Arunachal Calling: A Mountain Kingdom Itinerary

For me traveling and exploring different places is like filling the inner soul with purity, divinity, and calmness. Mountains are always my priority on my travel list. India is the abode to some of the awes trucking mountains. India’s northeastern will take one’s breath away with the hypnotic views of the enormous mountains. One such mountain place in the northeast is Arunachal Pradesh.

• What is so special about Arunachal Pradesh?

When the sun rises, the first ray of the sun falls on the land of Arunachal and so it is also known as the ‘Land of Rising Sun’.

It is also home to gigantic mountains, plentiful and verdant valleys, highly photogenic waterfalls, untamed rivers, enormously stagnant lakes, etc.

When all these features come inside one frame; the enchanting beauty that is created cannot be described, rather but deeply felt.

To feel this charismatic beauty, I packed my bags and took off to visit Arunachal with my husband in April 2022, after a break of two years due to pandemic.

This trip amazed me in every way possible.

Whether it be the enchanting scenic beauty of the place, or light-to-stomach, or their inclination toward Buddhism or their simple and light-to-stomach cuisine or the history of the place.

This blog is a record of my entire journey and experiences with Arunachal. I hope my blog will encourage you to visit the place and will also help you to create your itinerary, so please read till the end.

 

·        My Itinerary to Arunachal

My journey began with northeast from Kolkata to Guwahati.

The point to be noted, is that to explore northeastern states, one has to come down to Guwahati, Assam, and from Assam journey begins by road to Arunachal.

 Our Travel guy designed our itinerary and booked all the hotels for our stay and also booked a car for our road journey.

Note:

Except Assam, other north eastern states require an ‘Inner Line Permit’ (ILP) for entry.

 

1.      Reaching Bhalukpong, Arunachal:

Bhalukpong was the starting point of our journey. It is the entrance to Arunachal. Bhalukpong is a small town located in the West Kameng District of Arunachal, along the Kameng riverside.

• Arriving at Guwahati:

After arriving in Guwahati, we straight away fetched our car and set off for Bhalukpong by road. It was a 5 hours (236km) journey from the plains to the mountains.

We started at 11a.m and by 2p.m we stopped for lunch. It is always a wise decision to go for simple home-cooked food while one is traveling especially in mountains.

So as per our driver’s advice, we stopped at a local restaurant named ‘Chitralekha’. They serve a home cooked meal and was a complete delicacy for our taste buds.

• Experiencing nature’s majestic beauty:

After lunch, we again set for our destination. On the way, we passed by so many small towns and villages.

An abundance of lush greenery on both sides of the road was a treat for my eyes, especially, the tea gardens.

As we reached close to our destination I felt the temperature slightly going down. We were already in the mountain zone.

We witnessed a few waterfalls on the way and paused at the Kameng riverside which originates from China.

It was worth stopping by to see the serpentine river flowing through the green fields.

• Reaching Bhalukpong:

Finally, by 6 p.m we reached our destination. At the entry point of Bhalukpong, we showed our ILP at the check post for entering Arunachal.

We stayed overnight at Bhalukpong in Hotel Waii International. Here don’t expect any fancy hotels since it’s a small town.

• Exploring the town:

Late evening we went out for a walk to explore the area. This happened to be the time of ‘Chaitra Navaratri’ when the Hindu Goddess Durga is worshipped and fortunately we found a Durga temple nearby.

Then we came across a momo joint just near our stay. We had veg momo and trust me momo at the mountains is worth trying.

• Checking out for Dirang:

The next day we had to leave early for Dirang so we had our dinner and went to sleep early. The next morning we checked out from the hotel and set off to Dirang.

 

2.      Reaching Dirang, Arunachal:

Our next destination was Dirang, a 4-5 hours drive from Bhalukpong. We moved out in the morning.

• Visiting Tipi Orchid Center:

On the way, we visited Tipi Orchidarium at Tipi, in Bhalukpong.

It is an Orchid center where one will come across different species of plants, flowers, and trees.

 

 

 

• Stopping by the river:

As we proceed further, we again witnessed a few cascading waterfalls, and again we stopped by the river. The river had a hanging bridge which was quite fun to stroll.

 

 

We walked down towards the bank and sat on boulders at the edge of the river. I dipped my feet in the water; trust me it was chilling cold. It was so serene and calm that we had to dock there for a while.

