Travelogue Northeast India
Nagaland - Assam - Arunachal Pradesh
Part 4 – from Tawang via Kaziranga to Majuli island
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Day 21 – Friday, December 20, Tawang - Dirang (141 km)
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Last night it started to snow. Therefore we leave extra early. The snow is early in the morning not so crushed by cars and hopefully is not so smooth.
At 6 am we get tea in the room. At half past seven we leave. The 3 guys who keep the hotel running see us off. In this hotel we are the only guests. When we are left, the boys will jump back into bed again we think. Rightly, brrr ... it's cold and we are at the beginning of what will turn out to be a heavy day!
After the first hour drive breakfast at the same restaurant where we ate on our way to Tawang. You do not even sit on your bench or your food is served. An Indian breakfast. What an efficiency here! It is awfully busy. At this restaurant everyone takes a final stop before the trip over the mountain pass begins. After breakfast we also depart towards the Sela pass. The weather, but also the road is getting worse . It's snowing harder and harder. When we drive about 75 minutes and have already come a long way, it is getting really awful. The car slips away. At a certain moment we cannot ascent the slope in a curve anymore.
At the same place where we are stranded, another car is also stuck. After futile attempts to further ride uphill the car returns to Tawang for a rope. The rope will be use to tie to the tires as a simple snow chain.
Our car is more strong, so we will take one more attempt. Fruitless. We have to draw the conclusion: we will have to drive back and buy a rope too. That's another long drive back but there is really no alternative. We get dropped off at the restaurant where we just had our breakfast and Bully proceeds to find a rope. After a while he picks us up again. At 10.30 am we drive off and continue our mountain adventure.
We drive to the military post at the memorial to Jaswant Singh Rawat. While we drink a cup of chai with the military Bully puts on the ropes to the two rear tires. It is a cold task he has to accomplish in a snowstorm.
When the ropes are fastened, the three of us drink a cup of chai and then we go. The ropes, though it's the first time that Bully uses ropes in the mountains, fit and work well. The wheels have grip on the road again. But what a road! We must drive extremely slow and cautious. We see several cars stuck and slipping. If you create an erroneous slip you're off a few hundred feet down! Gradually thick fog patches appear.
On top of the mountain you can barely see the Sella gate. Beyond the summit of 4,175 meters we descend. Decline is even more dangerous than rise. You need to be extra careful because increasing traffic has priority, the car is slipping down easier and we drive down to the dangerous outside of the road; at the edge of the abyss. There are virtually no private cars on the road. Only trucks, shared taxis and some military vehicles. If a truck that runs upwards has to stop for another car, the truck barely succeeds in starting to drive of its place again. If there are problems, or a vehicle is stuck, help is never far away. Everyone helps to make the surface of the road rough so the tires regain grip on the road. Nice to see the solidarity in the mountains in such hard drafts.
A car has stopped at the middle of the road. The driver, of course on a stretch of road where you cannot pass each other, has decided that this is the time and the spot for him to tie ropes. And so, all the road users have to wait for him for half an hour in the snow till he is done. But it can be even crazier! If the front car is almost ready his neighbour from behind comes to the same conclusion. And as the first car is driving away the driver of the other car is still working hard at his project to bind up the ropes. Therefore, our forced break continues. Unbelievable! Behind us is a row of cars now. But nobody seems to care. Everyone waits patiently until the job is done and the road is clear again. This is typical of India!
Exactly 12 hours after the start at our hotel in Tawang we arrive at the our next hotel. And it is not the hotel where we would originally overnight. We have decided not to drive on to Bomdila. We overnight once more in Dirang. Dirang is a good hotel 2 hours less driving from Tawang.
