North East Odyssey: Part Three

Day Three (26.11.2021): Road trip from Bomdila to Tawang

We woke up early morning, got ready and had breakfast. While there was puri & aloo sabzi, toasted bread butter, boiled eggs; I ate parathas. Today's journey was not monotonous like yesterday. We had sightseeing stops on the way from Bomdila to Tawang. We had the option to keep some luggage at this hotel, since we would visit Tawang for a day and come back in the same hotel. Bomdila is a hill station (at 8000 feet above sea level) in the West Kameng district of Arunachal. It is also called the Gateway to Tawang. Today, the weather was cold, but pleasant, due to sun rays. As usual, Bhushan took the head count and briefed about today's itinerary. The roads were lanes with elevated turns. We reached the Bomdila Monastery at 9 AM.

Bomdila Monastery

Having visited Hemis, Alchi and Lamayuru monastery in Leh, I knew how a monastery is. Every monastery has an entrance with a series of small prayer wheels (engraved with Tibetan words Om Ma Ni Padme Hum) and a giant prayer wheel. Then there is a big prayer hall with the Buddha statue. There are butter lamps and water bowl offerings kept near the main statue. The prayer hall also has a series of desk on both sides, for the monks to sit and work. While most of features in this monastery were same; the difference was a panoramic view of the Himalayan ranges, an instagrammable background for the photographers. This monastery is a replica of the Tsona Gontse Monastery, located at Tsona in South Tibet. There is an open circular platform, with a flag post, in front of the monastery. We entered the prayer hall. There was a huge statue in center and three medium statues on its both sides.

Right side: Je Tsongkhapa, the philosopher is in center with his disciples, Khedup Gelek Pelzang (left) and Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen (right)

Left side: Padmasambhava in centre, with King Trisong Diwu Tsen (left) and Acharya Shantarakshita (right)

We drove further through convoluted roads, crossing the truss bridges over river streams. We had a tea coffee break at 11 AM at a Kiwi Garden.  Along with kiwi, there were pumpkins and gourd vegetations in this garden. 

There were small tents as well. Kiwi is the famous fruit in Arunachal. It first grew in Ziro Valley and now Arunachal is the largest producer of this fruit in India. Done with tea, coffee, washroom break, and clicking photos; we continued the descending road journey on the NH13 till our lunch halt. We had lunch at Hotel Samjhana, Dirang.

The restaurant is run by ladies. It is divided into two sections; our whole group occupied one section. At first the Thali was served. It included spoonful of two to three different sabzis and dal. Rice, roti, papad, extra sabzi's were served on demand and so was Non-Veg. The ladies were going to and fro, serving us and back to kitchen. There were three different chutneys on the table to add more taste to the food. What I remembered and liked the most, was the mashed aloo mixed with chilly and coriander. Since there was no sweet included in lunch, we got a Crispello from Bhushan. Adjacent shops were selling fruits, juices, other eatables, etc. Dirang is a picturesque valley situated between Bomdila and Tawang. We covered the valley on the convoluted roads watching the mountains and the river streams. On the ascending way to Tawang, the greenscapes got covered with the blanket of snow. We passed through many military cantonments with snow covered rooftops. Finally, we reached the Sela Lake at 4PM.

Sela Pass and Sela Lake

The Sela Pass is a 13700ft high altitude mountain pass located on the border of Tawang and West Kameng. The Border Roads Organization keep this road operational throughout the year; during heavy snows and landslides as well. The Sela Lake is located on the north side of the pass at an elevation of 13,650ft. It is also called as Paradise lake and is the largest of the 101 lakes in the region. We got off the bus in our heavy woollens and walked in the shoe deep snow path till the viewpoint of the lake. Many photos were clicked, and videos were captured. 

There were military trucks and soldiers in vicinity. While we got freezed spending a while here; salute to our Indian Army for protecting our borders for all seasons in extreme climate. We drove further to the Jaswant Garh War Memorial but as the sun had already called off the day, we could not visit the memorial. But we did stop there for a bio-break, which will always remain in our memory. It was dark and chilled when we got off the bus. We had to walk down a few steps to reach the washroom. We could faintly see the snow-wet path, so the mobile flashlights were on. We took support of the rope to hold on, while descending. There was no electricity at the washroom. Somehow, we helped each other and got back to the bus. We drove ahead in the dark and chilled evening (which seemed like night) and reached Tashi Ga Tsel Motel at 7PM. Rooms were alloted and we got room no. 412.

My roommate was affected by motion sickness. My body had almost given up due to the long road journey so far and I was cursing myself for choosing Arunachal! I should have gone for Assam and Meghalaya only. I had travelled Ladakh so I thought Arunachal would be easier. But no, each terrain has its own challenges. Many fellow travellers were also exhausted. Dinner Hall was spacious. We did chat with a few travellers from Innova. Bhushan briefed on the next day's program. We would be travelling to Bum La Pass in Sumos; only if we get permission from the Army. The permission is dependent on the weather as well as sensitivity on the border. We would get to know the decision tomorrow during breakfast. A difficult terrain and early sunset were not enough; that the visit to the most important Pass was in dicey situation. Let's hope for the best and take some rest. Post dinner, we again had a chat-meet at Mallika and Shraddha's room. Though our energies were low; Shraddha did entertain us doing some mimicry. We discussed on serious topics for a while and then went to our rooms and dozed off. Let's see if can make to the Bum La Pass tomorrow.

Read next: North East Odyssey: Part Four