Western Arunachal Pradesh

---

---

One of my main reasons for traveling 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 traveled 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 accommodation, 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 Kathmandu had for me 30 yrs ago. The others however decided that Bomdilla was a 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!

---

Photos

Road working women
At least it brings in some rupees and the road certainly needs constant maintenance

Dancers
I'll load a small video o this up, when I get home to broadband

Manual prayer-wheel
Bound to generate more merit than an electric one!

Comments

[Molly]

G'day from SRC!
Hi Mr. Richardson! It's Molly here on behalf of the SRC. We would have commented earlier but none of us check our school emails (as you know) and also this site is blocked at school (of course). Sounds like you're having a good time! Those are nice pictures too. Hope everything is well! From, Captains, Vice Captains (except Ryan) and other SRC members.

[jimguru]

Latitude and longitude
I'll try and build a map in here - that'll give you an idea where I was - but probably make the blog load slower...:( Yes I still carry the GPS, but all the originally planned confluence visits have gone out the window - I blogged why about the first one, and as for the ones in Arunachal - they MIGHT seem possible looking at a google earth map, but once you see the terrain/vegetation up close?!!! Each needs a serious expedition...and I didn't have the time. Still, I did notice there's one in the Andamans............lol