North East Odyssey: Part Five

Day Five (28.11.2021): Round trip to Bomdila

It was a good morning today. We packed our luggage and kept it outside the room. I had paratha breakfast. Done with the breakfast, luggage got loaded in the bus and we were travelling back from Tawang to Bomdila with on the way sightseeing's. We drove for an hour or so and reached our first location for the day, Nuranang waterfall at 9 AM.

Nuranang Waterfalls

The spectacular white waterfall is situated in the town of Jang, which connects Tawang to Bomdila. It originates from the northern slopes of Sela Pass, forms the Nuranang river, drops from an altitude of 100m to join into the Tawang river. The bus stopped at a slope away from the waterfall. We had to hike downwards to the waterfall. First, we walked on the descending slope and then crossed the road bridge. There were small vehicles parked at the edge of the road. There is a hydroelectric power plant which generates electricity for the local area. We walked further to the steps route, which took us downwards and closer to the waterfall. We had to cross a wooden bridge midway. The latter part of the step route was comparatively easy. The area was so calm that we could hear only the water and our footsteps. The downward hike of about 15 minutes was quite challenging given that we were at 6000ft above sea level and the atmosphere was chilled. But it was all worth once we were in front of the waterfall. Not just the waterfall, the complete landscape for Instagrammable. Everybody started clicking photos and capturing videos. It was a task to walk on the uneven jagged rocks to reach closer to the falls and feel the water sprinkles. The water of Tawang river was flowing calmly and shining in the morning sun. Having filled our eyes and heart with this serene location, we hiked upwards to our bus. The upward hike took more than 15 minutes and was more challenging. We walked upwards the step route, crossed the wooden bridge, climbed the steps one at a time, took small panting breaks, reached the parking area, crossed the road bridge, walked up the slope and finally reached our bus. I was so overwhelmed at the waterfalls that I lost one of my woollen hand gloves. We drove further to the Jaswant Garh War Memorial. We could not visit it on the way from Bomdila to Tawang due to sunset. So, we had a stop here on the return journey at 11.15 AM.

Jaswant Garh War Memorial

Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat was an Indian Army soldier serving in the Garhwal Rifles, who was awarded the prestigious Maha Vir Chakra posthumously for his bravery in the Battle of Nuranang of 1962, during the Sino-Indian War. The war memorial, located at an altitude of 10000ft in the Nuragang district, is a tribute to him, along with all the martyrs who fought the Chinese army. The entrance has a big gate. There is a Chinese graveyard at the left, where the Chinese soldiers who lost their lives, were cremated post the war. We walked ahead, climbed a few steps to the Memorial gallery. Since the snow was melting due to sunrays, it was a bit slippery while walking. The outer area of the memorial gallery was covered with different army flag posts. There was a statue of Jaswant Singh Rawat in the center. 

There is a glass box with his belongings and a bed on the right side. An army official briefed on the war story. They also gave us sheera prasad. We walked further up to the Smriti Sthal. There were wall photos describing the maps of the war location. There was a statue of Jaswant Singh Rawat at the center, Trilok Singh Negi (right) and Gopal Singh Gusain (left). 

There were photos of soldiers with description, army uniform and letters. From the Smriti Sthal, we could view the old bunkers on the right side as well as the Indian Flag with the greenscapes as background.

Done with the war memorial, we visited the washroom (the same one which we visited in the dark evening on the way to Tawang). During daytime, we could see the pathway to the washroom. Since the snow was melting, it was slippery and a task to walk down and come back. We drove further and passed by the Sela lake and Sela Pass. We halted at the Tawang gate at 1 PM, to get clicked with Sela Pass landmark and play in the snow.

We continued the descending road journey on the NH13 till our lunch halt. We had lunch at 3 PM at Hotel Samjhana, Dirang. The Thali lunch was like the one we had earlier. But today it included catfight over the chairs. There were small arguments as well in the journey till date and I am sure it would continue further. I had experienced all this for the first time in my travel stint with unknown group. One thing is clear, whatever may happen, never let anyone control on what you must do and not get affected by others. Travelling with an unknown group has its pros and cons.

We covered the Dirang valley on the convoluted roads watching the mountains and the river streams. Finally, we reached Hotel Grand in the chilled and dark evening at 05:30 PM. When I pulled my handbag from the luggage carrier; I was shocked to see that its completely wet! Whatever has not happened till date on my travel, happened in this tour. Rooms were allotted, we got room no. 305, the same room where we had our first chat meet.

I went to the room and sat in front of the heater to get all the handbag stuff dried. Thank God those documents were in plastic cover, money was in my sling bag and medicines were in plastic pouch. Rest all things were wet. Shreya, Krupali, Swati and Hiteshree went for a street walk and satiated their tastebuds with the local food: thukpa, soup and momos. 

Post dinner, we had chat meet in our room. Only Hiteshree and Shreya joined us. We talked on random topics for a while and then both left. I and Krupali discussed on the locations we had already visited in India and after some time we dozed off.

Read next: North East Odyssey: Part Six