Himachal Pradesh – Kalpa and into the thin air of Spiti Part-1

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

15th June:

My luck with weather continues with another brilliant morning there, I decided to go for Nagasthi ITBP camp walk in the early morning and it was awesome. This is the place where the famous Har Ki Doon Trek starts or ends and this valley connects with many famous valleys of Uttarakhand. We took lunch in Panchali itself and started around 12.30pm for Kalpa, intention was to catch the sunset there but for the first time in afternoon sky turned cloudy and weather started behaving differently. I heard about 3 hotels in Kalpa, HPTDC was one of them that flatly refused to talk stating all their rooms are filled up even though I saw just 2 days back they have plenty of rooms specially in above 2500 range. Hotel Kinner Villa is nice option but they have good room only for 15th and 16th they were shifting me to a backside room. Golden Apple is the third, I heard a lot about and it also could offer only a good room for 15th. I somehow ignored Rakpa Regency though Vinkal repeatedly told me about this and later repented a lot for this. Golden Apple room was ok but toilet was not that good, geyser was not working. The worst experience I had with food and such a half cooked chicken they offered, I still have a nightmare and couldn’t have chicken since then. The Hotel also doesn’t have a good lobby/terrace to enjoy Kailas range, so called side view rooms were simple horrible and you would be in a difficult situation unless you get a front facing room there. It’s quite costly too; as a whole I won’t recommend this hotel to anyone. With bad weather and shattered dream of a divine sunset, the matter got even worse and I decided to shift to some other places on next day.

Good Morning Chitkul:

Trek to Nagasthi:

16th June:

My alarm went on at 5.00am but I could hear raining from bed itself and with the time rain was getting heavier. The reversal of good luck in start of the trip continues as around 9.00am I have scrapped the idea of walking to Chakha. At 11.00, the moment rain gets lighter, I started exploring the other hotels and found Rakpa completely vacant. Chose the room no 405 at top floor with a nice terrace, attached balcony and awesome views of surroundings. Rent was 1000 as compared to 1700 of Golden Apple. With change of hotel, luck also started swinging back and we decided to go to Peo for lunch and some marketing as next day we would start for Spiti. Little Chef was a brilliant place to eat in Peo and with 2 cartons of mineral water (24 bottles of 1 ltr each) and filled up fuel tank of Scorpio, we were all set for next day. We went to Roghi in afternoon, amazing cliff and terrific fall below. This is the actual HT Road again from Poari towards Khab via Chini Village (Kalpa). In the evening, more bad news came as we met a group of people from Kaza who returned after waiting unsuccessfully for 4 days to cross Kunzum Pass. I called Lotey (Ramesh), the extremely helpful person who owns Spiti Sarai Hotel there and Spiti Holiday adventure a tour organizer in valley. Thanks to Voyager for giving his contact. He assured me telling it would be open soon may be in a day (that he used to tell me from 7th, the day Kunzum closed after sudden snowfall) and I have nothing to do rather than praying for it. My Tata Photon got dead after Sarahan but Airtel came alive after entering Kalpa. I was frantically checking IMD and Accuweather through cell GPRS and only hope was next 4/5 days were predicted as dry in both the sites.

Kalpa Village waking up:

Majestic Kinnaur Kailas:

17th June:

I woke up around 4.30 and the stars in the morning sky made it clear that a brilliant day is waiting for us. The next few hours were amazing with an unforgettable sunrise in Kalpa with crystal clear Kinnaur Kailas Range in hand shaking distance. Started at 7.30am in morning hits NH22 again and move towards Spillo. Seen the right diversion towards Namgiya and Shipki La and left towards Ropa valley. The road was almost all the way good but turns better after Khab Bridge. I remembered to catch a glimpse of Reo Purygal, highest peak in HP from Khab Bridge as mentioned by my friends. It was awesome, the road started to go up after Khab and a signpost marked clearly Yangthang ahead in old road and Nako on the top in new alignment to bypass Malling. New Monastery of Nako was good but best is the sight of Reo Purygal again from there. Visited Nako lake and village for some time, watched quite clearly the old Malling road that was completely destroyed for 200 mtrs in between and new road alignment at top. Around 1.00pm started from Nako and proceeded towards Chango where the old Malling Road meets with new alignment on other side. Chango to Sumdo was mainly through deep canyons of Spiti which was with us since Khab. Pare Chu meets Spiti at Sumdo and yes in right we found NH22 gone up to Kaurik for another 17km. Kaurik is not open for civilians without permit and probably an unique place that is completely destroyed in 1975 earthquake where as the name is still being used in all milestones. We left NH and started with SH30 from Sumdo as we enters Spiti. Land Scape changed completely after Nako with all barren mountains and some typical air erosion patters picked up straight from geography text books. Took a detour of 12 km one way to Giu for that famous Mummy, a bigger temple kind of structure is being built there where mummy would be kept, saw the hair of Mummy but not sure if they are still growing as claimed by many. Hoorling comes once you hit SH30 after Giu. The road is worst here and this part was closed for a day in first week of June shutting Kaza – Peo link. Then We reached Tabo around 4.30pm and found Trojan GH vacant yet pricey, Mentok Dumra little too basic, surprisingly didn’t find San Maria at all in that small town which otherwise was a famous hotel. Lotey again became savior and directed us to Diket Norphel and later we found this is nothing but lost San Maria that changed the name now. So first floor room there at 500 was extreme value for money. The food was good and hotel was extremely clean. Visited Tabo Monastery and brilliant paintings there are quite mesmerizing.

Brilliant Morning from Terrace of Rakpa Regency:

Nako Village:

Spiti Valley:

That is Tabo:

1000 years old Tabo Monastery:

18th June:

We didn’t do breakfast but got some Alu Paratha from the hotel and left by 7.30am. First destination was Mane Village, seems to be greenest in whole Spiti Valley, this is the place where Gunsarang and Manirang Pass trek starts that connects Ropa Valley. The site of Spiti Valley and SH30 was amazing from here. Manerang Ranges were at touching distance and both upper and lower Mane villages are very green. After Mane reached Schichiling but skipped Dhankar as our plan was to do a night stay there. From Attarago turned left towards Pin Valley and experienced some best panorama in whole Spiti Valley. Pin’s color is turquoise compared to muddy Spiti, Gone to Kungri Monastery, attended prayer there, From Kungri, Pin Valley looks awesome, reached Sagnam that itself is a very scenic place and after Sagnam road bifurcates to Mud and Bhaba/Pin parvati pass onwards and other fork goes to Talling and Kuokti Valley, this is the starting point of Larsa Pass Trekking towards Spillo at Kinnaur. Mud is having couple of accommodations and had a nice lunch there. Anyone would be surprised with the colors that Pin Valley can offer. We came back to SH30 and then gone other side towards Lingti Valley. The vista is completely different yet very attractive as we proceeded towards Lallung. There are apparently 2 roads marked for Lallung, one through Rama and Lingti Village that is extremely rough and as per local couldn’t connect to lallung yet as the board at SH30 claims. The other road as part from Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna starts again from SH30 and links Lallung, we took first route first, abandoned it little later and then took the second route to reach lallung. The Kamelang peak rises dramatically behind Lallung village and the old monastery there is worth visiting. We tried to took the short cut from Lalung to Dhankar by another gravel road and within 500 mtrs of Dhankar discovered the road was cut off in between due to a bridge work. We had to trace back all the way to SH30 and then through Schichiling reached Dhankar at 5.00pm. Gone straight to old Monastery and experienced awesome vista of Spiti Valley from Terrace. Got a nice room at 500 in Monastery Guest House with attached bath, geysers. Had a nice dinner and ended a busy yet very satisfying day.

Mane Greenest Village in Spiti Valley:

Spiti River Gorge SH30 on Right:

SH30 goes beside the River towards right Tabo and left Kaza:

Spiti Valley:

Pin Valley:

Small Village Pin Valley:

Colorful Pin Valley:

Pin Meets Paraiho just before Sagnam:

Vista Opens Up at Mud:

Talling Bridge over Pin:

Spiti Valley from Way to Dhankar:

Spiti Valley from Old Dhankar Fort:

Previous: Himachal Pradesh – Deb Bhumi Kinnaur

Next: Himachal Pradesh – Into the Thin Air of Spiti Part-2

Himachal Pradesh – Deb Bhumi Kinnaur

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

The Trip includes places like Chail – Narkanda – Sarahan via Baggi, Sungri, Taklech, Dharanghati, Mashnoo – Chitkul – Kalpa – Tabo – Pin Valley – Kaza – Losar – Kunzum La – Gramphoo – Sissu – Keylong – Baralacha – Udaipur/Trilokinath – Manali – Sairopa – Jalori Pass – Naldehra – Mashobra – Shimla.

