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Published: March 3rd 2019
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On the way to Ziro from Naharlagun When the country celebrated Holi in the usual traditional manner I along with my mom chose to make a short trip to
Arunachal Pradesh- the land of dawn lit mountains to celebrate Holi with the different shades of colour of the mother nature. A short afternoon flight to Guwahati with a spectacular aerial view of the mighty Brahmaputra meandering through the dense forests of Assam was the first leg of our journey.
On reaching the
Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport an expected phone call came from my childhood friend
Satyajit who was eager to meet me after a long twelve years. On the way to the railway station we visited the
Ramakrishna Mission and finally met my friend at the station. After spending some quality time at the
Food Court right opposite the parking area we boarded the
Donyi-Polo Express for our onward journey to
Naharlagun the gateway to Arunachal Pradesh and the only railway station of the state. One has to make the Inner Line Permit(ILP) for visit to the state which is verified at the platform on arrival.
The next morning when we reached Naharlagun at 6:00 am we were stunned at the beauty of this tiny city
surrounded by hills on all sides and at a distance of 15kms from the state capital
Itanagar. Our driver
Take Nikang helped us board his Bolero Car and started our final journey to the
Valley of Ziro. We halted at a place named
Poting for breakfast. Sipping in the first cup of tea of the day and watching the breath-taking view of the
Yazali Dam was an amazing experience. After satisfying our hunger and making a few necessary purchases we moved ahead for Ziro.
Mr Nikang shared with us the fact that the people of this region recently concluded the
Ponyor River Festival and that they follow the age old tradition of worshiping Sun(Donyi) and Polo(Moon) hence their
God is Donyi Polo. The majority of this region belong to the
Apatani Tribe.
After a long journey of four hours we finally reached
Ziro Valley. We were welcomed by our Homestay owner
Mr. Punyo Chada and his wife. The mother of Mr. Chada being a typical Apatani woman with
tattooed face and nose plugs gave us a pleasant smile. Their homestay was part of the
Ngunu Ziro Homestay being a NGO that is the pioneer in terms of promoting
tourism in that region.
The homestay rooms were well maintained with adequate facilities. The main attraction of the homestay was the
living room which was made of Bamboo. In the middle of the room there was
wood furnace to keep the room warm enough where people sitting all around the furnace would enjoy the warmth while having food. Mrs Chada prepared food for the guests in the live kitchen on one side of the room. For readers there was a small library adjacent to this room wherein a few books were kept which depicted the heritage , culture and history of the Apatani Tribe. For the next two days the Chada Family made us feel at home.
After a sumptuous lunch which comprised of a well prepared
Fish Curry we took an hour nap after which we made a small walk through the village of
Siiro. Mr Chada showed us the area where he along with his few friends were building a Cafeteria for the locals. The village roads leading to the paddy fields nestled between the hills on all sides and dense forests at a distance were magnificent. One could keep on walking without getting tired as
the fresh air would give you the energy to move on. The next morning after breakfast Mr Chada introduced us to his brother
Ano who was our tour guide cum driver for the day. He took us to the nearby villages of
Dutta, Hong , Hija and explained the traditions followed by the Apatani people. Their style of worship was quite different and unique in its own kind. The best part of the day was the picturesque beauty of the
Pine Forest where the
ferns and pine cones were all around.It was drizzling and we were hungry. We managed to get some soupy Maggie in a small temporary food joint there. Mr Ano then took us for a forest trek along muddy roads to a sacred place where he showed us
six pine trees believed to have been planted by the
first six Apatani Women who visited this area in the ancient era to earmark their presence in that region. The people of Ziro cultivate rice and in the same land they do fishing too which we saw at the
Tarin Fish Farm. Since bamboo plantation is in abundance in this region so we also did a walk in one
of the Bamboo Gardens. One could not see the sky properly as because the Bamboo plants were huge. The view of the Airstrip (used for defence purpose only) and adjacent mountains from the view point
“Ziro Puto” was stunningly beautiful. On our way back we went to a Handicraft Shop in the
Hapoli Town where we purchased a locally hand woven shawl name
“Jilang” and some other stuffs too.
We tried the Bamboo Chicken in dinner which is simply prepared inside bamboo with minimum spices and it tasted yummy. The local homemade Rice Beer called
"Apang" which I tried on the request of Mr. Chada was commendable as well.
Overall we had an amazing experience exploring the valley of Ziro and knowing the lifestyle of the people, their food habits. The scenic beauty of this part of India will tempt me to visit again and again in the days to come.
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