Advertisement
On the road to Ziro
India is full of ironiesWhile the north-west corner of Arunachal is very Tibetan, the centre is populated by several different (though related) and colourful tribes who generally live in hillside villages, and practice a mix of padi-rice and shifting (jhumm) cultivation. Houses are generally made from local bamboo/timber, and thatched with palm leaves or straw.
We had arranged for a 10day extension to be added to our original 10 day permit, when Ann and I dropped back into Bomdilla on our way back out of the Tawang area. The ever-helpful Mr. Tsering Wange had organised that he would fax the extension to us (Yes you need to carry it in writing wherever you go) and that it would be ready quickly for us.
In India, most little towns seem to have several tiny shops who provide public phone and photocopying and fax services. So when we arrived in North Lakimpur ( the Assamese town that's a good starting point for Central AP), we rang Mr Wonge to let him know the fax number of one where he could send the permit. But the permit was delayed! Things all got very hectic the next day because we really wanted to get going to Ziro, and had
to take a gamble and buy tickets on the midmorning transport. In the end the fax arrived with minutes to spare, with me racing to find ANOTHER little shop that could copy it, Ann racing ahead in an autorickshaw to get on the share-taxi and then delay it, and Jay racing to the hotel and grabbing our luggage. The teamwork all fell into place and we made it onto the Sumo with great relief.
Our state border crossing was something different again, because I had only had time to make one copy of the permit, planning to make more when we got to Ziro, and knowing that we would have to give one at the checkpoint. The only problem was that we encountered a second isolated checkpoint way out in the bush. So I had to do lots of apologetic explanation about how the lone guard couldn't possibly have our original copy, and was there somewhere we could record our details instead?. Eventually he found an old dusty school exercise book that had obviously never been used , and noted down the permit details and let us pass.
New Ziro (also known as Hapoli) turned out to be a great
little town and a good base to explore several villages of the Apotani people, who are really friendly, practice fishfarming in their well terraced rice padis, and many of whom practice the Donyi-Polo religion. We had an interesting late night discussion about this religion with an Apotani man who spoke excellent English - it seems that they may be adopting some of the evangelical ways of the Christian and Hindu religions' missionaries!!!
The Apotani women used to have nose-plugs and facial tattoos (reputedly to lessen their chances of being stolen by the surrounding war-like Nishi men) The practice has stopped, but there are still many older women to be seen wearing these.
After some time in Ziro, we needed to move onwards...but this was easier said than done. No Sumo's left directly from Ziro - you have to hope to get a space on one passing through!
We spent the first day TRYING to get transport onwards from ZIRO, without success (2/3 of a day spent in that, but an interesting experience), and so the next morning we hired a Sumo: (think Landcruiser with seats for eight). It's election time in A.P, and apparently that's why all public transport
Apotani bamboo plantation
Seems like there might be some bamboo thieves around because the fences are pretty substantial! is full (for some reason)..even locals can't get from one place to another.
So being enterprising and wanting to recoup some of the massive expenditure of 3500Rupees (around $90) for the hire, we got in the Sumo, and told the driver to go up to the Sumo pickup point, and Jay found someone who could speak English. We almost had a riot when we said we could take 5 people for the standard rate of 200R a head!! So many wanted to get on and all the regular Sumos had already departed. The driver and owner weren't impressed, but copped it sweet, and we cut our costs to an acceptable level! plus we helped the political process we assume - at least that was what I was going to tell any cops who questioned why we were running an unlicensed taxi!!
But it all went pretty smoothly and we got away from Ziro - only to end up in Daporijo.
We arrived at Daporijo, which looked nice enough when viewed from the ridge above, but was much less appealing at ground level.Still, with rain and at 7.30pm, there was no going onwards, so we bunked down in an
Apatani front yard
Religious objects...made largely of woven bamboo..sometimes with eggshells and other adornments. These grace the fronts of many village houses overpriced dive which was the only one mentioned by the Lonely planet. We managed to discover the details of when the public bus left, and we were on it early the next morning! In fact we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the ride - the driver obviously knew the road, he didn't speed, the tyres weren't bald, we weren't crowded, and we could see out the windows to fully enjoy the magnificent scenery. And in the final contrast to the usual shared Sumo experiences, THERE WAS NO LOUD HINDI MUSIC CASSETTE PLAYING!!
The rainforest here was excellent in places, though some parts have been damaged by jhumm (slash and burn shifting cultivation). Across all the North East states, government is trying to discourage the practice and get tribes to use terrace and other modes of agriculture. But population pressure ( a family of six children is considered small by many villagers) is a strong force, and most people will fell the forest to feed their family! On a brighter note we did see lots of posters and signs encouraging environmental protection, public health (AIDS/HIV, TB and leprosy campaigns), and family planning.
We stayed in Along (also known as
Aloo) for some days. This is a center for Adi tribes, and we did some small treks around here, to visit some villages. Again, people were incredibly friendly and hospitable, and we ended up drinking rice beer with some important village elders, one of whom "sang" us safely home ( to Australia apparently, so maybe Jay and Ann will be forced to visit Australia if the Donyi Polo prayer works!), with exhortations to take care of all animals and plants along the way. The great thing about all these cultural experiences across AP has been that they have been authentic - we just stumble into them - and not organised for us to consume. I suspect that if tourism really takes off here, that will change. It's also been interesting to note that we seem to give the locals as much entertainment (and much more amusement) through observation, as they do us. So the cultural observation is a two-way street.
One of the physical highlights of our village trek was crossing the river on a bamboo and wire-rope bridge. I had an easy time of it, going first, and only encountering one person coming the other way towards the end
Babo
Ceremonial poles in an Apatani village of my crossing. Jay and Ann had a much harder time, with lots of people creating complex waves in the bridge's motion.
We regretfully moved onwards from Along to Pasighat, our final AP stop. We would have liked instead to have headed North to the famed Mechuka Valley near the Chinese border. But time (and perhaps the need for a special permit) was against us. Everyone kept telling us how beautiful it is supposed to be; and certainly if the Memba people (who inhabit that area) I met in Along are typical, it must be a very friendly place.
Pasighat is a pleasant enough town ( again the drive there was just stunning, with steep gorges, fast running rivers, and plenty of climax growth forest), but is down on the plain, so much warmer and dustier.
A highlight here was a little "welcome home" ceremony we witnessed. We had been strolling past a couple of temples, and heard some drumming etc, so poked our heads into the courtyard. We were quickly welcomed (and what can you do but accept when the invite is so genuine?) We thought we were being invited to a religious ceremony/festival, but it turned
Apatani padis
Later in the season, fish will be grown in the padi also out that it was really a bit of a welcome home gathering by his community for the local head of the Community Health Dept. who is Assamese. He'd just been on a study trip to Peru, and regaled us all (in a random mix of assamese, english, and perhaps hindi,) with stories of his adventures involving ATMs, finding vegetarian food overseas, and the cleanliness of public toilets in comparison to India (something all travellers will relate to). In the course of events, the three of us were presented with more Bihu scarves and flowers. I was invited to say a few words, so focussed on the strengths of Assamese culture in a world of globalisation, and the warmth of the people etc. The evening finished with some singing and dancing.
Hopefully the pictures I post up here will tell much more
Advertisement
Tot: 0.058s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0268s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ralf
non-member comment
I liked Daporijo because it had a bit of the wild west (or in this case east) feel to it... But I suppose it is a bit of a shithole... Ha, ha, ha... Nice pics and stories!