It was trip from Kolkata to Chandigarh via flight and then taking a Scorpio for whole trip that picked up from Chandigarh and dropped us at Kalka after 17 days. We took Shatabdi to Delhi and Duronto on next day for coming back to Kolkata.

Start Odo Reading at Chandigarh Airport: 32001
End Odo Reading at Kalka Station : 34203
Total Distance Travelled 2202 km

The initial trip was planned from 19th June to 4th July that needed to prepone by a week round last week of May due to some urgent work that came all of a sudden like a Himalayan Western Disturbance. On one hand it resulted in a complete change in itinerary, air/rail tickets, straight away forfeiting 20% of booking amount with HPTDC Hotels and many uncertainties, on the other hand it gave me much more flexibility and most importantly I got the best possible weather of June 2010, a month that would be remembered for quite long due to some un-seasonal rain, heavy snow and record late in pass openings. On Accommodation front, my only pre-booking were at Narkanda, Sarahan and Chitkul.

11th June:

As a late riser I do hate early morning flights but Jet Connection at 6.30 in the morning was too lucrative to miss as I could reach Chandigarh Airport by 10.15am and that means utilizing the whole day. Actually reached 15 mins late at 10.30am and found Vinkal (my driver for this trip) was waiting with the 2009 model Scorpio(HP-02A- 2200) just outside the airport. I got some snaps of car and driver before hand and the deal was Rs.2200 per day inclusive of everything. By that time I spoken to the owner and Vinkal for at least 4/5 times and discussed the route and clearly communicated the route I am planning to take, an important thing, one shouldn’t miss if you want a hassle free journey later. There was no advance as I clearly mentioned I won’t pay unless I get a ride in the car 🙂 Ultimately I was so pleased with the Car, I decided to pay 50% on that day and called owner to come to either kandaghat or Kufri to collect it. Reason is few experienced travellers advised me to take the scenic Chail Route if possible. It’s a worth journey through the route bypassing Shimla completely and Chail Palace was a place we really liked except the monkey brigade there. Left Airport around 11.30am, took lunch break at Giani Dhaba, Dharampur for an hour, packed up the Scorpio with dry foods and 6 cans of mineral water 5 ltrs each and with a stoppage at Chail palace for 45mins,some photo stops, finally reached Narkanda round 7.30pm, when sun just sets into the mountains. As a first day of trip, I pre-booked Harsh Villa, Narkanda through HPTDC Website only and if you can tolerate the entrance that is little steep, rest is complete value for money for Rs.550 a day. If possible take a 1st floor room and the Himalayan Vista from Room and attached balcony was awesome. I had some very good snaps from this balcony itself. The guy could bring in dinner/lunch from local restaurants for you without taking any extra charges and suddenly at night with all blankets we feel heavenly after escaping from a pathetic 38 degrees in Kolkata.

Chail Palace:

12th June:

Next Day, rather in all subsequent days I made sure that I get up before sun and can start the day with a beautiful sunrise. My alarm was fixed at 5.00 in the morning for next 17 days. Started around 8.00 in the morning for Hatu Peak drive and the road was awesome. Only concern is the temple that is being built there, not sure whether the same serenity would be maintained when the temple would be open for all. PWD RH on Hatu peak is still not operational as there is no electricity there at top. But I wish I could stay a night there sometimes in future, such an awesome location it has. Came back from Hatu peak, strolled around Narkanda and the ski ground was great, a local cricket match was going on there, by the way Cricket seems to be tremendously popular in whole Himachal even in the remotest places. The afternoon was planned for driving to the Thanedar/Kotgarh areas, the apple orchards of Himachal. Nice places all through and finally spending a nice afternoon in Tani Jubbar Lake.

Hatu Peak PWD GH:

Thanedar Apple Orchard of HP:

Apples:

Lone Tree:

Rainbow:

Sun Down Narkanda:

13th June:

Kept a close eye on weather as my data card was still working, This was a day when I was planning to take a little off route to reach Sarahan and praying hard for a nice weather. Instead of taking NH22 via Rampur, I chose the route that British people started using to avoid hot Sutlej Valley and later established as a preferred alternative as part of Old Hindustan Tibet Road. The route was from Narkanda to take Baggi, Khadrala, Sungri, Taklech, Dharanghati, Mashnoo to reach Sarahan. The Baggi to Sungri Stretch was extremely rough and surely didn’t get any kind of maintenance for at least a year though buses ply in the section. From Sungri road becomes suddenly better and it was quite good road till 10km ahead of Dharanghati. Dharanghati – Mashnoo was complete offroading through dense forest region, an amazingly charming journey though and from Mashnoo to Sarahan again it’s a well tarred road. The whole section all along goes through higher ridges and utterly devoid of any traffic. You would get awesome vistas with awful roads. We started at 7.30 in morning from Narkanada and reached Sarahan around 4.30 in afternoon. Took a nice lunch break at Taklech and several other breaks in between. Sincere thanks to one of my friend for the idea of this route. Those who are interested can visit Saraikoti Temple from Dharanghati as it’s a divine place I heard. In Sarahan, we had pre-booking at Bhimkali Temple, a wonderful place to stay. In the evening we strolled to visit the Palace and Hawa Ghar on top, a nice place to see the Sarahan valley and in a clear weather you might witness a brilliant sunset over Srikhanda Range.

Colorful villages on the way:

Road To Dharanghati:

Journey through lush green:

The Road towards Sarahan:

Evening in Sarahan:

14th June:

The day started with a brilliant sunrise over Srikhand. We started around 8.00 in the morning from Sarahan, took a tea break at Jeori, experienced the worst section between Wangtoo and Karcham, SJVN and JP has almost ruined this entire part of NH22 and this region seems to be one of the highest producer of hydro electricity. I wish they could do some justice to the roads and infrastructure of this area as well apart from their business. Felt some relief after entering Baspa Valley but till Kuppa, the road was extremely narrow and the drive was quite scary. Reached Sangla by 12.15pm and took lunch, It’s quite a busy place with lots of hotels and we decided to move ahead until we reach Rakcham. Rakcham is a small village by the side of Baspa. We enjoyed a lot there, spending some nice moments beside Baspa before finally reaching to Chitkul around 3.30pm. Chitkul was simply a divine place and I discovered not only the Data card but also the Airtel Sim stopped working there. BSNL Sim works but without certainty, I found my hotel staffs almost doing acrobatic movements over terrace to catch BSNL signal. After sundown the serenity and cold icy air were hallmark of Chitkul. Probably I would stay longer here next time. We stayed in Hotel Panchali, valley facing first floor room was awesome but this is the place where I had to pay for pre-booking. I paid 1100 while booking from Kolkata and when enquired about rate pretending to be a potential guest, my heart was broken when I heard the guy telling “last price 550 saab, aur kam nehin hoga”. Chitkul is a place that might need pre-booking during puja holidays if mass tourism from Bengal is on, otherwise there are plenty of options unless you venture in an off season.

First Ray of Sun on Srikhand in Morning:

Srikhand Range:

Bhimakali Temple Sarahan:

Hall Mark of Kinnaur:

Sangla Valley:

Posing in front of Camera:

Rakcham:

Chitkul From Panchali GH Room:

Chitkul Afternoon:

Next: Himachal Pradesh – Kalpa and into the thin air of Spiti Part-1

Magical MP – Panchmarhi Part-2 and Pench

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

Now it is included in Satpura National Park region and visiting many places require a park entrance fees and also the local Jeeps formed an union and now divided the main attractions in 3 full days trip which costs you 1500 per day. Quite expensive specially if you don’t want to see all places scheduled in a day and instead want to replace a few spots with places of your choice, firstly union won’t allow that officially and you have to pay extra to driver on top of 1500. So this is the only place where a MPT safari would be extremely helpful. They cover the significant places in one day and with a charge of 1250. Morning they would take you to Museum to start with where you have to buy forest tickets (Rs 60 per person) and take a compulsory guide by paying Rs.200. The Museum is worth visiting to understand Pachmarhi flora and fauna. From Museum, the tour covers Pandava caves which had given much artificial look than what I saw it 11 years back, then to Apsara Vihar and Rajat Prapat, two water falls that needs some amount of trekking to reach. If you are a trekking enthusiast, you can go to bottom of Rajat Prapat but almost need a full day for taking that up. After lunch, they would take you to Bee Falls, some steep climb down and climb up is involved but you get an excellent views of the fall from below. In Bee Fall, I have seen an Indian Giant Squirrel, (6th snap below) with amazing colors. Next they would take you to Reechgarh, a natural amphitheatre in rock approached from Southside cave like entrance. You would find some old rock paintings here but this place also needs small trek. Finally you would end your day with a fascinating sunset over Satpura Range from Dhupgarh, a must go for any tourist in Pachmarhi. We also gone for some trekking in outer region of Pachmarhi that is equally fascinating as you can see a different views of Satpura range, some old rock paintings and also a 100 year old ruin called Begam’s Palace from where we experienced a nice sunset.