We have a great room again. The three of us sit in our room and order some chips and delicious vegetarian snacks (somosa). Nice glass of wine. Delicious. In Arunachal Pradesh we drink and buy local wine: Zinzi. Fine easy-to-drink wine for only € 3 a bottle. If we go to eat at the restaurant the bottle of wine goes along. Diner is fine and tasty. There are some tourists coming from Quebec Canada, and a lady with an Indonesian background in the restaurant. They passed the Sela pass yesterday. Their journey has also been violently. Eventually they came down into a military convoy. They were afraid and said to have thanked God that they were down safely. What a day!
Today we think a lot about Marjon and Bram in the Netherlands. They have been given the keys to their new home today. Too bad we cannot reach them, but there really is no internet!
Day 22 – Saturday, December 21, Dirang - Nameri (165 km)
(map)Breakfast at the hotel. Admittedly, in the cold, but we have breakfast with a magnificent view; the snow-capped Himalayan peaks in the distance. After breakfast we drive a short distance. Just outside Dirang is a nice old town where we get off.
We go through a gate, past all the old prayer wheels. Here are houses of a few hundred years old. Via a wooden ladder we reach the top floor of a very old pawn. The building used to be a prison, and later the departure of the tax official from Tibet. In the rooms of the property are several statues of Buddha. They come from the monastery nearby. The monastery is being renovated. The ancient images are restored. The images are re-painted.
There are painters specially arrived from Nepal to do this job. A monk trained in Nepal is also present. His task is to bless and refill the hollow Buddha statues with offerings. When we step inside the room he is busy with a Buddha from a few feet high. The Buddha is made of clay. The Buddha was filled with "treasures" and offerings of some 400 years ago. Now everything is removed and the old offerings are burned. The Buddha is refilled by the monk. Villagers come to bring valuables to give the Buddha; grain, money, beads, silver, everything.
There was also a 400 year old stick in the Buddha . Unfortunately, the old stick is to get burned too. There is a new stick made which is admittedly much more colourful. But the antique stick is still so beautiful! We give some money for the Buddha. A 5 euro banknote and some coins . The money is cleaned first before it can be placed in the Buddha. The money is washed in a dubious red liquid. Then the money is left to dry in the sun. Later, the money was also purified above a fire.
Some Buddha's have a blindfold so they do not have to experience the temporary migration out of their monastery.
The new stick is placed when the inside of the hollow Buddha has been ritually cleaned with a damp brush. The stick is followed by a lot of little prayer rolls and incense sticks. We get chai. This is special to experience! A woman removes some nice big lapis lazuli beads from the rim of her hat and gives it to the monk. Our banknote is done in a bus filled with grain. Our coins go into another bus with other coins and the beads. The filled buses will eventually be given a place in the Buddha.
Outside two carpenters prepare a wooden board that will serve as a stop so that the image can properly be closed. What a privilege to be able to attend the ritual of the filling of the Buddha from so close by and in peace
We wander around through the village for a while. At one of the houses yak meat hangs on a beam to dry. We also see some plates with unclear nasty smelling crops and some plates with chili peppers. In one of the houses a very strong alcoholic drink is brewed. In another house a whole family is busy crushing chilli peppers in big jacks. Some houses have beautiful doors. There's corn to dry, and there are beautiful baskets everywhere. A grandfather carries his grandchild in a cloth on his back. We see a lot men walking with children on their backs in this part of Arunachal Pradesh! Our visit to the village was very special.
And up we go again; towards Bomdila. In Bomdila unfortunately almost all the shops are closed. Still we manage to buy some stocking stuffers.
We have lunch in a military camp. There is a huge army base. India has millions of soldiers and here alone, there are 100,000 together. The barracks are together almost a city with a lot of facilities up to an amusement park for the children. We eat a army pizza, a chicken croissant and a cup cake. The army baker bakes delicious stuff! After a cup of coffee we are ready for the last part of trip for this day. We leave the mountains and drive into Assam and the road is much better again instantly. We can even drive 100km per hour in some parts, so we make good progress!
By half past five we arrive back in Nameri eco camp. We are assigned a tent and get tea. At 18.30 we have diner.
