During one such discussion, travelling in
North-East India was a major topic. Removing conventional destinations from our
topic we tried to find out uncommon locations where none of the participating
members had ever visited. We tried to open our knowledge box and found that none
of our team members had visited the unexplored side of Arunachal Pradesh. The
tourist places of Arunachal Pradesh hovered around Tawang, Itanagar, and Naharlagun
for general tourists, but actual Arunachal was present far beyond those
locations. Taking out the maps, we started chalking out the itinerary. Since
all other members were retired from service, they were free for 24X7X365 except
me. After a lot of deliberation, we made a plan for eight days starting from
Dibrugarh to Dibrugarh covering three places viz. Tezu, Roing, and Pasighat. We
chose another place called Mechuka in our itinerary but later found the place
was inaccessible due to heavy snowfall during the month of January.
Steps for Arunachal Pradesh Visit
The first step for the visit was the booking of
return air tickets of eight members which included better halves of every
member from Kolkata to Dibrugarh. It would be always better to keep at least
two days cushion for booking of return tickets while travelling in the mountains
and remote locations that did not have any other connection.
The second step was obtaining Inner Line
Permit (ILP) for all members for the period of stay including a cushion for a couple
of days from respective State Government offices if possible, otherwise, the permit had to be obtained after reaching the state which would be
time-consuming.
The third step was the booking of the
vehicle. As we had eight members, we needed a bigger vehicle for at least ten
persons keeping in consideration the luggage and other belongings.
Incidentally, I had an office colleague stationed at Dibrugarh, who assured
booking of the vehicle with the condition of higher cost as Bhogali Bihu in
Assam was to take place during our travelling period.
The fourth step was the booking of accommodation.
As we had four ladies in our team we had to search for decent, safe, and
secured accommodation. We first tried to search for tourist bungalows,
inspection bungalows, or standard hotels, which really was a scarce commodity in
far-flung places of northeast India. So the responsibility of searching for a
proper accommodation was entrusted to one of our travelling members.
Journey Starts
Ultimately, on receipt of confirmation from
my friend and hotels in three locations, we started our journey from Kolkata to
Dibrugarh one early morning and within one and a half hour we found ourselves
in Dibrugarh Airport. We got the first blow waiting in the airport lounge of
Kolkata that the vehicle which was to be our companion for fourteen days had
met with an accident and a substitute had been arranged but that was not in an
acceptable condition. Since the entire Assam was in a holiday mood on account
of the Bihu festival, the choice was limited and we had to accept whatever we
received.
We reached the hotel booked by our member. It
was a decent one and we got four double-bedded rooms. The food was also up to the
mark and after lunch, everybody became keen to go to bed because they had woken
up early to catch the flight.
In the evening, we had a stroll in the local
market and purchased some consumables that might be required on the way. But
our target was early to bed as our journey to Tezu would start the next
morning.
Second-Day
Our destination was Tezu which was around 175
km away from Dibrugarh via Tinsukia. Actually, our accommodation was near to
Tinsukia town, so there was a reduction of a few kilometers. We took heavy
breakfast so as to avoid lunch as we had to cover a long distance and as heard
from the driver the roads were not very comfortable at stretches. Of course, we
had dry food and packaged drinking water bottles in our stock.
Tezu was located in the Lohit district of
Arunachal Pradesh inhabited by Mishmi tribes. We had to cross small hamlets,
towns, forests on our way. The journey was along the Lohit River. Being heavy
winter and an open vehicle, we had to keep ourselves warm by drinking tea at
intervals. The road, at the initial stage, was comfortable, but as we proceeded
potholes, bumpy stretches were visible, making us realize, why quality vehicles
were required in those types of roads. The doors of the vehicle or rather the
entire vehicle was making rhythmic sounds to which we became used to after some
time. We were ready to listen to all types of music made by the vehicle except
any mechanical fault.
In the afternoon, we reached Parshuram Kund
(well), a sacred place of the Hindus. As per myth, Parshuram after killing his
mother tried to make himself, free from sin, and the axe with which he killed
his mother stuck to his hand. Ultimately, after reaching the particular well,
the axe got detached from his hand and he became free from sin. A big fair took
place around mid-January every year in that place, which was a few days away.
We reached Tezu when it was already dark and
the caretaker of the inspection bungalow welcomed us with steaming cups of tea.
Along with the cups of tea, we received the second blow of our trip that, an
official team had occupied two rooms of the bungalow and we would have to
accommodate ourselves in another two rooms for that night only.
As we were tired due to the journey, we had
to accept the proposal and the group got divided based on gender. Our only
request was to provide at least a pillow and a blanket for each of the
individual members, which he agreed.