The next destination and last in our trip was again a forest, Pench, which is smallest in size in comparison to Bandhavgarh and Kanha and primarily have 3 zones. Touria is the most popular zone with most of the hotels and resorts are closer to this gate and this is nearest from Nagpur and that’s why have a lot of local tourists specially in weekends. Karmajhiri is the gate where you would find the MP Forest RH and much quieter area but travel involved is at least 25 to 30km more than Touria gate from Nagpur. On the other side of Pench river the least visited zone in Pench is named as Jhamtara which should be approached from a road forked to right while you are approaching to Seoni from Chindwara, not sure the accommodation options in this area and only 5 Jeeps are allowed in Jhamtara where as 10 allowed in Karmajhiri and 45 to 50 are allowed from Touria. From Pachmarhi We took the road via Matkuli, Tamia, Chindwara, Seoni, turning towards Nagpur up to Khawasa and then taking right to Pench. We stayed in MPT’s Kipling’s Court as we found FRH booking only allowed just a month before your travel date here. Also FRH is comparatively costlier around 1200/- per day here excluding the food, so we preferred Kipling’s Court with it’s all inclusive 3000 rate that includes accommodations, food and close to most popular gate Touria where we can get a car for our return journey towards Nagpur easily. My point of contact here was Ajay, excellent person who was already introduced in IM in some other threads. He was a very sincere guide and carrying some excellent books on birds to show us varieties of birds in Pench. I haven’t seen or probably haven’t noticed so many birds in Bandhavgarh or Kanha.

Pench, once known as Leopard County and famous for almost sure sighting of leopard even until 3 yrs back. Now leopard sighting is not that common still out of 3 safaris, in two we heard quite a few cars have seen leopards. We were not that much lucky to see it though. Pench’s specialty is Nilgai, male is actually colored blackish blue and females are having dark yellowish shade. We have seen them plenty apart from Gaur, Spotted Deer, Sambars, Wild Boars, Jackals, wild cat and lots and lots of birds. We have seen a spot-bellied eagle owl, a first time sighting in Pench and we had registered our sighting in Forest Office with a few snaps. Apart from Tiger show, we haven’t seen any tiger here. Tiger show usually happens when Forest elephant spots a tiger during morning safaris, costs 200 per head for getting a glimpse of the big cat. Not a very thrilling way of spotting a tiger but sometimes you can get excellent views, like in our day first few Jeeps got an excellent view of the cat with a kill in open space and then saw her pulling the kill to cross the road to go to a bushy area. Also she was accompanied by her 4 cubs of 2/3 months old, a sight to remember for lifetime, I have seen couple of snaps from them and they are awesome!! Later on the sighting was not that interesting, neither people could spot the cubs. So it’s all about your luck and the timing when your turn would come. But I have seen tiger shows running in Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench whenever they could spot a tiger.

Pench stay was really memorable as it was not that touristy like its big brothers Kanha and Bandhavgarh and we got a guide like Ajay who made it more pleasant. He arranged for an Innova to drop us at Nagpur airport for Rs.2200 on next day. The people who travels from Kolkata might end the trip via Nagpur as the Indigo flight connecting Nagpur Kolkata had a good timing, (5.30pm from Nagpur) would allow you to take even morning safari at Pench and then dinner back home at Kolkata. If you book well in advance, the sector offers a very competitive fare and that makes this 1.5 hours journey quite affordable too.

Previous: Magical MP – Bhedaghat and Panchmarhi Part-1

The End

Magical MP – Bhedaghat and Panchmarhi Part-1

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

With an awesome experience from Kanha we gone ahead with a break from forest again and heading for Bhedaghat via Mandla and Jabalpur. The few stretches between Mandla and Jabalpur was not that good, our first experience with bad roads in MP. But otherwise journey was smooth and we reached MP Tourism Motel Marble Rocks on time. The location wise the hotel is strategically placed close to all tourist attractions yet keeping a nice ambience. In Jabalpur which is just 24 km away, you would find ample accommodation options but in Bhedaghat you won’t find anything better than MP Tourism hotel. In the morning we visited the Dhuadhar Falls where Narmada river is jumping as falls, brilliant for your eyes but no so for your cameras as in morning you would face the sun while taking a photograph. Also if you want to enjoy the ropeway ride that takes you on top of falls and gives a nice view of marble rock, you shouldn’t try it before 10.00am as that’s when the ropeway service starts.

Enjoyed the falls to its best and then in the afternoon took the boat ride in Marble Rocks. If you take a local council operated share boat, cost is nominal around Rs.20 per head but getting a separate small boat and going little further than designated mark is well worth of your money. The marble rock is also affected by pollution and to see the actual white marbles, you need to go further towards the Falls now a days. This is one of the best of natural wonders I have ever seen in my life. The boating usually runs from 7.30am to evening till sun set and for full moon and a day before and after that, it runs in evening time as well. Surely would be costlier but probably something one shouldn’t miss. The Marble Rocks where Narmada flows through a deep canyon with marbles on both side of it would hardly be 5km of length where boat ride is allowed only for around 2 kms but still it would be an amazing experience of lifetime. I took again the same boat ride in morning 7.30 and preferred the morning journey more as that’s when you would get a better ambience as no tourist would be there, in morning time usually wind speed is low and you get some awesome reflection of marble rocks in Narmada. If you are a lover of old monuments and don’t mind taking up 150 odd stares, Chushat Yogini Temple is also a must see for you.

On the way to Pachmarhi we gone to Bargi Dam as well and impressed with the MP Tourism property there, the best we have seen among all MPT properties for sure. Location, ambience, cost, in all aspect staying a night here is recommended unless you mind having Veg Food. Had we been staying here, would surely enjoy an amazing sunrise and sunset on the backdrop of Bargi Dam, still enjoyed the speed boat ride, you can take paddle boats, water scooter as well apart from the nice ride in MPT vessels that takes you to sunset cruise in Bargi Lake if it gets sufficient number of tourists. We had a lunch here in MPT and then started our journey for Pachmarhi via Shahpura, Narsimhapur and Pipariya. Another 300km journey with mostly good to excellent roads can be covered easily in 6 hours with breaks.

Pachmarhi, we all know the hill station of MP, an excellent place but must be avoided during Shivaratri and Nag Panchami. I have earlier visited Pachmarhi and fascinated by its charm but with a festival in card and with lots of crowd, it lost its serenity. Pachmarhi has 9 MPT properties to choose from depending on your budget and the place actually is a trekker’s paradise. You need to spend 3/4 days at least to do justice to this place and its attractions.

