Enroute Tawang: A journey through      the mountains

The 13 hours journey through the motorable road on the mountains connecting Tezpur in Assam to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh was tough yet incredible. Packed in a shared taxi, we traversed through the mountainous range, to see the mesmerising Tawang.

Some journeys are meant to be treasured, to be cherished for lifetime. They give you an eternal joy, create a mix of emotions. And when you finish the journey, it will leave behind a strong feeling of longingness, a feeling that is indefinable.

This blog is about one such journey. The journey which was a self-discovery, that helped me understand my strength and weakness, the journey that pushed me close to people and the nature.

Those precious four days! It all began with us, the trio travellers boarding a shared taxi at Tezpur to travel to Tawang in far off Arunachal Pradesh. We were set for a 11 hours journey to cover Tezpur-Tawang mountainous stretch of 320 km. Eleven hours was the minimum journey time, if only everything else was smooth, with no landslide, no heavy snowfall and no accident!

Till the moment we boarded the taxi, we had a terrific feeling about this journey. I say terrific, for certain reason. During the itinerary research, I did not come across even a single travel post which advised in favour of one day journey from Tezpur to Tawang. 

All of those who have travelled in the past on the same route had strongly suggested on breaking up the journey into two days, by staying overnight at Dirang or Bomdila. In fact, the cottage owner at Majuli too insisted us not to take such a risk. He said it was next to impossible for us, the three girls to finish the stretch on a single day. There were high chances of heavy snowfall and road blocks enroute Tawang. In such a case, the taxi wouldn’t move further, and we may end up spending a night in taxi, we were informed.

But then, we absolutely had no other option. With the less number of days in hand, we could not afford to split the travel into two days. By hook or crook we wanted to reach Tawang the same day. Even if we reach by mid night, so be it, we thought.

In the absence of frequent bus service, shared taxi comes as a boon in the North East for budget travellers. The taxi guys accommodate 10 people plus driver in the Tata Sumo, by charging Rs 800 per head. To our bad luck, we had booked the tickets late on the previous day, hence we had to occupy the last seat of the Sumo. Till we boarded the taxi we had no idea that the taxi fellow would accommodate an additional person with us on the back seat. So far we were under the impression that we three could travel like queens.

And the long journey begins

But the next morning, our plan turned turtle with the taxi driver accommodating an old man with us. At 5.30 AM in Tezpur taxi stand, when this old fat man told me to move aside and occupied the space next to me, I was taken aback. The very thought of travelling for next 11 hours with an old man next to you, is daunting. Sitting between two people, I felt as if I am sandwiched.

Suppressing the anger, I decided to sit quiet. Six other men occupied the front two seats, but none looked friendly. Angry we were, we sat wondering how pathetic the travel would be. As we began the journey, the old man opened up for a chitter chatter. Within next 10 minutes I realised that he was a total chatter box. I, being a person who likes to maintain silence while travelling, developed a kind of aversion towards this man who was talking restlessly.

And then we had this driver, a young chap, who appeared to be in a much worse mood than us. He would rant for anything and everything. Even for one question that I ask, I would get a bizarre reply. Where the hell did we get stuck, I wondered. Travel needs good companions, specially if you are travelling that far. Unfortunately, here we were in the company of rambling strangers who did not even appear friendly.

But, I had no idea at all that my impression about the fellow-travellers would change by the end of the day.

Lessons learnt

I learnt a life’s lesson during the journey. Slowly as I began interacting with the fellow-travellers and the driver, I realised that they were indeed caring and nice people. The old man sitting next to me himself was a story. Hailing from Mount Abu, in his 73^rd year, having travelled around the world, he was now on a solo journey North East for two weeks. Without a proper plan and no access to internet, in the absence of Inner Line Permit, he was travelling across this part of India, like a true wanderlust. As he narrated about his sojourn and how he got stuck in Nagaland for three days when the violence broke and curfew was imposed, I was amazed at his guts. He was such a revelation.

During the course of travel, we also got into a conversation with a gang of four youth seated in front. It was a team of engineers and workers heading to Bum La pass at Indo-China border, to execute some mechanical work for the Indian Army. Another man in the taxi Mr Anup Bhowmik happened to be the manager of the hotel in which we were going to check-in Tawang. A lot of talks happened over the next few hours about Assam, its politics, Bum La pass, Tawang, the music, about our travel plans and what not.

