Fellowship of the Permit

Once a not so long time ago one man and his friend wanted to visit some of the north-eastern states of India... But little did they know that this was not so easy... To visit most of those states a permit is needed and to get such a permit one often has to be with 4 people or more or be a (not de facto) married couple... Depending on which state one wants to visit...

So they came to Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast in the hope of finding other people with the same desires... Little hope had they of finding such people, as so far all the people they knew who had been to Assam and some of the other north-eastern states said that they had met no other tourists... But lo! They were in luck, already on the station waiting for the train to Guwahati they found their first willing victim, Noa from Israel... This made them three, but still not enough... Then at the hotel in Guwahati they met Lenny and Mikki who had come on their Enfield motorbike and were also searching for people to travel with... And so a fellowship was formed, the Fellowship of the Permit!! The first hurdle was taken, but more was to come... Even with 5 people it was not easy to get permits... Firstly it was Bihu in Assam, or in our language, the Assamese New Year, so all government offices were closed for 4 to 5 days and getting information proved quite a task... But with perseverance they finally managed to obtain a permit for 10 days for Arunachal Pradesh and also for Nagaland...

So on the went, up to Tawang, where the worlds second biggest Buddhist monastery is located amid the splendours of the Himalaya... And one thing is for sure; in nature Arunachal is unrivalled in India... Though on this first leg of the journey we had the bad luck of lots or rain combined with fog... Still it was easy to see that here the jungle is still untouched, even along the roads...

The fellowship lost it's first member in Tawang too, Vojta, my travelling companion of two month had to leave us to catch his flight back home! Vojta, it was good fun, hope to travel with you again one time in the future!

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Part of trip: The great journey east!

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