Previous: Magical MP – Kanha

Next: Magical MP – Panchmarhi Part-2 and Pench

Magical MP – Kanha

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

After a break of 2 days from Forest, we were ready to head to Kanha, it was once again an excellent stretch of road through Dindori-Mandla-Kanha. We booked accommodation in Kanha FRH at Khatia Gate. In this end there are 2 gates, Khatia and Kisli (couple of km further towards forest), earlier the safari used to start from Kisli but as park is being expanded, now the safaris start from Khatia Gate itself. In Kisli (which is by now within park) only available accommodation is with MP Tourism. MP Tourism is allotted land now outside Khatia Gate and they are in process of moving the Guest House out of the park boundary. In Khatia gate, you would have lots of accommodation options are various range but FRH is excellent location wise as that’s closest to park gate. The Park has three zones, Kanha is the most favored among tourists, Mukki comes next and the least visited zone is Sarhi. A local guide told me, the road through the park from Kanha to Mukki or the reverse way can be traveled by paying entry fees of both gates in 3 specific days of week, haven’t verified that information with forest department, but I am pretty sure, it would be a great jungle drive from kanha to mukki if at all allowed by forest department. Kanha gate is more accessible from Jabalpur (Northern) end and Mukki is better approachable from south side. Nearest rail head to Mukki is Rajnandgaon on Kolkata – Mumbai via Nagpur section. Kanha FRH is having options of 2 types of Air Cooled Rooms, newer costs 500 and older 400 per day. I have taken the newer ones and would say they are extreme value for money. The food cost in all the FRH are same, they charge you flat Rs.100/- per meal per person for standard veg meal including eggs. You can expect to pay more for a Non Veg dish, quantity is unlimited, as much as you can eat. The food was good in both Bandhavgarh and Kanha FRH. The forest rates are same as Bandhavgarh except the Jeep Charges. Here for Morning safaris (between 6.15am to 12.00noon, though people usually leave by 11.00am) Jeep rate is 1500 and for evening (3.15pm to 6.15pm) it is 1000. Now again you could manage it by Rs.2000 for both the safaris in a day if you can bargain. Options are plenty to choose from. But once again as you can’t choose your guide here, choosing an expert driver helps. I took the service of Imrat, who is having around 20 yrs experience in Kanha and he was brilliant. His younger brother Sadan Yadav is a guide there and he was my point of contact in Kanha like Mukesh in Bandhavgarh. Imrat can himself be a guide as well as he knows almost all mammals and birds there and in my trip to B’garh, Pench and Kanha I didn’t find anyone better than him to understand tiger tracking. Here though we have seen tiger twice in our 3 safaris but from quite a distance unlike what we have seen in Bandhavgarh. Also due to vastness of park it is more difficult to spot a tiger here than Bandhavgarh. But still we enjoyed it more here as the charm of tracking the big cat in an absolute wilderness like Kanha with an experienced tracker is something you should have to feel. He understands the movement so well and we were in true sense running behind it, the hide and seek game it was playing with us, the start and sudden stop of alarm calls, change in call direction, running towards that end, understanding and guessing its movement all adds more thrill to the experience. Kanha tested our patience and it was really an effort that is worth spending to gain this experience.

As a forest, I liked it most in comparison to others just because of the vastness and varieties of landscapes it offers. Kanha surely deserves at least a week from any wild life lover, I would say. Guide told us there are some 200 odd routes available for safaris in Kanha. (in comparison to 4 to 6 routes in Bandhavgarh/Pench).

We have seen what all we have seen in Bandhavgarh and in addition to that we have seen the Indian Gaur (few call it as bison too, though they are completely different) and Barasingha. This rare species of deer family is Kanha’s main attraction and you would see them in herds here. They are simply amazing. We had also a very close encounter with couple of wild dogs here whose sightings are rare too. This year MP Forest department took 19 Gaurs from Kanha and placed them in Bandhavgarh in a protected zone, may be from next year onwards you may see them in Bandhavgarh as well.

Previous: Magical MP – Amarkantak

Next: Magical MP – Bhedaghat and Panchmarhi Part-1

Magical MP – Amarkantak

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

It was time to fix a car for 10 days to travel for rest of the trip and we have found even the caretakers in FRH were trying the play the middleman’s role in this regard. The Car is again a bargain, we got some nice deals especially with Tavera where almost 1700km travel and 10 nights were negotiated at flat 18000, but later decided to go for an Innova as that suits our need better and the driver cum owner Dinesh Namdeo was turned out to be a nice person. We paid around 23K all inclusive for 10 days for this car which was really in good condition and that was much more than what MP Tourism quoted us for same itinerary which was close to 30K including their 10% service charge for an Innova. Unless you are very hard pressed for time, there was no point in getting cars from MP Tourism, neither you should take the safari arrangements from them. They just book a private Jeep/Car for you which you yourself could do in a better rate and on top of that would charge you 10% extra as service charge.

We took Umaria-Shapura-Dindori-Amarkantak around 220km in an extremely good road averaging almost 90kmph.Except in some stretches between Mandla and Jabalpur everywhere the road condition was simply superb.

Amarkantak is a temple town with lots of temples around it and the place from where 2 major Indian rivers Son and Narmada originates. It’s scenic as well with hills, waterfalls and nice landscapes that you can enjoy. The 8th century temples are simply brilliant. MP Tourism here is the only good accommodation option though with not so good food.

Previous: Magical MP – Bandhavgarh

Next: Magical MP – Kanha

Magical MP – Bandhavgarh

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

This trip was planned earlier and then cancelled for some personal problems and this is not the first time, consecutive three attempts to MP failed because of some reasons or others, so I was really skeptic if I could ever make it. After Lahaul/Spiti and more desolate Eastern Arunachal, this was more of a relaxed vacation for us where we don’t have to carry dry foods or tons of medicines, neither we were depending on Govt CH with lots of uncertainties nor we were venturing into a territory with no communication but still it turned out to be quite eventful for many reasons.

We started from Kolkata by Mumbai Mail via Allahabad, a train which was not only up to the mark in terms of cleanliness (talking about AC- II) but also started running late from the very beginning. It started an hour late and kept running late and finally we reached Katni around 7.30pm where as schedule time was 4.20pm. As we have our reservation there in Tala FRH, Bandhavgarh, we had to hurry for our onward journey. The Bolero was taken for Rs.1400/- for a drop to Tala FRH from Katni and driver told it would be 2.5 hours drive from Katni, we estimated it much lower and immediately took a decision to buy our dinner from Katni as we didn’t expect FRH people to entertain us with foods at 11.00pm. So ultimately we started around 8.30pm from Katni, the road was excellent, ambience too, it’s a full moon night and we were cruising around almost 80kmph, after midway, I observed the headlight was getting dimmer, asked the driver, he said nothing, carry on further and suddenly around 15km before Tala, at the T-Junction where the road from Katni, Umaria and Tala meets, car refused to go any further, engine stopped completely. We had Vodafone, Airtel and BSNL and none had towers there, after repeated try driver called up the owner and complained the battery had completely drained out and requested owner to arrange some alternatives from Tala. It was an ugly mess, we were almost inside a forest region with no one in sight, with kid it was a pathetic experience and quite bone chilling when we didn’t find a single vehicle after waiting for 15mins. We didn’t have FRH Number to inform them on our status, then all of a sudden like a lifeline a mini bus came after attending a marriage nearby, it was not going to Tala but looking at our condition, the driver agreed to drop us those 15km for Rs.500/- Obviously we were not in a position to bargain even and when boarded the bus we still were not confident that we could reach those 15km, road got extremely bad couple of km before Tala and it was dense forest at both side but the full moon night was simply awesome, though we were not in a position to enjoy that. The bus finally dropped us around 11.15pm at Tala FRH, it’s the first accommodation when you enter Tala from Katni side. We relieved to see the Caretaker still awake then and got our rooms. The rooms are quite good for Rs. 500/- I must say and best part of MP Forest RH is they take money in advance (Through DD) and send booking confirmation either electronically or by courier. So you won’t be uncertain like other FRH in various states where your reservation might get cancelled in case of VIP Arrivals.

We were extremely tired and straight away had our dinner that we bought in Katni and gone to bed. Next morning we didn’t keep any Safari apprehending the tiredness of such a long journey and it turned out to be a boon. We slept till 8.00 in the morning and then got up and had a great breakfast there. The FRH location is brilliant; it’s far away from noise of Tala and had a large campus with very good arrangement of food and of course the value for money rooms. I have spoken to many resorts in Tala and all were quite expensive in the tune of Rs.2000 and try to include everything naming as Jungle Plan (that includes food, accommodation and Safari Costs) by increasing the cost even more. Our rooms in FRH had Air coolers, AC Rooms costs more around 3000/- in FRH but they are quite specious I would say. I was in touch with Mukesh Burman, a well known local of Tala and quite a knowledgeable and experienced guide there. Unfortunately he was suffering from Typhoid and couldn’t accompany us but made every attempts to make our Safaris as pleasant as possible. In Bandhavgarh for Tala zone 35 Jeeps are allowed where as in Magadhi zone they allow 66 vehicles. But tickets of Tala (Zone1) would always be sold off completely and don’t expect to get a safari ticket on spot there unless you pre-book it though your agent or by yourself in https://www.mponline.gov.in/Portal/Services/Forest/Search.aspx Magadhi zone tickets would be available but people say tiger spotting (the main attraction of Bandhavgarh) in Magadhi is not that common as it is in Tala. Rest two zone, Khitauli and Panpatha, probably have very few visitors. Now in Tala almost 160 Jeeps are operational but as only at most 100 (including Tala and Magdhi) are allowed, it’s a bargain game for you. You would listen to many things like 1500/- is the standard charge fixed by Union but just stick to your ground and use your bargain skill and surely you would be able to negotiate it in a better rate. I got it @1000 per safari.

