoche commenced the construction of the main prayer hall, which was consecrated by His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama on 13th October 1997.
                        
                              I got the above mentioned info from internet. Anyway the monastery is very nice, clean and peaceful place. The architecture which is being used here is very modern compare to Tawang monastery. Except me rest of us liked the monastery more than Tawang Monastery.

                         But after hearing one info from one of those Lamas of the monastery we literally got mad and frustrated. He said that snowfall has started in Tawang from today morning. When I heard that info my mind was speaking to me to leave everything and return back to Tawang. But unfortunately our schedule was fixed and had come back to Kaziranga on that day.

                      
                          Overall we were coming from Tawang empty handed. We didn't get to enjoy snowfall in Tawang, not possible to reach Bumla pass and didn't get snow in Sela pass. Only in Madhuri Lake we got snow as a consolation prize. No problem, we've kept the snowfall for next tour. As snowfall had started at high altitude so, lower regions were also very cloudy. Even while descending we were not able to see beyond 6feet but again our hero Jaydev and his brilliant driving saved us again.

Thanks to Joydev da

                        
                            Anyway during the journey sometime we felt like that this might be our last journey. Even Adi once decided to make a final call to his parents. I am sure that at that time everyone's heart was beating at above two hundred. Especially Ronee and I were at the brink of life and death. Ronee was sitting at front seat and I was at the rear one. So, both of us felt like we had already crossed half way towards heaven. But we had enough trust about Joydev da's driving skill and he had been fighting with Yumraj for 5 hours approximately and being a useless spectator we had nothing to do but to encourage Joydev da. Ultimately Joydev da won the war and we reached Kaziranga safely.



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Last Day

2nd January:
                    

                        Today was the last day of our tour. Obviously we were very upset that again we have to return back to our daily and hectic life. As usual we woke up early in the morning as we would be going for Elephant Safari. We were ready at 6 O'clock as we have managed to get morning slot for Elephant safari but the only thing we faced with was Joydeb da's punctuality. We waited for nearly 2 hours before Joydev da came. But as we know he's the one who can do everything, he said he'll manage to do the Elephant safari. But anyway we reached the place just before the safari was getting closed.

Elephant Safari

showing bravery

One horned Rhinoceros in Kaziranga

two Rhinos

Rhino Calf

                         
                           Experience in Kaziranga was ok but I would prefer to go to Zoo than Kaziranga. Hardly you could see animals in Kaziranga. They kept two or three Rhinos in front of people for the tourist attraction but truth is we are not allowed to enter into the actual territory. Anyway we enjoyed Elephant ride.
                           
                           So this was the end of our much awaited Arunachal Pradesh tour, we expected more but got very less, leaves a very narrow chance to revisit Tawang. But as life will go on we'll also look forward to walk another unknown path.





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3rd Day

26th December:

                       Today our plan was to venture into Dirang valley, Sangti valley and hot spring etc. First thing we saw after coming out of hotel was a magnificent beauty of Dirang valley. Dirang town is situated on the bank of Dirang River covered in the shadows of pine trees. Apple gardens, Buddhist Monastries, orchids and Eark Research center are places worth visiting. Today for the first time I got chance to sit on the window seat in our SUV and captured all the beauty of Dirang in my memory safely forever.

Dirang Valley

   
                           After breakfast we went to Sangti valley, a very beautiful valley and an ideal place for photography. In this valley we got to see so many colors of nature, it seemed like someone from the sky had painted this valley through water color. We stopped at Sheep breeding farm, at the foot of Sangti Mountain. Here we enjoyed for sometimes and made those sheep's' life miserable.

Sangti Valley

     
                            The view of Sangti mountain and its valley were so mesmerizing that we sat in one place and kept on appreciating it's beauty. Suddenly one question came out from Avishek's mind was that our group should be known by a name. After a brief discussion we came up with a name "DESPERADOS".

DESPERADOS

                           
                               Though we have given name to our group but I don't know if we will be able to make another trip in future or even if it would be possible to just spend next 10 days along with them like we spent in Arunachal Pradesh, god knows. One thing is for sure is that I am going to miss all of them. Those 10 days in Arunachal Pradesh we enjoyed every bit of life though we were very far away from home. We stayed like a team and didn't waste a single minute by thinking about the world we live in and come from, we were in a completely new world. I pray to God to return those 10 days again and again in my life. Whenever I think, I think of myself as a traveler and I'll definitely continue my journey and Everytime I'll ask them to join with me. 

Ronee is trying to give Bollywood pose with his famous muffler

Captured by Avishek.

                                 

                          One thing I wanted to share is about Avishek's photography skill. I was amazed seeing his angle of taking any picture. Ronee is a specialist of landscapes and nature photography and now I got Avishek, who is a master of portrait and photos of people.

Sheep Breeding

                          
                           It was quite difficult to take a good shot. They were so afraid of us that most of the time they kept on maintaining a distance. When we tried to come close to them they started walking away. My nikon camera with 15 X optical zoom turned out to be very handy here.

Best picture of me

                              Though we didn't want to leave but time was our main constraint. So we left Sangti Valley behind to visit hot spring. We were very excited about hot spring but what we found was 10 X 8 feet tank where people are taking bath. But I would suggest everyone to go there because from hot spring one way goes down to bank of Dirang river. That is basically Jia Bhareli river which flows in Assam but in Dirang, it is called Kameng river.

