A trip to enticing Tawang

Tawang was mesmirising. So far the most beautiful place I have seen. The highlight of Tawang are the monasteries, the drive to Indo-China border, Sangetser lake and the nicest people.

So the next morning we woke up to see the snow-clad bird-view of Tawang town. It came as a surprise because there was apparently no snowfall during last few days. After thoroughly enjoying the sight of snow showering all around, we hired a taxi for the day’s sightseeing. We visited Tawang monastery (Asia’s second largest monastery), war memorial and some smaller monasteries. To our bad luck, the market was close and it would remain close for next few days due to Losar festival - Buddhist’s new year. And our dream of shopping just shattered.

The Buddha statue at Tawang town.

We drove back to the hotel to hear yet another bad news. The hotel owner said the route to Bum La pass and Madhuri lake was closed due to heavy snowfall. The Indian army was not letting any vehicles on the route sensing danger, hence our plan to visit those two places the next day wouldn’t materialise. It came as such a disappointment.

The local beer of Tawang. It was hot and tasted weird.
Apparently, they add ghee to the beer.

How can we even afford not to visit Bumla La and Madhuri lake after travelling to this far end of the country. The very thought of it was frustrating enough. Meanwhile, we wondered what should we do the next day with no alternative plan in place. The hotel staff reduced our grief to some extent by offering us some good festival food and local rice beer. So we said cheers to life!

Those helping hands

The hotel owner Mr Norbu came as a blessing in disguise the next morning. Looking at our disappointed faces he decided to take us around in his car. So the next morning, we went to Ani Gompa (the lady monastery). The journey to Ani Gompa was exhilarating. The high end vehicle traversed through thick snow clad mountains. Road was absolutely invisible. The vehicle was skidding often. Mr Norbu was an expert driver, full of confidence. He would just tell us “sit and relax. I am used to these type of roads.”

It was fun time at Ani Gompa, to watch the Buddhist nuns playing games as part of the festival. Then, Mr Norbu took us to yet another beautiful monastery located a little far from the town. Also we strolled around the infamous old helipad of Tawang which was closed after a chopper crash two years ago. To our utter surprise, Mr Norbu did all this without charging a penny! Despite us insisting him to accept at least the petrol charge, he refused to. He said “you are my guests and I don’t like to see you disappointed. Today’s trip is from my side.” Such a warm and kind gesture that was. A gesture that I would remember for rest of my life. Instances like this made our stay in the North East memorable.

By evening, we were supposed to get confirmation from Pawan Hans Helicopters about our next day’s return chopper. But then the Pawan Hans staff said they would confirm us about the flying only the next morning a few hours before the chopper would take off. It was clearly an indication of things going out of our control. Yet, we decided to keep our fingers crossed and be hopeful.

When things go out of hand

Next morning, things did go out of our hands, as predicted. Pawan Hans had cancelled the chopper service due to poor weather condition. Plus it was too late to travel to Tezpur via road. All the shared taxis had left Tawang early in the morning. So we could leave Tawang only the next day. That is, a day’s forced stay at Tawang. Everything went helter skelter. It would affect our next plans to visit Shillong and Cherrapunji. We just had two and half days left to catch the return flight to Bengaluru. A bad scene it was.

But then they say whatever happens, happens for the good. So something good happened with us too.

Tawang war memorial. Don't miss the evening sound and light show here.

We had the entire day at our disposal. As the luck would have it, the army had opened the road to Madhuri lake on that sunny day! If not Bum La, we thought let’s see the lake at least. So early noon, we along with another family, shared a taxi to go to Madhuri lake. The vehicle with chained wheels (which is mandatory to drive on snow on the way to Madhuri / Bum La), drove past the mountainous range.

After passing the first military check post, we arrived at the second one. The taxi driver got down to fix the chains. Meanwhile, the army guys invited us to their canteen, where we had some hot momos and samosa. Hot food served when you are freezing cold. Nothing can beat it!

The road to Sangetser lake.

After hi-hellos and bye, the taxi started chugging on the snow. On the way we got down in yet another checkpost to be greeted by army personnel from Karnataka. Looks like the feeling of regionalism doesn’t fade away so easily! The love for mother tongue bloomed there as we started our conversation in Kannada.

That particular checkpost was the diversion point from where one road leads to Bum La and another to Madhuri lake. The army guys were not ready to permit us to Bum La, the Indo-China border, as the heavy snowfall continued on that road, and they did not want us to take the risk. So, we decided to go to Madhuri lake.

Snow-covered Ptso lake.

Enticing Madhuri lake

I had heard a lot about the picturesque Madhuri lake and its tranquil cabin. The drive through the snow capped peaks to reach the Madhuri lake has been the most beautiful journey so far. It was quiet, with no vehicle and people at sight, there was breeze, there was snow and sun peeping out in some corner. After climbing up and down, the car reached the lake.