Usually once you decide the Gypsy, the driver would take the tickets (that you have pre-booked) from you and would get it verified in next morning and pay the guide charge and you would be ready to enter the park. In Bandhavgarh you can choose your guide where as in Kanha and Pench the guide would be allowed in sequence and you have to take who ever would be allotted. In Pench there is a work around where you can choose your guide out of turn by paying additional Rs.200 to the guide who was initially allotted (Total Guide cost would be Rs.400 then) but in Kanha I didn’t find anyway to get the guide I want. Guides do matter specially for first timers as an experienced guide can tell you in details on park and its flora and fauna. Also they have tremendous sense of judging the movements of big cats, understanding the alarm calls and behaviors of other animals and also they would keep telling you some interesting stories about the park. I’m sure a good guide can make difference in your experience.

Back to the park, Bandhavgarh and Pench are almost same size and much smaller to the size and varieties in comparison to Kanha. In Bandhavgarh for Zone1, there are 4 specific routes, A, B, C and D and you would be getting 2 out of them in random, since park opening in Oct 2010, route A is closed for visitors, so only available routes in Zone1 are B, C and D. We got C/D in evening safari of first day. Evening safaris were scheduled to start around 3.00pm and it goes till 6.00pm the sunset time. It was cloudy day and we started our first safari with few birds, storks, and herds of spotted deer. In 5 to 7 minutes after starting the journey, the guide suddenly asked us to be silent, he spoken to the driver in some local accent which I didn’t understand much but the way jeep started running after that, we understood something is going to happen. Slowly we understood in subsequent safaris the alarm calls of Sambar/Spotted Deer and the movements of Langurs nearby and how these guys actually zero in then the possible movement of Big Cats by considering where they seen the cat last and many other factors like if it killed any last night, if it is accompanied by cubs etc. This is really an interesting aspect and you would surely enjoy the moment you would start understanding the underlying principles. Soon the driver also heard something and press the sudden break to halt the Jeep and then started the waiting, we were trying to look here and there but didn’t understand what’s going to happen. Within few moments another three Jeeps came from behind and stopped there, hardly 2/3 mins of waiting and then the unbelievable scene, it was barely 10 ft from me, suddenly it appeared royally from the bush beside us and crossed the road without even caring that 5 odd Jeeps and at least 30 odd people were watching holding their breaths. Its absolute silence and only the sound of relentless number of shutter clicks, not sure how many actually seen it in naked eyes as when I took off my eyes from Camera, I saw all were watching through their lenses only. Actually I was so engrossed with my 300mm lens, I would have completely missed the opportunity to take snaps with some other perspectives, like the first one below, with Jeeps in background it shows how close we have seen it, Thanks for my friend Arindam for taking this snap and sharing with us. But 10 minutes within the first safari, the dream was coming true, it was an unbelievable feeling, difficult to express, the way it walks past us clearly shows the royal arrogance. We were so awe struck, for next 10/15 minutes we were not speaking normally among ourselves, we couldn’t believe that we have seen tiger from so close.

Bandhavgarh at its Best (The First snap credit goes to my friend Arindam):

Rest of the evening was not that eventful, mainly because all of a sudden it started raining and our driver forgot to carry the plastic they use during rain and you can understand how we spent the rest 2.5 hours in relentless rain sitting in an open Jeep.

Next day morning safari was at 6.30am and we had to start around 5.45am after the last evening rain, it was very cold, morning safaris are really a different feelings when you could see the forest is coming into its life with sun, the wild boars, herds of deer in light and shade were awesome, the light was so low, no point in trying anything with camera, specially with slow lenses, so enjoying the forest and feeling it is the only thing that one can do to his or her best during this early hours. The sun rise in the rocky terrain is gorgeous and beyond any word to express. We have seen lots of birds and peacocks (mainly in route B), sambars, spotted deer, jackals and langurs.

In evening safari we have experienced a great sun set on the backdrop of Bandhavgarh Fort, which again needs proper planning to visit as only 4 cars are allowed per day, 2 during morning safari and 2 between 11am to 2pm. This ride can’t be booked online, you need to buy the tickets on spot if available. Some amount of trekking is involved as vehicles no longer are permitted to go till top because of environmental degradation.

Next: Magical MP – Amarkantak

Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-3

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

3rd January:

Brilliant day with a great sun shine started, we planned to walk to 20th Mile through MV Road (Deban is in 17th Mile). The 3 miles walk took almost 2 hours as the road was not even walkable. But it was a nice experience walking through that road and seen Lizu tribes of Vijaynagar (Undoubtedly one of the remotest corners of India) are walking through the roads after buying their rations from Miao. They said the walk is of 14 days if they follow the road, they usually take shortcuts by crossing NoaDihing River that flows through Namdapha and climbing mountain but still that takes 6 days of walking. They build makeshift camps in the forest to spend night and again start walking in the morning. Surprising to even think how many faces India really is having. I found even a 4 year old kid is walking with them and would walk up to Vijaynagar. From 20th Mile you can get good views of Daphabum, the highest peak in Namdapha in a clear day. Evening was spent with the Forest dept people there making a camp fire and watching stars and listening to the flows of the river below. Wonderful experience and I have never experienced so much remoteness in any forest in my life.

On MV Road Trekking to 20th Mile:

Lizu tribes take their daily commodities from Miao:

Bridge made by Lizu on Noa Dihing:

Lizu girl of 4 years, she too walks for 8 days through dense rain forest:

Deban Forest Rest House:

Tourist Hut in Deban:

4th January:

We initially planned to trek into the forest up to Haldibari but then forest people advised us not to go with a kid of 5 years as this year because of heavy monsoon, we had to cross 2 water streams to reach there and both are having knee deep water for an adult and having difficult turbulence and slippery rocks below. Also leach guard is mandatory to go there and getting a leach guard of kid’s size is impossible. So we decided to cross Noa Dihing and visit the Chakma Village on other side of the river and also considering next day’s plan we decided to leave in the afternoon rather than staying that night at Deban. Chakma Village is very nice and clean, had thatched house fitted with Direct To Home connection, a nice fusion of tradition and contemporary. They do farming for their livelihood. Around 2.00pm in afternoon after having lunch, we started our return journey to Miao and this time with ample daylight and much drier road after 2 days of bright sun, the MV Road didn’t seem to be as bad as we experienced when coming. Still the car could get stuck anytime and we found a Scorpio stuck in between and we all helped to get it out of the mud. Reached Miao in evening and stayed in Eco Tourist Lodge in Miao, another Forest IB, presently run by a NGO. The accommodation was nice and clean, food was not that good though.

Himalayan Giant Squirrel:

Boatman of Forest Department:

Chakma Village on other side of Noa Dihing:

Butterfly:

Chakma Girl plucking Red Chilies:

Butterfly:

Picturesque Chakma Village:

Chakma Boys:

Pagoda style Buddha Bihar in Chakma Village:

Noa Dihing flows through Namdapha National Park:

Driving through the River, that’s how drive in Arunachal means:

5th January:

We started early and gone to experience the Ropeway in Miao, that’s being used by local to cross Noa Dihing. This was one of the oldest ropeways built in 1975, developed and still maintained by Oil India Limited. Those who visit Miao must experience this as the view from the ropeway is awesome. It starts at 9.00am and runs till 4.00pm. We reached around 8.00am and requested them to give us a ride; the person was kind enough to start it at 8.30am on our request. One way crossing takes 7 mins and after having a good 15mins ride, we started our onward journey towards historic Stilwell Road. From Jagun we diverted left towards Jairampur. Jairampur is having the check gate to enter ILP. Soon after we faced first army check post where we have to show the special permit to visit the Pangsau Pass as given by ADC, Jairampur before they let us go. We visited on the way the second world war Cemetery towards Nampong (Nampong to Jairampur is 17 km and Jairampur to Jagun is 10km). Nampong is last Indian village on this road towards Burma where Burmese people come to shop on 2 specific days of month (15th and 30th). After crossing Nampong again we were stopped by army in another check post. Here even after showing the permit, they spoken to their higher authority and after 15mins we got the go ahead and we were told that on the way army would escort us to border to show us the border stones and then would escort us back again. We faced one land slide in between, waited for 30mins to get it cleared by BRO and then suddenly we saw the much sought after mile stone written as Pangsu Pass, we noticed on other side another stone showing “Union of Myanmar” but still couldn’t believe we reached the border. The roads suddenly got deteriorated but we kept continued and after 2 km we understood the mistake when faced by Burmese Police. We realized we crossed the international border with a car without any valid papers, it could be much worse, fortunately the Burmese Police were kind enough, we even clicked a few snaps with them, they didn’t understand any language we are aware of and then when we are coming back, we encountered Indian Army, the post we didn’t notice at all while going. They asked why we went alone without army escort and also enquired exactly how far we gone, we realized any silly answer would make our condition worse, we started showing some place pointing our fingers and saying “Till there” and we apologized for going there without taking army escort but it was really not intentional, though proved good for us finally for a 2km to and fro drive in Burma that was impossible if Army would have escorted us. By the time we were returning it was communicated all through Indian Posts that a red colored Bolero gone towards border unescorted and everywhere we had to explain the same thing repeatedly. We were back to Jagun by 2.30pm much relieved after experiencing the Stilwell Road and the much sought after Pangsu Pass. It was really amazing to even think how this 1736km road was built in flat two years negotiating such a hostile terrain of mountains and dense rain forests cutting across 3 countries from Ledo in Assam Plane to Kunming in China through Myanmar. After Jairampur road was superb and we drove fast till Digboi, in between touching Ledo station, the easternmost operational railway station of India. Digboi was famous for many first especially considering the fact; it was the place where crude oil was discovered in 1889, first in the eastern part of Suez Canal. So in that sense it’s first oil well discovered in Asia. A visit to the centenary Oil Museum there, is really good way to get yourself educated on Digboi and Oil industry. We liked the place and Digboi is very clean town. Finally we reached Tinsukia as checked into the same hotel again where we started our trip.