But the path was a bit risky, a stiff descend from hot spring to the bank of Kameng river

Kameng River

 
                        After that we were supposed to go to Yak research center but unfortunately it was closed on that day so we strolled around the village but thanks to God what we found out was an orange tree. That's the first time we have ever seen an orange tree.

Orange Tree

                         
                              We thought of plucking some of them but Joydev da( our driver) warned us not to touch a single orange without consent. But the people in mountain are far different from people who live in the plains. When they saw us, they themselves came out from their home and gave us so many oranges that we were not able eat all of them. Anyway Ronee and Adi already had watery mouth but they also didn't expect so much.

Closer view of Orange Tree

Mountain Flower

                            Overall Dirang is a very colorful and mesmerizing place. Anyone could become spellbound by the beauty of Dirang valley and Sangti valley; I think one day is not enough to venture Dirang.



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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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5th Day

28th December:

                        On 28^th we planned to visit Madhuri Lake. The actual name of that lake is Sangster lake but after Madhuri Dixit took a shot for one song sequence in Koyla film, this lake became popular and was named Madhuri Lake. Anyway like other days we woke up at 4 O'clock in the morning and were waiting for our driver but our famous driver Joydev da, “very punctual lol…”, came to our hotel at 7 O'clock. But I have to say except those few little things Joydev da is a very good human being and superb driver. I would suggest everyone to contact with this guy before going to Tawang. I assure you that you'll feel safe while he's at the helm.
                        
                         One thing also I would suggest all of you that if you all are bachelor then while traveling then please stay away from taking any form of advice from any Bengali “family” tourist. Because of one Bengali family we were not able to go to Bumla pass. They told us and almost convinced us not go to Bumla pass as they heard that Bumla pass was inaccessible because of bad weather. But that time Joydev da kept on telling us it is safe and he'll take our responsible but we didn't believe on our driver and had to pay for that.

                       
                         Anyway after taking breakfast we started heading towards Madhuri Lake. Though Madhuri lake and P.T.Tso lake is most popular, but we saw many other beautiful lakes besides the road.

It snowed last night, so we got to see fresh snow

                             
                            One thing I forgot to tell that again we met with Purnima last night. After we left from Bomdila she also thought of visiting Tawang and came here last night with her beautiful sister Puja. What Adi thought was that she might have started liking him. But for me that was not important what Adi was thinking, important thing was we got company as Puja and Purnima wanted to visit Madhuri lake and we are always generous to help people especially beautiful girls.

I wanted to take a picture only with Puja and Purnima but when it was taken, this turned out to be a group picture.

We did snow play for some time

                           
                           If Puja and Purnima weren't there we wouldn't have got a chance to play with snow. They only had started throwing snow at us and after that each of us was throwing snow at others. After playing for sometime when we were about to start again but Adi was unstoppable. Snow, Puja, Adi and the beautiful game of snow... Somehow we managed to stop their playing and resumed our journey.

After passing Sela pass we didn't see any falls which isn't frozen except Jang falls

 
                         Finally after 3hours of journey we had reached near Madhuri lake. The whole lake was completely frozen and gave us a magnificent view. Here one video song from Koyla film had been shot. In that film Madhuri Dixit danced with Shahrukh Khan in front of this Lake. From this time onwards the lake is known as Madhuri Lake, but actually the name of this lake is Sangster Lake.

Madhuri Lake at 14,600 feet

                     
                      This lake is only 42 Kms far from Tawang and was formed in the aftermath of the 1950 Earth Quake. Prior to 1950, the present Lake area was a reserved grass land where local people of Tawang district had used for grazing their cattle. This fact can be verified from the dead trees emerging from the middle of the lake.

They insisted ...

        
                              At last I got an opportunity when they offered me to take a snap with them. I don't know they liked me or not but once Puja came to me and asked me about taking picture with her and without any question I accepted that proposal. Meanwhile everyone in my team had seen that thing and as usual after that I was replaced by each and every one of us.

The scenery and the lake itself is so alluring that here photographers often suffer for want of film roll to shoot around.

One army man was having that song from Koyla in his mobile which was shot in front of this lake. We also tried to give few dance steps with that song. The most thrilling part was we were dancing on the river.

The scenic beauty is amazing, I am confused , why did not they shot the Koyla film during winter

                  
                    Though we didn't want to come back but time is main culprit, so we had to say Good bye to Madhuri Lake. While coming back to Tawang we have seen many unnamed frozen lakes and as we already spent much of our time in Madhuri lake, so we could only take some of their pics and moved towards P.T.TSO lake.

I don't know the name of that lake but It's nice

Twins Lake - though the first one is not fully visible...

                               
                               When we were coming back from Madhuri lake this twins lake was visible from Ronee's side and Ronee was having severe headache, that's why he couldn't take a good quality pictures. I wanted to get down from car but no one was interested, so I got to go with others decision.

Pangang Teng Tso

                
                  Finally we had reached to P.T.Tso lake. Tso means lake in Monpa dialect. This lake is only 18 Kms from Tawang township. This lake has always been a cynosure of attraction to the visiting tourists. It is also an ideal spot for picnic. In winter lake remains frozen and the surrounding area provides an ideal spot for skiing but we didn't have that opportunity because fully fledged snowfall had not started yet.

The place was so silent and serene that you could listen to your own breath. You won't get bored after sitting there for hours.

                             
                                 So far all went well, though Ronee was getting headache because of high altitude and long hours of journey, but still we had the energy to witness the ethereal charm of nature's glory. In the evening we had reached Tawang city.



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