Third-Day
The town was very small with minimum basic amenities
like school, college, hospital, few government offices other than places of
tourist interests like a museum, botanical garden, a well-maintained park,
temple, palace, and a small airstrip.
The population was very less covering Mismi,
Simpho, and Khampati tribes staying with a cordial relationship. There were a few
monasteries, temples, and churches which depicted the coexistence of religious
harmony. We spent a long time on the banks of Lohit River, listening to the
rippling music created by the water while flowing over stones and pebbles. The
next routine was back to the inspection bungalow, evening tea, dinner, and then
sleep.
Fourth Day
The distance between Tezu and Roing was
around 90 km. As a result, we came out in a relaxing mood after having a late
breakfast. Initially, the road was really picturesque, with clear blue sky,
snowcapped mountains at a distance, lush green vegetation, and blue waters of
the Lohit River moving along with us. But after some time we found that the
road had submerged in the banks of Lohit and we were mostly travelling on
pebbles and rocks. The vehicle was almost floating like a boat and bumping at
every second. We were scared as our heads were almost hitting the ceiling of
the vehicle and the rattling music of the body of the car had increased many
folds. Our efforts were more to save our bodies than to enjoy natural beauty.
The vehicle had to cross small rivulets with fairly good current and we had to
get down from the car and walk on the river, a couple of times to avoid
puncture of wheels. At last, we reached a so-called comfortable road and on the
way, we crossed some of the tribal villages. Our lady members badly needed
washrooms but the same could not be seen anywhere. It was decided to stop the
vehicle in a lonely place. As the lady members went to a certain distance,
suddenly we heard the trumpet of an elephant. The lady members came running to the
vehicle being scared and we were also frightened as the elephant menace was
very common in those areas. Later on, we found, a trained elephant with its
rider was approaching from the forest collecting its own food. We had a sigh of
relief. The rest of the journey was comfortable. We reached our designated
hotel at Roing and did not face any uncomfortable situation there.
Fifth-Day
Since Roing town was much smaller than Tezu,
we decided to visit the town on foot advising the driver to get the vehicle
repaired as far as possible to reduce the rattling sound. It was a small town
situated in a valley with mountains on all sides. The lives of the population
were very easy going. The shops, even of necessities, opened very late and
everybody was in a relaxing mood. The market was governed mostly by tribal
women, who along with the consumables were marketing handicrafts. The locals,
mostly Idumismi, were found to be friendly, helpful, and inquisitive to
ascertain our origin.
After lunch, we went to Sally Lake which was
around 5 km away from the town, of course by our vehicle. The lake did not have
any specialty. It was more of a picnic spot for the local residents, with the
facility of paddle boating and a forest behind the lake. Sometimes, wild
Mithuns (wild buffalo of local breed) appear on the corner of the forest, but
we were not so fortunate. We tried to taste local cuisine during lunch from a
mediocre restaurant but the majority of our group members discarded the
cuisine.
The distance between Roing and Pasighat was
around 50 km. But the entire road was covered with pebbles and rocks. In
between, streams of water gushed through the so-called road. The entire stretch
was bumpy and it took almost three hours to travel that distance. Despite all
the odds, the meandering rivers on the way, mist-covered mountains, clear blue
sky, and mesmerizing nature was within stone throw distance. The entire road
was empty without any vehicle either crossing us or overtaking us. We were
forced to think that if any untoward incident happened, who would be there to
help us as the trace of life was not present within our visibility. It was more
of an adventurous journey than a pleasant ride. But we had no other option but
to move. We badly needed a tea break but nothing was available on stretches. We
were also scared to stop the vehicle considering the safety of the lady members
of our team. We found the ray of hope when our driver confirmed that we were
likely reaching Pasighat considering the distance travelled. When we asked him
how he could say likely, his honest confession was that it was his maiden voyage
to Pasighat from Dibrugarh. He was also not very sure about the route map and
condition of the road. He had obtained advice from local drivers during our
stay at Roing.
Ultimately, we reached Pasighat in the
afternoon and settled ourselves at Tourist Bungalow without any further hazard.
The rooms were spacious and in a row. The entire building was constructed
around one meter above the ground level to avoid the onslaught of insects and
serpents. The temperature was slightly higher than the previous two halting
stations. The tiredness of the journey and location of the tourist bungalow
restricted us to remain indoors that evening.
Seventh Day
Since my room was on the extreme corner, the
first rays of the rising sun and the chirping of varieties of birds helped to
break our sleep. The sun rays were tearing the thin cover of mist and dewdrops
on the grass lawn glittered in the entire compound. Though we were longing for
cups of hot tea, it was too early for the caretaker to wake up and start his
duty. By the time, everybody got up and freshened themselves, we wanted to have
a morning walk in the compound and outside its gate for a primary survey of the
place. After walking for around ten minutes, we found a Ramkrishna Mission
temple; wherefrom chanting of hymn could be heard from the road itself as the
place was so quiet. Since the gate was open, we did not miss the opportunity to
enter the temple and pay homage to the deities. On return, we found the
caretaker was almost ready with the tea, waiting for us. Our next plan was to
get ready for the day’s tour after breakfast.