Noa Dihing from Ropeway:

Scenic Road to Jairampur:

Drive through Stilwell Road:

Historic Stilwell Road enters Myanmar here, the gate is closed (Its a closed border):

Myanmar Starts while India ends here:

Historic Pangsu Pass known as Hell Pass during Second World War:

Nampong Town, last Indian town on Stilwell Road:

Second World War Cemetery:

Eastern Most Rail Station of India since Lekhapani Rail Station was closed in 1993:

Previous: Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-2

The End

Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-2

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

31st December:

Started from Walong at 7.00am as we had to explore the area before heading for Hawai to stay the night. Gone to Kibithu, famous as it’s known as “East of North East” crossing the most panoramic part of the whole journey. The road from Walong to Kibithu would make you remember of Kashmir Valley specially the road to Pahelgaon. Crossed Namti Valley where the fiercest battle of 1962 was fought by Indian Army but when you would be crossing these area, you would be more amazed by the beauty of nature than the memory of war though the whole region has several battle monuments for the martyr of 1962 war. We reached Kibithu (24km from Walong) around 9.00am and found the helipad is now restricted for civilians. We visited the ITBP Camp there and from there we could clearly see the Chinese Camps in other side of border. Photography is strictly prohibited in whole area especially towards to Border. Only phone in the camp was down and we got a chance to chat with couple of ITBP people who were really frustrated for not being to able to even talk to their family and wish them in new year, what a hard job these guys do and its because of them we are celebrating our holidays, I was just enquiring about the exact tri-junction border between India-Myanmar-China and they said its still almost 85km from there (out of which around 20km is motorable up to Dechu) and they regularly goes for patrolling the area by foot, the forest is so dense, they can’t even use horse/donkey to take the ration, one side trek takes around 8 days from Kibithu. No further roads can be built as the border region here is disputed and China doesn’t agree to McMahon line here. We gone towards Dechu through another road through Mesai Bridge and Kaho that is written as “Eastern Most Road of India” but just before Dechu was stopped by Army and they told no civilians are permitted beyond Dechu, the last habitable place closest to Border. From a place nearby, with the help of Indian Army we gone up to a hill and through their telescopic lens we could clearly see the Chinese Army movement in other side of the border as well. They said the border is completely peaceful for last 2 years but both sides’ army patrols there 24 hours, I couldn’t even imagine how difficult it would be to spend night after night in open air looking through Night Vision Telescope towards the border but that’s what Army do for us every single day and night. This road to Dechu is fearsome, on one side its steep rock gone up and other side deep gorge straight down to Lohit River. We started around 11.45 from here our return journey and on the way back stopped near hot springs of Walong where you could touch the Lohit River, awesome place and a new circuit house is being built here, locals are even catching fishes in the cold water of Lohit, God only knows how anything can live in such a cold water. The hot spring is nice and you can take a nice bath if you plan for it. We reached circuit house in Hawai around 3.45pm in the evening and in December, in that region, it gets dark by 4.15pm. The Hawai is the district Head Quarter of Anjaw though the town is being built and still DC/ADC of Anjaw usually works from Hayuliang and Tezu (District HQ of Lohit). The circuit House is brand new and the best I stayed in my life. The persons are very friendly and we had a great time there but Hawai is probably located higher than Hayuliang and Walong and we felt the worst cold here. Had a nice dinner, only issue is I had to take bath at 4.00am in morning as power goes daily between 5.00am to 9.00am there and you won’t get any hot water in between.

Namti Valley carries the history of 1962 Sino-Indian War:

Kibithu – East of North East:

Postcard from Anjaw:

The hill on far side is in China:

Picturesque Lohit:

Awesome Anjaw:

Close to Heaven:

Road to Eastern Most part of India:

Close up Lohit:

Walong Valley:

War Memorial at Walong:

1st January:

It was such a serene place, we didn’t even realize it was a new year morning, the weather doesn’t look promising as the WD that lashed Western Himalayas on 29th/30th Dec, by that time about to arrive Arunachal. I was aware of that and without wasting any time my first objective was to come down from hill before the rain starts. As weather was gloomy and it was a return journey, photo stops were very limited and we took a heavy breakfast, so we tried to come down as fast as we could without stopping for any lunch break, weather was slowly turning bad to worse and slight rain started when we crossed Hayuliang. Crossed Y-Junction at 3.00pm(Started from Hawai around 10.00am) and reached Parsuram Kund around 3.30pm (16km from Y Junction). Took a brief stop but weather was turning worse, rain was getting heavier, we didn’t waste anymore time and crossed Wakro around 4.30pm (It’s completely dark by that time and rain started quite heavily). There is a road to Deban (In Namdapha) from here only 50km and shortest if someone wants to reach Namdapha from here. But from there, you can’t take your car to other side as there was no ferry service to take your car, so if you could arrange another car ready in other side of river and get your forest permit ready (that needs to be collected from Miao) you could save almost 150km to reach Namdapha and that is translated to saving a whole day in Arunachal. We crossed Wakro and reached Medo (21km from Wakro) where we planned to stay in a Forest Dept IB inside a Tea garden that is presently being managed privately. It was an excellent stay and with heavy rains outside, power gone off, the ambience seems to be brilliant but I couldn’t feel the romance at all as I knew I had to cross the deadly Miao-Vijaynagar Road on next day and this rain could make the road worse than hell. Pana, the caretaker was a Bengali guy, cooked Chicken for us and the dinner was excellent. Next day morning we discovered the place was even more brilliant than we thought of and repented of not staying there for one more day.

The Road follows Lohit:

Parsuram Kund Bridge where Hill Meets Plane:

Parsuram Kund Bridge:

2nd January:

I have got up several times at night and every time heard it was raining heavily, so tried to checkout several plans for next day, There are 4 ways you could reach Namdapha from Medo.

a. Through Wakro-Deban – Shortest but none could tell me how the road is from Deban to Miao through other side of Noa Dihing, so couldn’t take chance here after heavy rain.

b. Through Namsai-Dayun-Phup Village and crossing ferry to Miao – The 2nd best option but again people couldn’t tell how the Namsai-Dayun stretch is and how the approach to ferry specially after heavy rain. Sometimes it might get difficult to take your car up to ferry after heavy rain unless the approach road is good. Also the other issue that made me thinking was if I took this road, I couldn’t enter my ILP in Namchik gate that is used to enter Miao and while returning that might create trouble.

c. Coming back all the way towards Tinsukia and through Makum-Digboi-Margarita to Miao – Longest and would cost you almost 125 extra km and huge time and I couldn’t reach Deban on same day.

d. Namsai – Bordumsa – Jagun Ghat – Crossing ferry on Namchik River and to Miao: This sounds best to me as I had first hand information on Jagun Ghat and also I could enter through Namchik Gate to avoid any harassment later on. The road was somewhere good, somewhere medium and somewhere very bad.

