Western Arunachal Pradesh

One of my main reasons for travelling to Arunachal Pradesh in the first place was to visit the Tawang valley in the far north-west corner of the state. This is definitely the Himalayas and very Tibetan. In fact before the British took control of it, it was a district of Tibet. Almost as soon as we entered Arunachal, we began to see Tibetan prayer flags. The Kameng river which we travelled up for the beginning of the journey is fast-flowing and in a steep forested valley - some spectacular rainforest which gradually gives way to more temperate species of trees, including Rhododenrons in bloom, so I really enjoyed the botanical/ecological aspects of the scenery. The road is narrow, poorly surfaced and very winding and steep, so sometimes scenery is difficult to really appreciate, especially when crowded four-across in a 4WD shared taxi!
The first stop on our way was Bomdilla, but we moved rapidly onwards to Dirang, since it is more scenic, has better value accomodation, and fewer power outages. Yes, the power supply is quite poor in this part of India, and rationing takes place - so locals usually know when electricity is scheduled to go off/on. But at Bomdilla it is SO bad it gets random blackouts and one of these was happening when we arrived in the late evening. Still, I found something magical about the atmosphere - maybe it was the height or the low temperature, or the primitive room with just a candle...but it had the same indescribable feel as Khatmandu had for me 30 yrs ago. The others howver decided that Bomdilla was hole (see below).
Dirang, further up the valley is very Tibetan ...this is where we began spotting Mani walls (brick walls with niches for inscribed stones, offerings, and sometimes prayer-wheels). We also began seeing houses built in the Tibetan style, with sloping stone walls.
Old Dirang is the site of an ancient Dzong (Tibetan fort) and apparently it was a Tibetan administrative post sometime in the past - which may explain China's reluctance to recognise it as part of India!
We managed by a mix of hiking and hitched rides to get out during the day into the side valley of Sangti, where kiwi-fruit were being grown, and sheep were being bred, and apparently rare Siberian geese visit in February. It was great to be strolling in the countryside, and everyone was friendly to us, and inevitably curious.
From Dirang we headed over the Sela pass to Tawang. Unfortunately we didn't get the driver to stop at the pass where the weather was clear, so we only have pictures of the return journey (when it was snowing and sleeting).
The scenery is once again spectacular with snow-capped peaks surrounding Tawang and its Gompa.
We seem to have been very lucky with weather - we were able to stroll to the Gompa the next day, look around, observe rituals and dances, and not get rained on! In fact we were lucky enough to have arrived at a day when a high lama was visiting - so we got to see much more ritual than normal.
We even got invited to sit in with the monks towards the end of their chanting and share in their midday meal of sweet rice and hot buttered tea (VERY Tibetan).
So I guess this is as close as I'm likely to get to Tibet. This is where the Dalai Lama arrived when he fled Lhasa (500kms away).
The next day it was rainy and I slipped on a rough step, twisting my knee badly. So between the rain and the pain, major trekking was out. Instead, time was spent wandering round town and checking out the colourful locals. They spent just as much time time checking us out, so I guess it was an equal experience!
Jay hated Bomdilla that much that he endured a 16 hr cramped journey all the way from Tawang back to Lakimpur. Ann and I boke the journey at Bomdilla and had a much more relaxed time, wandering around Bomdilla again and exploring its small Gompa.
We exitted Arunachal Pradesh at the end of our first 10 day permit and I felt very happy I'd chosen to come on this journey, though given the road and weather conditions I was also very happy I wasn't doing it via motorcycle with a pillion passenger!

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