Breathtakingly beautiful Sangetser/ Madhuri lake.

What a sight it was! There was a half frozen lake with dried trees, surrounded by mountains. Then there was a bridge and at one corner was a locked wooden cabin. It was a nature’s miracle, breathtakingly beautiful. I admired the lake in all its magnitude. It appeared so surreal. Can something like this even exist?

Madhuri lake, originally called as Sangetser lake was formed after an earthquake hit the area. It came to be known as Madhuri lake after Madhuri Dixit’s movie Koyla was shot there. Remember Tanhai Tanhai song where Shahrukh and Madhuri dance in the waterfalls and the lake? Exactly, the same location!

The peaceful cabin at Sangetser lake.

Half-heartedly I returned from that amazing place and by the time we reached Tawang town, it was evening. It was indeed a day well-spent. So we had no regrets of staying back for an additional day in Tawang.

We had booked the shared taxi for our next day’s travel to Tezpur. This time we applied our mind and booked all the four seats in middle row. We booked an extra seat so that the taxi driver would not accommodate a fourth person.

The lake surrounded by Eastern Himalayan mountains.

The drive back to Tezpur

The drive to Tezpur the next day was quite comfortable as we were getting downhill. We even halted for sometime at Sela Pass. But now the tension was to reach Guwahati on the same day, considering that we had just a day left to spend in Cherrapunji. By the time we reached Tezpur it was 6 pm. After 12 hours of journey, when we informed the taxi driver that we wanted to travel to Guwahati immediately, he was taken by surprise.

The driver was quite helpful and he helped us to board a van that was departing to Guwahati in few minutes. It was expected to reach Guwahati in 4 hours, i.e by 10 pm. So, cramped in a van, we headed to Guwahati. By the end of the 11 days trip we had almost become bag-packers. All our plans had gone for trash. We had not booked an accommodation in Guwahati since we had no clue that we would end up in such a situation due to cancellation of chopper service from Tawang. Anyway, we decided to check-into any random decent hotel after reaching Guwahati.

Yaks are found in plenty.

Sometimes, nothing works out the way we plan. After travelling for 16 hours on the rugged roads, we got into another trouble. At 10 pm, just a few kilometres before entering Guwahati city, we were faced with an extreme traffic jam. Till then I had believed Bengaluru’s traffic as the worst. But on entering Guwahati at mid-night, I realised there couldn’t be anything worse than this. Vehicles were stranded in traffic and queued up for several kilometres, apparently due to road construction.

After waiting for 1 and half hour, at one point, the van driver applied his mind. He just drove on the parallel road meant for vehicles coming from opposite direction and he just went on driving in the wrong direction. That’s how we were saved. If not for him, we would have perhaps reached Guwahati only the next morning!

So at 12 am, in the middle of the night, the van driver dropped us at Paltan Bazaar, famous commercial area in Guwahati. The area was hub of hotels. The moment we got down, we were surrounded by brokers who suggested a few hotels. They tried to convince us saying all other hotels are full due to Asian Games in the city, but they weren’t convincing enough.

I just spotted one flashing colourful hotel on the other side of the road and decided to enquire about the room availability. Sensing the uneasiness that we were going through, the van driver offered help. He said he knows the hotel manager and accompanied with me to the hotel to request for a room. Luckily, there were vacant rooms, and we barged into a room, after thanking the van driver. Needless to say, we were damn tired after the terrible non-stop travel.

We just crashed onto the bed to get at least four hours of sleep because we had to leave Guwahati the next morning at 5 pm, for our journey to Shillong in Meghalaya. That was going to be the last leg of our journey.

A guide to Tawang:

• You can easily stay for 2-3 days in Tawang.
• Apart from the local sightseeing like the monasteries and war memorial (sound and light show), you can also visit Bumla pass, Sangetser lake, Ptso lake, Jang  waterfalls.
• Ptso lake is on the way to Bumla / Sangetser.
• Don’t plan to visit Bumla and Sangetser lake on the same day. Drivers charge 4 k separately for each place (Though they are only at a distance of 20 km, the roads are tough). 
• If you have to visit Bumla, you got to get permission from the Indian army and DC’s office on the previous day of the visit.
• Best season to visit – Not monsoon, because of landslides. Locals say September-October is the best season as the valley is flowery and green. However, during that season you will miss the snowfall. Tawang witnesses snowfall in November-February. But be ready to face roadblocks during this season. Also the road to Bumla and Sangetser lake will be mostly closed.
• Take warm clothes.
• Don’t expect uninterrupted power supply and hot water, specially during winter.
• Try the local beer, it’s hot ad tastes different! 
• Don’t go during Losar festival in February. Market and monasteries mostly remain closed.
•  Accommodation is easily available.
• It's a safe place for women travellers. Extremely nice and helpful people of Arunachal will make sure your stay is memorable.