I started from Medo at 9.30am (which was pretty late considering my days plan) and visited Buddhist temple in Chowkham and Tengapani, excellent architecture and different from other Buddhist Temples in India in terms of the structure, you would find sound resemblance with Pagoda style of Myanmar and Thailand here. Finally I paid Rs.100/- all inclusive this time to cross a 2 min ferry ride with car to reach Jagun and from there to Miao via Kharsang (104km Medo to Miao through this route) at 3.15pm. As it was a Sunday, I had to waste some more time as we need to collect Namdapha Forest Entry Permit and Deban Forest RH Booking Permit from the forest Conservator Miao and being a holiday I had to call him and get it collected from his home. Finally we started at 3.45pm and hit the dreaded MV Road (Miao Vijaynagar Road) soon. MV Road was built in 1970s and soon left unattended as maintenance was extremely difficult in soft mud hilly terrain and dense rain forest. The whole stretch is 157km and only 25km up to Deban is still motorable and that too was closed for whole 2010 since a big landslide hit early this year. Governor of Arunachal tried reaching the place in August but had to come back in between and he then promised to come back at December end again. For him we heard the road became motorable few days back again up to Deban but when we gone after the rain, we found it’s only advisable with a 4X4 here. The road going through river bed and in dark if you don’t know it’s difficult to follow the correct road even. The roads inside the rain forest doesn’t get light even in morning, so around 4.30 we were driving almost in dark, in many places the mud was touching the foot board of Bolero. Suddenly we got a cracking a sound and discovered the front left wheel gone inside a trench on the side of the road which was completely covered by grass. We didn’t have much to do than to pray as only option was to lift the car from there which was impossible for 2/3 persons. Being 1st Jan, we found almost a God sent Picnic party returning from Deban and almost 25 people tried their best for 10 minutes to get the car out of the ditch. We started proceeding further in complete darkness now even more shattered after the earlier incident and crossing every single km seems like crossing a hundred km. It was never ending road, we got stuck in one more place where I don’t know how I could able to push the car from mud touching the underbelly of the car. Then in final twist we crossed the mark of Forest RH in left and kept moving through un-motorable stretch of MV Road. We were lucky as one PWD Camp was there barely a km ahead and they showed us the right way. We finally reached the FRH at 5.45pm but would never forget the experience of driving through that 25km. Mainly because of Governor’s initiative PWD started working again on the MV Road to make it motorable up to Vijaynagar and a few bulldozers were airlifted to Vijaynagar and started working on the road from both side. As per Governor’s wish, he wants to hoist National Flag on 26th January but I have real doubt if that dream would ever be met at least on 26th Jan of 2011. We had given accommodation in tourist hut as FRH was being prepared for Governor’s visit but the rooms in FRH were much better than the Tourist Huts. We had our dinner and gone to bed as soon as possible as solar light there gone off in 2/3 hours and we were extremely tired after a long day.

Tea Gardens at Medo

Tengapani Buddhist Temple inspired by Myanmar Pagoda Style:

Lord Buddha:

Crossing Namchik River to Jagun on the way to Namdapha:

Entering Namdapha National Park:

Previous: Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-1

Next: Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-3

Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-1

June 2, 2014June 3, 2014 by Kaushik

This trip was never possible unless I would have got help from few fellow travellers like Kothanda Srinivasan, HV Kumar and Lindie. Trip log of Kumar is probably the only reliable road direction with valuable details for this region that available in internet; I didn’t even get any good map to plan for it. KS helped a lot by giving certain contacts of Dibrugarh, otherwise I never could get my ILP and Lindie’s help in getting accommodation details and information from web is invaluable. Phupla Singpo, a person who runs a NGO in Miao and Arif an engineer by profession and a great photographer by passion presently located in Jairampur were of great help and without their help I might not be able to cover all the places I intended to go.

My initial plan was quite ambitious and covering 3 weeks in Assam and Arunachal.. That cut short due to a family problem all of a sudden and I had to finally manage it in 12 days and because of that I decided to concentrate only on Eastern Arunachal and cancelled my flight ticket to Guwahati and booked it very late with heavy premium for 26th December to Dibrugarh.

Final Trip Plan was to start from Tinsukia and covering Roing — Mayudia — Tezu — Hayuliang — Walong — Hawai — Parsuram Kund — Wakro — Medo — Chowkham — Namsai — Bordumsa — Jagun — Miao — Namdapha –Jairampur — Nampong — Pangsu Pass — Ledo — Digboi – Tinsukia

Few Important Points to consider before making this trip

Let me summarize few points those are important to consider while making plans for an Arunachal trip specially central and eastern region. You can avoid these only by taking a service from an experienced tour operator in Arunachal but the premium to be paid for that would be extremely high.

Weather:

As the effective tourist season is quite short due to long spell of monsoon, the only option was to target this amazing place in Christmas/New Year holidays as November and December usually the driest in Arunachal and considering the remoteness and infrastructure problems, the weather plays a bigger role for a successful trip in this part of India. One day of heavy rain was almost ruining my trip, so checkout weather site and keep backup plan ready specifically if you go to remote place where river crossings or driving through boulders and mud roads are involved.

Accommodations:

The trip is little different than visiting other places of India because you need to plan in depth considering the absence of tourism infrastructure in the state except the Tawang sector. The available accommodations are only Circuit Houses, Inspection Bungalows or Forest Rest Houses those are usually cumbersome to book and even after that you always have a chance of cancellation in case of VIP Visit especially in a holiday season like Christmas and New Year. Usually repeated calls to DC/ADC/EAC/CO of the relevant district brightened the chance but in general communications in this regard only entertained 7 to 10 days in advance.

Inner Line Permits and Other Passes:

Other important thing is to going through administrative hassles of getting Inner Line Permits for the places you intend to visit and for some specific places even the special pass issued by District Administrations and Army. Some of the passes even require the Car Registration Numbers and Driver’s name and that makes it even more difficult to arrange in advance unless you drive your own vehicle. Permits usually issued for a specific tourist sector (Arunachal is presently having 11 approved tourist sectors) and it’s better to get the names of the place you would like to visit to be specifically mentioned in permit. I have two points to mention in this regard.

1. I arranged 6 permits, 2 from Kolkata, 3 from Mohanbari, Dibrugarh and 1 from Miao and permits issued from different places having completely different look and feel. This helps to some extent especially in check gates those are less touristy unlike Bhalukpong. In my case permits issued from Kolkata were scrutinized more rigorously than those issued from Mohanbari. So better option is to get permits from local offices if possible.

2. The rule is to enter and exit through same check gate and this sometimes make a round trip plan extremely difficult especially if you exit from a check gate where your vehicle is not entered. To avoid this I had to go extra 50 km when coming from Medo in Lohit to Miao in Changlang which is quite a lot considering extremely poor road conditions.

3. Considering backup plans, its better to arrange for all possible ILPs even if you don’t intend to visit all the places. For a remote state like Arunachal that might be really useful.

Vehicle:

Unless you drive your own vehicle, it’s an extremely important part to get a good vehicle and experienced driver to visit Arunachal. Vehicle costs the most among all cost components in the trip and without a good vehicle and driver it’s difficult to make this trip. Points to be noted are

1. The Vehicle Cost in NE usually having 3 components,

a. Dry Car Rent depends on type of car you choose but remote areas need Bolero/Scorpio kind of high ground clearance car as sometimes the NH shown in map is nothing but driving through river beds.

b. Drivers Daily Allowances varies from 300 to 500 per day or on actual. If you go to less touristy places, on actual having 3 distinct advantages, first it would be cheaper as almost all CH/IB having driver’s accommodation in low cost and second is less pocket money to driver is better in North East where drunken driving is a menace and third it helps to build up a rapport with the driver when you bear his costs on actual.

c. Fuel cost, it’s better to strike a deal on actual cost of fuel only if it can be ensured the car is in good condition and driver won’t take out fuel which is quite common here. Alternatively you can strike a deal of a rate like Rs/km or expected mileage of the car. My deal was car should give an average of 10km/ltr and if it goes better the profit would go to owner if less, loss has to be incurred by him, I ran for 1000km and paid for 100 liter diesel and adjusted the extra with rental cost.

2. It’s cheaper if you can strike a deal with owner or driver directly as sometimes 2/3 middlemen are involved when you go through travel agents. Also in my case I found cars from Tinsukia were less costly than taking it from Dibrugarh as because of simple economics of demand and supply.

3. Once again the roads are so poor, try to ensure that you get a car preferably less than a year old with good conditions even if that costs you a premium.

Food
Don’t expect dhaba or eateries anywhere in between specially when you are in Dibang Valley, Lohit or Anjaw, so try to get a heavy breakfast and keep dry foods and ample waters with you. This would save time as well in these slow roads.