Day 23 – Sunday December 22, Nameri - Kaziranga (90 km)
(map)Today we are out of our beds at 6 o'clock. We want to make a walk at daybreak. Nice to be a part of nature at dawn. It is very quiet. We spot a bunch of monkeys and even see an elephant and we hear a lot of bird sounds. Special!
After a good breakfast we head to Kaziranga park . Fun ride on a road where there is much to see.
OAt one point we see a group of people somewhere along the road. They are obviously looking at something. But at what ? We understand that they have seen a rare bird. Birders. A little further, the same story. Again people along the way staring in the distance. Now we see two big rhinos in the field along the way !
Kaziranga National Park situated in the heart of Assam, with an area of 430 square - miles, is inhabited by the world's largest population of one-horned Indian rhinoceros. In 1985 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Our hotel in Kaziranga is the Ioara Hotel. There are a lot of hotels. This area is quite touristy. Especially Indian tourists. Our hotel is disappointing. It looks good, but a lot of fuss, straight away a "It is strictly prohibited to take food or drink to the room" sign and more of those signs and wifi only in a cold hall. Not in the room.
And ..... an incredible amount of noise! Rock hard fake music. At dinner, we are told that the music will be silenced at 20.30 but at 22.00 it is still a deafening noise. Strange for such a supposedly fancy hotel. We think that the smaller hotels are much more fun! There was a pool but it was closed for maintenance. Dinner is tasty, but we are not very impressed by the flick knife hassle of the staff here. In the cold hall, we can connect to the Internet. So we can contact Marjon and hear about their new home. In the room we drink our own wine. Our wine costs 3 euros per bottle; same wine stands for 30 euros on the map.
Day 24 – Monday, December 23, Kaziranga
We have not slept well. Very loud music, a lot of singing out of tune and later loud talking of blind drunk people. At 01.00 a.m. Jan Arend angrily calls the reception. Not much later the drunken people are finally gone.
Half 6 wakeup call and 6 am picked up at the hotel. On the way to the riding point of the Central Range (Kohoro) for the elephant safari. We are afraid it will be very touristy but fortunately that is not the case.
There are quite a lot of people, but the elephants do not stay very close together, so you are not bothered by the others. Some people sit with 3 or 4 persons on an elephant. We are on with only the two of us plus the driver. It doesn't take long before we disappear between the high elephant grass and see the first rhino's.
What a fascinating beasts with those ridiculously small ears and armoured shields! We hear that recently one of the rhino's has escaped from the park. The rhino has injured 26 people and wrecked one car ! On the back of an elephant's however you are safe. Rhinos do not attack elephants. They respect them!
In 2006 the park was also declared as a tiger reserve. In the park seem to live some 86 Bengal tigers, which is the highest Bengal Tiger density in the world. I tiger per five km². There are also Indian panthers. We hear that some Tigers escape from the park from time to time. Especially the old tigers who can no longer hunt properly. They leave the park looking for easy food in a village.
It is a special journey for us, sitting on the back of the elephant between rhinos, deer, buffaloes with their big horns and many birds. At the end of the tour we give the elephant a tip. He gives it to his rider.
After this tour we go to the hotel where we have a good breakfast. Our next tour of the day is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. We go on jeep safari . A nice tour in an open jeep . We see a lot of different animals: rhinos, deer, many birds such as vultures, eagles and even the hornbill bird ! That's really the best !
When the tour is finished we have lunch at a local restaurant. Bully knows the owner. It is a great restaurant ! They serve us a variety of traditional dishes. Very tasty !
At 14.00 hours we would go back into the park, but unfortunately the crowds causes a delay. That's a shame, because it is getting dark early here.
We did not see many special animals on the afternoon trip. We drive to a watering hole where tigers would be seen the day before, but we have no luck. If this tour is finished we go grab a coffee at the restaurant where we had lunch.
Then back to the hotel where again a noisy party is held. The dinner was delicious.
