Magical Mystical Arunachal Pradesh (With Kaziranga) May 2015

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” ― Anita Desai

Day 1: Our flight landed in Gawahati at 10:50 am, and about an hour and a half later, the Nepal earthquake struck. Technically we should have felt the tremors, other people in Gawahati did, but we, we were oblivious, heading to Kaziranga in a speeding Innova with music playing loud and the car rocking to the music over numerous speed bumps. We stopped at a nondescript Dhaba for lunch on the highway between Tezpur and Gawahati. Nothing remarkable about it, except that they had an enclosure of rabbits, a really really dirty loo and and some mediocre food! We drove on, eager to get into the national park and hopefully see some Rhinos before we checked in to the resort. But it was not meant to be, we saw some awesome scenery (good to know India still has vast tracts of agricultural land) and met the cutest baby elephant along the way but no Rhinos. The evening passed in a haze of meeting the other folks in our group of 14, trying to put names to faces and eating some really excellent Assamese food for dinner. We got to try pigeon, duck, chicken in bamboo shoots and chicken steamed in cardamon leaves (my favourite!). 

 

Day 2: We got started by around 9 am for a jeep safari, again hoping to see Rhinos as soon as we set out. We saw a whole lot of exotic birds (am so not a bird person so google “birds of Kazi” if you want to know more), herds of deer and the cutest family of elephants with a tiny calf. But, the elusive scarlet pimpernel (our friend the one horned rhino) was sighted a few times from such a great distance away that he/she just looked like an ugly grey blob. So, we drove on, checked out a look-out tower, saw huge expanses of grasslands and I bonded with the other 3 folks sharing the jeep with me. Lunch was downtown Kazi at a dhaba that served Assamese food. Pretty good food. The concept of the Assamese thali is a real balanced meal: a mound of rice, about 10 exotic veg accompaniments (my version of exotic and yours might not match so this is a disclaimer!), and a choice of fresh water fish curry or country chicken curry. We went with the fish, it was excellent, fresh and super-tasty. In the early evening we went for a tea plantain walk. One simply does not go to Assam and not visit the tea gardens, its just not done!!!

   

  

 

Day 3: Began at the ungodly hour of 4 am because we had the 5 am elephant safari slot. The morning was hushed, dawn had just broken, it was raining somewhere in the distance and the sun was just rising over the hills when we began the safari. Net net, it was beautiful, it was amazing, it was the best early morning in the longest time. Our amicable elephant took off at a brisk trot once we clambered on board the wide wooden platform on his back. The order of business seemed pretty clear to the mahout, we had come to see the one horned rhino and he would take us to see a rhino. In under 10 minutes we were tracking down a majestic rhino who didn’t seem to mind how up close and personal our elephant got with him. We had several Rhino sightings during the ninety minute safari, including a few rhino calves. Then it was back to the resort for a quick breakfast and just like that the long awaited road trip to Arunachal began. Our convoy of 5 Innovas wound though the plains, and thus began my love affair with the majestic mountains of arunachal.

 

        

Day 4: We started the morning with a brisk walk, taking in the views of Dirang town. After breakfast it was back on the road, stopping for tea at Mongpa village with breathtaking views of a spectacular valley. Then we drove a bit and stopped to trek down to a hot spring that I appreciated more for the walk and less for the actual stinky spring!! After that, it was onward and upward through the majestic mountains. We stopped for lunch at an army outpost a few kilometres before Jeswant Garh (in the pouring rain) and I had the best samosas and maggi noodles of my life. At Jeswant Garh, we took the tour offered by the army folks and learnt about the 1962 indo-chinese war.  Its a story of valour, of indomitable courage of the Indian jawans and a poignant tale of soldier who hadn’t finished with living his life. We motored on higher and higher into the mountains, sometimes heading almost all the way to a valley floor before climbing up again. The million shades of green that surrounded us soon gave way to grey rock and then to snow. We were at Sela pass, 13700 feet altitude and the visibility was not more than a  couple of feet. It was surreal, freezing cold, and extraordinarily beautiful. The Sela lake was barely visible through the mist, it looked ghostly and majestic and forbidding. I fell in love!! At this juncture, I feel compelled to add that the mountains are my muse and I regularly fall in love as each new vista is revealed! We drove on, through the dark, catching glimpses of the night sky and where the clouds cleared, stars. 

 

 

Day 5: Tawang: this day was remarkable and has to be called out as one of the best drives of my life, EVER!! We set off after breakfast to visit a couple of lakes: PTSO Lake and Madhuri Lake (the original name is Shungetser Lake), look up the reason for the name change! Nuts, in my opinion, but I guess Madhuri floats the average tourists boat! We took local Sumo’s for our drive because of regulations and the non existent roads. The drive was amazing, with snow all around us, and though this was april, it felt like a winter wonderland. We were awestruck. I was enchanted, simply blown away by the views every side I looked. Its a humbling experience, pitting yourself against nature, putting your life in the hands of man you met 15 minutes ago at the tourist taxi stand! The Sumo puffed and panted up the snow and ice covered tracks, slipping and sliding as we made our way alongside crystal clear ice-cold springs, up torturous mountain tracks to the lake. The lake in itself was picture postcard perfect, with pretty snowflakes drifting down to its surface, and snow-covered peaks framing it. We had maggi and coffee at the little café on the lake, watched a bunch of yaks graze and lock horns and then, as the weather turned worse we headed back towards PTSO lake. The drive back took a while because a truck had slid partially off the track, blocking traffic. So, we sat, in this magical winter wonderland, locked in a world of freezing beauty. I fell in love all over again!!

 

 

Day 6: We began with a visit to Tawang monastery. It was good chance to reconcile all that spirituality within me that comes alive when I am in the presence of mother nature with a higher, more tangible super power. Good Karma all around! After being chased by some large monkeys in the monastery car park (I was eating cookies) and flinging myself and the said cookies back into our car, we set off to Jung waterfalls. Jung waterfalls is about an hour or so out of Tawang on the way back to Bomdilla. It is spectacular, so if you are ever in the area, don’t miss it. We drove back over Sela pass, and the fickle Sela lake, whose moods apparently change based on the colour of the sky. Fresh pictures of Sela Lake in the sunshine we taken before we headed back down towards Bomdilla, stopping at a tiny outpost called Sappers that is famous for samosas and jelibis. We got there late afternoon, but the obliging army forces fed us and before sending us on our way. 

 

 

 

Day 7: This day was the day we said goodbye to the mystical magical mountains of Arunachal. We steadily wound our way down, leaving behind snow peaks, and mountains a million shades of green, sometimes shrouded in clouds, sometimes framed by a cerulean blue sky. After we hit the plains, we all got moody and melancholy and for me, the trip was over. The rest was just mechanics. We spent the night at Tezpur and headed back to Gawahati the next day to catch our flights home.

We were tired, having driven 1500 km in 7 days but it was so-so worth it. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Like John Muir says “The mountains are calling and I MUST go!!”

Logistics: the trip was organised by Wonderful World. We could not have asked for better organisation or planning. It was perfect. Check out http://wonderfulworldtrip.com for more details on their upcoming trips.