Further on the way we also saw a few temples located in the mountains. Also visited one of the temples.

Now it was lunchtime and we stopped at a local food joint for some home-cooked food.

• Reaching Dirang:

After lunch, we straight away reached Dirang in the evening. We checked into Hotel Mandala which was located at the heart of Dirang town.

 Dirang is a picturesque small town located in Arunachal mountain zones.

It is situated in the West Kameng district along the river Kameng. Dirang offers some exclusive sight-seeing options which are must visit.

We had two nights stay at Dirang. The journey was tiring so we decided to take rest in the hotel. Late that evening we went out for a walk to explore the mountain town.

But to our surprise most of the shops were closed; only a few tea and snack shops were open. Though it was summer Arunachal gave us the feel of winter.

It seems daily life at the mountains ends up early. Although it was pretty quiet unlike city life nothing stopped us from roaming around in the town. 

We were tired of walking so finally we headed to our hotel, had our dinner, and went to sleep. The next day we had local sightseeing plans.

• Visiting ‘Thupsung Dhargye Ling Monestary’:

Once our morning routine was done we headed out to explore Dirang.

First, we reached at the ‘Thupsung Dhargye Ling Monastery’, located at a hilltop. You will get a breathtaking panoramic view of the mountainous Dirang town from the hilltop.

 

The monastery is huge and is a learning center of Tibetan Buddhism. I experienced inner calmness once we entered inside.  Then slowly we moved for our next sight-seeing.

 

 

 

• Visiting ‘Thembang Heritage Village:

Our next stop was ‘Thembang Heritage Village’. It is an ancient village and also a heritage site, built eleven centuries ago.

The village houses were built of stone and it was used as a jail during the Vietnam War. But now local people reside in the village.

The village is located at a higher elevation so it took some time for us to reach it. It was an enthralling experience to see such ancient structures.

Some houses turned into ruins while some are still intact.

I even interacted with the villagers; they were so polite and decent.

I explored every corner of the village. This is an apt place to explore your photographic skill (if you have).

 

 

 

 

It was time-consuming and we were running late; so we had to drop two spots, one was a hot spring and the other was Sangti Valleys. I regret not visiting Sangti Valley as it is the perfect spot for nature lovers.

• Returning back to hotel:

 We arrived back at the hotel in late afternoon and had lunch. After the tiring day we needed a nap. In the evening we went little early for walk. We had tea and snacks from the local stalls.

 There was a mini movie theatre at the Dirang, and we had nothing much to do so we fetched movie tickets of the blockbuster movie ‘RRR’.

After the movie we walked back to the hotel had our dinner and went off to sleep. Next Morning we had to leave for Tawang.

3.      Reaching Tawang, Arunachal:

Next day we started for our following destination, Tawang. It was a long route, almost 6-7 hours drive but we took much longer to reach Tawang as there was a number of sight-seeing in between.

• Visited ‘Nyukmadung War Memorial:

More we climbed up, the more we got a closer view of the mountains. We first stopped at ‘Nyukmadung War Memorial’.

This war memorial was built to pay homage to the brave soldiers who were martyr while fighting the 1962 Indo-China war. 

The memorial is built in Buddhist monastery style.

• Stopping by Mountain view-point followed by ‘Baishak Military Station at Jang:

Next we stopped at a view point to take some picturesque clicks of the enormous greenish mountains.

After a while set off for ‘Sela Pass’ but on the way we paused at ‘Baishak Military Station’ at Jang.

This station included canteen and souvenir shops for common public, run by the army officials.

• Visiting Sela Pass:

Once we stepped into ‘Sela Pass’, the place took my breath away completely. I was completely awestruck by its beauty.

It was chilling cold in April. Strong wintry blowing winds  gave chill in my spine.

The Arunachal mountains were partially snow-capped. The lakes are the main attraction of Sela Pass.

I have never witnessed such mesmerising scenario so far in my life. Therefore, I couldn’t stop myself from clicking endless pictures.

 

As we moved ahead the mountains looked more charismatic and we encountered few more waterfalls.

But we didn’t stop, as we had to visit another famous sight-seeing before reaching Tawang.

 

• Visiting Jaswantgarh War Memorial:

‘Jaswantgarh War Memorial’ was our next stop which is 25km away from Tawang.

This memorial is an honour given to the army man late Jaswant Singh Rawat, who single handed fought with the Chinese soldiers in the 1962 Indo-China war.