Our first visit was to the banks of Siang
River, flowing from Tibet. Since Pasighat is almost on the plain, the river had
widened to a great extent adding many tributaries and water sources from
various mountains.
Pasighat was famous for oranges and that was
the peak season. Our driver took us to a roadside orange garden where we were
allowed to enter by the supervisor of the garden with the request not to pluck
any orange directly from the trees. While coming out of the gate, we were
offered two oranges for each person free of cost for being guests to their
land. As a token of gesture, we wanted to pay him which was bluntly refused. We
could not reciprocate except conveying thanks and best wishes.
Then we visited a few temples, a small
airstrip, a district museum, etc. and then ultimately landed in the main
market. The market catered to all the nearby districts and villages and the
volume of business seemed to be fairly high. The vendors were majorly local but
many businessmen from Assam, Bengal, and few other states also settled in
Pasighat. As usual, the lady members became keen on purchasing woolen garments
and local handicrafts which took away much of our time. After lunch, we decided
to revisit the bank of Siang River to enjoy the sunset and view the mountains
and river in the twilight hours. It was really a pleasant sight. The virgin
beauty of nature, rippling sound of the river, and flocks of birds in the sky
returning to their nests made us nostalgic. We remained there until it was
completely dark. The place was already deserted and our driver insisted to
return as we were to leave early the next morning.
Eighth-Day
It was the last lap of our road trip to
Arunachal Pradesh. We started from Pasighat in the morning after breakfast and
we were to cover around 150 km of which from Pasighat to Shilapatthar was
around 120 km. The road for the first lap of the journey along Siang River was
moderate with occasional bumpiness. But the scenic beauty was too good to
enjoy. Gradually leaving behind Siang the road was to touch the Brahmaputra
River which we were to cross. Since the bridge was under construction, we had
to cross the great and wide river by barge. When we reached the loading point,
there was a large queue of vehicles waiting to cross. We had to wait for almost
two hours and then we understood why our driver was insisting to start early.
There were many snacks and tea shacks sporadically erected on a temporary basis.
Ultimately, we got the vehicle loaded on the barge and the journey on the Brahmaputra was for around two hours. The vessel had to take a round route
because a portion of the river got dried up in absence of proper water flow. It
was a very common situation in almost all the rivers of India in winter. Our
destination was Bogir Bil which was on the other side of the river. It was a
pleasant downstream journey along the Brahmaputra. We were allowed to disembark
from the vehicle and enjoy the cool breeze on the deck itself where the vehicle
was parked. There were mobile tea and snack vendors on the vessel.
On reaching the other side, we were
instructed to reach the bank through a wooden plank physically and the vehicles
were offloaded seriatim as per their placement.
The rest of the journey was for another hour
or so. The road was newly constructed and of standard quality. It was the
approach road to the bridge under construction and the road had been upgraded
for movement of machinery. Our journey concluded as we reached Tinsukia where
we were to spend the night.
Memories
Despite being a short trip, it was really
memorable because the vehicle with which we travelled was constantly haunting
us of breakdown or likewise but luckily it did not betray us barring forcing us
to listen to rattling music throughout our journey.
The places, not in any matter could be
considered as tourist spots with places of interest, but the journey in the
midst of virgin nature was itself a tourist destination as a whole.
The initial hiccups of accommodation made us
apprehend more problems but the rest of our journey proved to be smooth and
normal. Considering the absence of flow of regular traffic in the form of
tourists or travellers, our lady members were happy to complete the tour
without much difficulty.
Our journey was more of exploring the beauty
of unknown and unseen virgin nature where we were not sure what would happen in
the next moment. An important lesson from the tour was that nature had been
bountiful to all living creatures but it was our responsibility to conserve the
nature that had been so bountiful.
Residential Accommodation
Tezu
Tourist
Bungalow
Inspection
Bungalow
Circuit House
Hotel
Ocean
Hotel
Saru
Roing
Tourist
Bungalow
Inspection
Bungalow
Circuit House
D.B. Hotel & Resort
Barkilow
Guest House
Hotel
Nimoo
Pasighat
Tourist
Bungalow
Inspection
Bungalow
Circuit House
Hotel
Siang
Hotel
Oman
Hotel
Anne
Hotel
Arun
We r 10 members ,5 cupple
ReplyDeleteYes. I miscalculated the numbers
ReplyDelete