Contingency Days:

Assam and Arunachal both are infamous for their sudden strikes and whatever small fraction calls it, for some reason it becomes a complete shutdown and may completely put your plan in a chaos. So keep extra days in hand.

26th December:

My indigo flight from Kolkata was a nightmarish experience just because of the Chaos in Kolkata airport on that day. I was almost missing the flight even after reaching airport 2 hours before the departure time. Would think twice before booking Indigo in a rush time from Kolkata. Landed 20 mins late at Mohanbari and had a great weather, from flight got unhindered views of Himalayan range and got an Indica to move to Tinsukia as I decided to start my trip from there instead of Dibrugarh. Tinsukia is having a few hotels but only 2 of them are good, Hotel Ballerina is prohibitively costly considering its ambience, I chose Hotel Mayur Jyoti, a value for money hotel, room rent was around 1000 all inclusive tax and food was good. While coming at Tinsukia, saw a few posters of “Assam Bandh” on 27th December, didn’t give much thought as it was called by a not so well known Students’ Union but when I called up the Owner of the Car I have chosen for my trip he said only next day we would be in a position to judge the situation. So went for sleep with hope nothing would happen and I might be able to stick to my plan.

27th December:

Got up at 5.00am as I was planning even if strike happens, I might give it a slip by leaving early but Assam Bandh is something spectacular, it starts from 5.00am and usually called for minimum 24 hours (I heard of 100 hours Strikes too there). Called up the owner of the car and he said we have to wait until 8.00am to see the situation and by 7.00am I understood I was going to loose a day, no shops were open, no transports on the road. I had no other option than to just lock myself in the hotel room for the whole day and try to do the toughest job, re-planning an Arunachal trip.

28th December:

Got terribly irritated by a 24 hours unscheduled stop and left Tinsukia sharp at 6.30am. Followed the AT Road and from Makum the road bifurcates, right goes to Digboi and straight one towards Dumduma/Dirak. It was a foggy morning and a nice drive through tea gardens on both sides. Soon we crossed the junction where again road towards Dirak gate/ Parsuram Kund gets separated in right and reached the Brahmaputra. (Technically the river was still Lohit as after this place when Dibang and Siang meet Lohit, the river is named as Brahmaputra). The road up to this (almost 50km from Tinsukia) was brilliant and we reached there at around 8.00am. As because of winter, water receded far away and we had to drive almost 3 km through river bed to reach the actual waterline. The Govt Ferry was scheduled at 9.30am that charges 200/- to ferry car and 10/- per person but as we were in a hurry to make up our lost day, we decided to hire a private boat and it was proved to be terribly costly, they understood our situation and asked for 2000/- that was negotiated to 1500/- and finally we crossed the river to other side (Sadiya Ghat) by 9.00am. In Monsoon crossing this stretch takes 3 hours as per the boatmen, Fund is already sanctioned for a bridge here and work started but considering work culture of Assam; locals expect at least 10 years to get the bridge completed. The Bogibil Bridge is still not 50% completed and current estimated completion time is 2014. Once again after another 2/3km river bed drive on other side and paying a toll of Rs.30/- for some unknown reason we hit road in Sadiya District of Assam probably the worst road in whole Assam. Roing was barely 37km from here through Shantipur gate and it took us almost 3.5 hours. After a terrible journey and checking ILPs in Shantipur gate we reached Roing around 1.00pm straight proceeded to Sally Lake Guest House, a forest department bungalow within Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary located in a nice ambience just beside Sally lake. You could book it through ranger Mehao Wild Life Sanctuary and that’s highly recommended unless you can manage circuit house or Forest Inspection Bungalow at Roing. There are two private hotels (Lasa and Mimu) in Roing both are extremely filthy and difficult to stay even for a single night. We just checked in the forest bungalow and proceeded to Mayudia to make up our lost time. The road to Mayudia is extremely scenic and mountain roads through Mehao WLS, you might need quite a few photo stops in between and if you could cross this stretch early in the morning, chances of watching various species of birds are quite high. The road barring last 15km of total 42 km from guest house was good. This is the same road that goes up to Anini via Hunli, both are having circuit house to stay. Road to Anini is still cut off now for almost 8 months and even telephone lines are down, only communication with rest of the country is through helicopter. We got snow at Mayudia and that’s the primary reason why tourists visit there. There is a Forest Guest House close to the Pass where one can stay but there is no electricity there. Drove back to our Guest house in evening, experienced unforgettable sunset on Dibang River on the way.

Showkiaghat drive through Brahmaputra Sand bed:

Crossing Brahmaputra:

Sailing on mighty Brahmaputra:

Sally Lake Guest House owned by Forest Department:

Mists covering road to Mayudia:

At Mayudia Pass:

Sun sets on Dibang Valley:

Setting Sun on River Dibang:

29th December:

Again we had a long day ahead as I was planning to reach Hayuliang on that day, the shorter route from Roing to Tezu is through Bhismaknagar (an eighth century archaeological site) and I was planning to take that. But in main market when I enquired about the road condition (always advisable in Arunachal) all local drivers told me not to take risk in that road without a 4X4 vehicle as it’s mostly through various river beds with lots of Boulders. I changed my plan and as per their advice came back to Assam through Shantipur Gate and entered Arunachal again through Sunpura Gate. The road was almost non existent here as well; mostly through village roads we finally reached Tezu (from Roing its 67km) after a drive of almost 4.5 hours. In Sunpura gate my ILPs issued from Dibrugarh was of great help as Tezu was mentioned very clearly there, where as the ILP I got from Kolkata only having the districts mentioned. In check gate those guys started telling me a story of newly introduced charge of Rs.250/- per vehicle from tourist and when I challenged and asked them to show the Govt Circular, they simply let me go after requesting for some tips. To reach Tezu, we had to cross at least three rivers, one having good amount of water, every year the bridges are being washed away in monsoon, we could see them and new bridges for next season are being built probably to be washed away again. Tezu is last big town in the region and we took whatever we require starting from dry foods to water and finally started for Hayuliang around 11.00am. The roads after Tezu is excellent, probably being made recently for Parsuram Kund festival that is scheduled in Mid January and biggest festival of Lohit District. We crossed the Y-Junction at 12.30pm (24km from Tezu) where one fork comes from Tezu, other goes towards Namsai via Parsuram Kund and the third one goes to Hayuliang. From here the hill starts and Lohit river starts giving you company until you reach the north eastern most border between India and China. The road is extremely scenic but at least 6 stretches of 1 to 2 km each until Hayuliang were horrible and could be broken even in slight rain. The mountains and deep turquoise colored Lohit would be with you all along with several Orange Orchards in between. We reached Hayuliang (65km from Y Junction) around 4.00pm and as advised by ADC, instead of IB at Hayuliang we stayed at Circuit House of Khupa just 2 km ahead of Hayuliang. It’s recently built in 2009 and looks very new. The person there is very friendly and food was good as well. Had a nice sleep after a long day.

Last few villages in Plane before the hill starts:

The famous roads of Arunachal:

Leaving Tezu proceed towards Hayuliang:

Village of Anjaw:

Lohit River Basin from Top:

Mishmi Kids:

Orange Orchard:

Circuit House at Khupa excellent place to stay:

30th December:

Started around 8.45am in the morning for Walong after the breakfast, There was a new road built by BRO to Chaglogam, another remotest circle of Anjaw but already broken in this year’s heavy monsoon. The road starts 5km after Hayuliang and may be later I would comeback for this stretch again. We drove along main highway, crossed the Chinwanti (47km from Hayuliang where the road to Hawai diverts) at 11.55am and leisurely driving and stopping for snaps all along the road. There are couple of hanging foot bridge over Lohit and we experienced crossing them, They are so narrow and starts swaying even with slightest wind, it is surely a life time experience crossing over them on foot. We reached Walong (85km from Hayuliang) only at 3.30pm after enjoying all through the road. At Walong we stayed at Inspection Bungalow, pretty cheap @Rs.200/- but excellent room and location to stay and we repented not planning to stay here for longer. There are several side valleys to explore from Walong like Helmet Top, Namti Top all having signs of 1962 Sino-Indian War. We had a nice dinner and then a good sleep though it was bone chilling cold at Walong.

Lohit flowing through Anjaw:

Hanging Bridge on Lohit:

Lohit Cutting Across the Valley:

Jhula on Lohit, the signature of Arunachal:

Next: Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-2

Explore The Unexplored

Author: Kaushik

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Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-3

Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-2

Arunachal Far East – Dibang Valley, Walong, Kibithu and Namdapha – Part-1