 

 He alone tried to stop the Chinese soldiers from entering Indian border but at last he achieved martyrdom.

This place is maintained by Indian Army man;this patriotic story will definitely give one goosebumps.

 

• Reaching Tawang:

 Finally after such a long drive we reached Tawang at 7p.m. We checked into Hotel Dhekhan.

It was freezing cold and we were tired; so we finished dinner early and went to sleep.

• Visiting Shakyamuni Buddha Statute:

Next day was all about exploring the Tawang town. We visited the ‘Giant Shakyamuni Buddha Statue’ which is located on the upper part of Tawang from where one can get a spectacular view of the Tawang town.

This enormous Buddha statue is definitely an eye-catching element.

 

 

• Visiting Tawang Monestary:

 Following next we visited the famous ‘Tawang Monastery’ of Arunachal Pradesh, which is also the largest monastery in India and second largest and oldest in Asia.

The monastery consists of a library, a museum, residing building for monks and a school for basic education.

 

 

 The museum showcases antiques, artefacts, and framed pictures of political figures who visited the monastery in the past. Next in the list was ‘Tawang War Memorial’ followed by the ‘Birthplace of the 6^th Dalai Lama’.

 

 

 

 

 

• Visiting Tawang War Memorial:

After finishing our lunch at a local restaurant we headed straight to hotel for rest.

In the evening we again visited the ‘Tawang War Memorial’ to watch a documentary film in the War Memorial Amphitheatre.

 

 

 The documentary was about the 1962 Indo-China war that took place in different parts of Arunachal.

After the show we felt like munching. There we heard about a popular cafe, ‘Yankee’s cafe’.

We visited the cafe where I tried butter tea for the first time and its definitely worth trying.

We were back to the hotel finish dinner go to sleep early as next day we had to leave early.

Following day we had plans of visiting the major tourist attractions of Tawang. We had our breakfast early and left around 7a.m.

• Visiting P.T.Tso Lake:

We journeyed towards higher elevation. First our car stopped at the ‘Pankang Teng Tso Lake’ (P.T.Tso). It is a huge riveting land surround by the broad mountains.

As we moved upwards, the temperature dropped at the lowest.

• Visiting Madhuri Lake:

Next was the most spell bounding attraction, the ‘Shonga-tser Lake’, popularly known as ‘Madhuri Lake’.

It is because the famous Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit visited this place to shoot one of her movies.

 

Seriously the breath-taking view of the lake made me spellbound for a while.  It was a misty environment where the lake stood still.

Tree trunks stood at the heart of the lake seems to look like protecting the lake.

 

 

 Best way to explore the beauty of the spot is to trek around. But we could not do it as it started raining.

So we had to quickly move out of the place. This is a highly recommendable tourist attraction so one should not miss it.

• Visiting Bumla Pass:

From Madhuri Lake we set off for ‘Bumla Pass’, the Indo-China border, and my most awaited spot to visit.

It is located at an elevation of 15,200 ft. So I was able to experience snowfall.

 

The Pass was completely covered with white sheet of snow. The cold was unbearable for me.

Since its border area, Indian army base camps were located all around. We had to wait in a queue inside a room before visiting the pass.

 Finally it was our turn; the army officials came and escorted us toward the border.

They gave us a brief history about the 1962 Indo-China War. The pass was completely snow-capped. Clicking photos were forbidden.

Note:

You have to contact the local travel vehicles in the town to visit Madhuri Lake and Bumla Pass. Your personal booked vehicles are not allowed to these two places. Better to talk to the hotel staff, they will guide you better.

• Returning back to hotel:

By the time we reached back to hotel, I was shivering crazily and being in a higher elevation I felt a little breathing difficulty.

I would advise people going to higher altitude especially for the first time, take all precautions needed accordingly.

Our Tawang tour was over and next day we checkout from the hotel and started for our following destination, Bomdila.

 

4.      Reaching Bomdila, Arunachal:

The distance between Tawang and Bomdila is 176.7km and it takes 5-6 hours to reach Bomdila from Tawang. Since I was not feeling well; half of the journey I spend sleeping.

• Reaching Bomdila:

As we moved downwards, I could feel ease on my breathing. By the time we arrived at Bomdila it was late. We checked into Hotel Dillu Phu.