This blog post will be incomplete if I fail to describe the landscape and the road on which the jeep traversed. Just after about 40 km from Tezpur, the narrow mountainous range opened up. The road was as worse as it could be. While it was asphalted in some stretches, it was mostly raw and rugged muddy road in most of the parts. The road - it was as worse as it could be.

As the bumpy ride continued, particularly two things that interested me - beautiful landscape and pit stops for breakfast / lunch and tea. Landscape was gorgeous throughout and it would change so often like a chameleon. Thick forest cover, mountain, river, streams, valley, splash of drizzle, cloud and finally the snow! It was indeed treat to the eyes.

Along the way, there were tiny towns and villages nestled deep in the steep valley and mountains. I could spot lone houses at a far distance. Looking at such solitary houses in the mountains I let my imagination free. How did a person built a house on the top of the mountain that is devoid of road connectivity, how did he transport the materials, how does a person live a solitary life, I would think.

Entrance to Tawang District near Sela Lake.

The taxi driver would halt the vehicle once in awhile, to feed the tummy, sip some tea, or to attend nature’s call. Three of us would just wait for such moments to jump off from the taxi and sip some piping hot tea. We understand the value of hot coffee/tea at the time of freezing cold. True that!

Around 3 pm we were close to Sela Pass. Sela is one of the highest motorable roads in the country. There was one drawback of traveling in shared taxi. We couldn’t afford to stop at the places we wanted to. Sela Pass was one such place, where a traveler would like to pause and spend some time. Hopeful I was, I wanted to give a try. I requested the driver to stop for few minutes. He reluctantly agreed. I also convinced fellow-passengers for the same. And they said they had no issues.

The frozen yet beautiful Sela Lake.

By the time we reached Sela Pass, the snowfall had begun. Beautiful Sela lake was frozen. I quickly jumped off from the taxi and clicked few pics in a hurry. Wind was so strong that the driver announced he wouldn’t wait even for one more minute. And we continued the journey.

Once we crossed the Sela Pass, the driver’s attitude completely changed. The anger on his face had vanished and he appeared quite friendly. May be he was relaxed now for we were closer to Tawang.

At 6 PM, when the darkness engulfed the mountainous range, we reached Tawang. Oh! We had nailed it. The apparently very hard travel route in North East wasn’t so hard for us. It was challenging, it was nerve-wracking, but not impossible! The taxi driver dropped us right at the doorsteps of our accommodation - Hotel Tawang Holidays. It was a decent hotel with all the basic amenities.

There we reach - Tawang!

Hotel owner Mr Norbu and his manager Mr Anup Bhowmik extended us a cordial welcome. We stayed in the cozy rooms, had a filling dinner and planned for next day's sightseeing.

Our Tawang plan was something like this:

• On the first day we had planned to do local sightseeing, visiting monastery, market, war memorial etc.

• On the second day we had plans to go to Madhuri lake and Bum La, located around 40 km from Tawang town.

• On the third day, we had decided to return to Guwahati via helicopter. We had reserved three seats in Pawan Hans Helicopter but had not got confirmation. We were supposed to get the confirmation only on previous evening. At least that's what we were told.

Little did we know that our plan was going to topsy-turvy and we would end up extending our stay in Tawang!

How to reach Tawang? 
Mode of transport that you choose entirely depends on the kind of traveller you are. There are 4 option to travel to Tawang.

* If you are looking for a comfortable journey, you can hire a taxi from Guwahati or Tawang for yourself. However taxi fellows charge you exorbitantly, nothing less than Rs 10,000 to travel on the tough route.

* I was told there are night bus services between Tezpur and Tawang, but not advisable, considering the uncomfortable journey on the mountains and the excess time it takes to travel.

* Pawan Hans provides Helicopter service between Guwahati and Tawang on selected days. Click this link for the chopper timings - http://www.pawanhans.nic.in/index3.asp?sslid=75 Not recommended. Services are frequently withdrawn due to weather conditions. They charge around Rs 4,000 per person for one way journey. You can call the following number for reserving seats and confirmation - 09402221775 / 09685738939.

* The best option if you are a budget traveller and like to go on a public transport is the shared taxi. There are early morning taxi services from Tezpur to Tawang (no shared taxi available from Guwahati to Tawang). You got to book the seats on the previous day at Tezpur. They charge a nominal Rs 800 and accommodate 10 persons (excluding the driver). A good deal. They will drive you safe to Tawang by evening if the routes are clear.

* Ensure that you are carrying Inner Line Permit while travelling to Tawang. There are military check posts and they don't let you cross the border without a valid ILP.