Tawang diary -1 (Guwahati-Bhalukpong)

The wish that came true!

Visiting Tawang in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh was something we had been contemplating for the last one decade. It felt like the lush green-covered mountains, the waterfalls, the serene lakes and the ancient Buddhist monasteries were calling us. But what kept putting us off was the more than 450 km or nearly 14-hr travel on the mountainous roads from Guwahati to Tawang. Thanks to our dear friends (from the Leh-trip), the visit became a reality last week and an easy, super-enjoyable one at that.

Tawang is too close to China border and history is proof that China is not our friendly neighbour. Besides, the weather is mostly unpredictable. The roads are winding and nature though beautiful, sometimes unleashes its temper. For those smirking at this, you cannot cover the distance in a day, nor can you be directly airdropped there unless you are a political bigwig or perhaps an army general and in either case you would not be reading this.

To go to Tawang, you start your journey from the nearest point, Guwahati in Assam. First things first. For a visit to Tawang, every tourist requires an Inner Line Permit (ILP).

The permit was introduced to control the influx of visitors so that the indigenous character and cultural heritage of the tribal people living in our north-eastern states is preserved. We do not want them to lose their identity and become endangered. But not to worry, for Indians, getting the ILP online requires as little effort as ordering food online. You may also apply in the office of the Resident Commissioner, Arunachal Pradesh, or the liaison offices at New Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, North Lakhimpur and Jorhat.

For foreigners: The Protected Area Permit or PAP can be obtained from the Indian missions abroad or if you are already in India, from the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Check out https://itanagar.nic.in/service/inner-line-permitilp/

If you are going by car, any SUV with high ground clearance is great for the journey. It you are driving the vehicle yourself; one would assume you not only have experience driving on the mountain roads, are adventurous, but are also confident that your mind is focused and you have immense patience. Good luck to you!

However, being a part of the large majority of people who prefer to look through the windows to gaze at and comment on the scenery, snack, doze off and take breaks on the way, we had hired a vehicle for the week and decided to follow the tour operator’s itinerary.

I am not a tour operator, no-one sponsored this trip and I am bad at maps, so I shall stick to the plan we followed and (mercifully) not offer any expert advice on the routes or National Highways to be taken. A tour operator can, however, be helpful in this.

The first part (240-km) of the drive was from Guwahati (Assam) to Bhalukpong, a small town in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. The city gets its name from King Bhaluka, an ancient ruler of the region.

After leaving Guwahati around noon, the driver crossed the road near an underpass to fill up the gas tank, raising our curiosity. His reason was, the other side of the road is in Meghalya and petrol/diesel is cheaper there. We too noticed that there was a row of petrol stations and liquor shops on that side of the road.

A couple of hours in the car and we stopped for lunch at a  restaurant on the highway near Nagaon. There were vegetarian and non-vegetarian (chicken, fish, mutton, pork) thali (platter) options available. The vegetables were fresh, non-spicy and cooked in mustard oil, somehow tasting better than when made at home. My new favourite became the crunchy dhekia greens (fiddlehead ferns), chopped roughly in big pieces and sautéed, of course, in mustard oil.

Women dressed in mekhla chador served the customers. Not only did they look comfortable but it was obvious from their confident & self-assured demeanour that they enjoyed more respect than the women in the state I live in.

Monkeys swarm the roads, hoping for treats
 from travellers on the road.

We passed the bypass to Kaziranga Forest Reserve and wondered if we could have deviated from our itinerary and stopped for a night or two. Maybe next time, was the unanimous decision after discussion.

Slowly the crowded warm plains started leading to green expanse and later, forests on both sides of the quiet road. On one such road near a village, I was too surprised to click the photo of the trained elephant we saw which did not accept bananas but gladly took currency notes in its trunk and obediently handed them over to the mahout.

Before the evening set in, we stopped at the Kolia Bhomora Setu to drink in the beauty of the wide expanse of mighty river Brahmaputra. Doesn’t the work of the architects who have designed these massive bridges with unbroken long spans and pillars deeply embedded into the river bed, leave you awe-struck? Secure and safe, these structures make the lives of lakhs of people comfortable and save resources over decades. AVS rightly pointed out that these are unsung people working for the nation who never get public recognition, awards/rewards. And of course, it brought to my mind several designers of fancy urban abodes who charge a bomb for planning pillars, ceilings and where to carve out a spare room/bathroom/staircase from. 

After Chariduar, we noticed that the driver had fallen silent, apparently offended that we did not visit the Bhairav temple and even earlier our visit to the new Shiva temple was perfunctory.

Maha Mrityunjay temple, World's largest 
Shivlinga (126 feet) near Nagaon
 and inaugurated in 2021 

It started getting dark early. We had to show our ILP at Balipara and the shiny liquor shops caught my attention. Interestingly, most of the business owners are from Bihar and they do not mind you taking photos.

Our night halt was to be at Bhalukpong, in a hotel by the road across which flows river Kameng. The young lady who managed the hotel, advised us to conserve water because frequent landslides cause water scarcity.

We had already taken our woollens out as the night was cold and pardon me, but because it was comfortable to handle wool, I began a small knitting project, hoping to finish it during the trip.

I shall share the details of the journey in instalments. A spoiler alert, however, before I sign off for the day- if you are looking for luxury or high-end hotels, stay in your air-conditioned room at home and eat at the five-star restaurant you like. In these mountains, even the best hotels provide only basic needs -a clean room, bed, bathroom with hot running water and fresh hygienic food. The hard-working staff generally are from Assam and West Bengal. Mobile services are temperamental and internet is spotty. My suggestion is -take such trips only if you want to know our country, people and diversity of cultures and of course, soak in the wonderous natural beauty, breathe in the unpolluted air and wonder who made all this. (To be continued) 

                                                                                           - Anupama S Mani