Bomdila is a Hilly town and is also the headquarters of West Kameng District in Arunachal Pradesh. It is a bit densely populated compare to the other hilly towns we visited.

Though not much of tourist spot are there but beauty of Bomdila is filled with serenity, isolation, and tranquillity.

 

We mostly explored the town on foot. Next day morning walked around the town and discovered a restaurant, Komu’s Kitchen (ethnic Naga and Chinese cuisine).

• Visiting Local Bomdila Monestary:

Our driver took us to a local monastery in Bomdila. It is not as big as the Tawang Monastery but found it to be more majestic and heavenly.

It was located in an isolated and elevated area surrounded by huge Pine trees.

 

 The monastery had school for monk children and hostel. I interacted with those children; they were full of fun and gentle behaviour.

There are narrow paths near the monastery. We trekked through path for some time. It was calm all round; not a single sign of pollution I found.

 

The chippering of the birds sounded so pleasing to my ears as I trekked with my husband.

We reached a hillock where we rested for some time and enjoyed the scenic view of the hilly town.

• Exploring the Town on foot:

We came back to our hotel for lunch and a little rest. In evening we strolled round the town again.

I keenly observed the mountain lifestyle which is completely different from that of a city.

Life is so simple at the mountains. People there are polite and always carrying a smile on their face.

It seems as if they are very happy in their own little world.

Since night falls little early in the mountains we decided to have dinner and arrived at Komu’s kitchen. The food was so delicious beyond our expectation.

• Returning back to hotel:

Then we headed back to the hotel after dinner and packed our bags for our next day journey to Guwahati, Assam.

 

5.      Reaching Guwahati, Assam:

Following day we bid good bye to Arunachal and headed for Guwahati, Assam. It took us full day to reach Guwahati and we checked into ‘Urban-stay Guest House’.

• Reaching Guwahati:

This was our last destination. This is my second visit to the city. I am so fond of this city; it always gives me a homely feeling.

Besides I was really excited to meet my dear friend after 2 years, who resides in Guwahati.

 I planned two nights stay here. The first night we were exhausted due the journey. So the next day my friend took us for city hopping.

• Visiting Kamakhaya Temple:

But before that, it was a must visit to Kamakhaya temple (one of the ‘Shakti-pith’, a sacred place where the supreme Hindu Goddess is worshipped).

We went for the darshan at 5:30 a.m. and finished by 9 a.m.

Note:

It is advisable to reach as early as possible in order to avoid a huge queue. The darshan begins from 7a.m.

• Lunching with my friend:

We had our breakfast at the guest house.

We moved out to meet my friend for lunch in an authentic Assamese restaurant, ‘Michinga’.

One should definitely try out this place when visiting Guwahati for its luscious cuisine.

• Exploring Guwahati city:

Following our lunch we were out on our foot to explore the city. Guwahati is a small city, though urbanized but surrounded by mountains.

As we moved around, I came across a few old Assamese houses which resembled English cottage houses.

My friend was egar to take us to a very new and popular tourist spot, ‘The Brahmaputra Heritage Centre’ near the bank of river Brahmaputra.

• Taking a ride in the Guwahati Ropeway:

But before that we visited the ‘Guwahati Ropeway’, standing over Brahmaputra River connecting South and North Guwahati. It is a 1.8km ropeway path.

We hopped in for a ride from South Guwahati to North Guwahati and back.

It was a mind-blowing Ariel view of the vast river, both parts of the city and also the surrounding mountains.

• Visiting Brahmaputra Heritage Centre:

Then we reached the Brahmaputra Heritage Centre which was close to Guwahati Ropeway, at Pan Bazar area. This newly renovated centre showcase culture and tradition of Assam.

 

 This is built near the bank of Brahmaputra River, where I witnessed a stunning view of sunset. It is a wonderful place to visit and explore so any thing inside, especially sunset.

By 7 p.m. my friend bid goodbye to me as she had some important work.

• Returning back to hotel:

But me and my husband spend a few moments more alone at the centre and then headed back to our Guest House.

This was the last day of our tour.  Next day we had our flight to Kolkata at 3:30 p.m.

This was an outstanding trip so far for me. Therefore, it was hard to believe that our trip came to an end.

 I wanted to spend some more time in the mountains, but as we say everything has an expiry date and so did my traveling time too.

But I will be back again to explore rest of the parts of North East India. With happy hopes and a heavy heart I bid goodbye this astonishing mountain kingdom.