SOLO TRIP GUIDE TO NORTH EAST- HIDDEN PARADISE, TAWANG #monsoonplace

As Monsoon was ongoing, I found good airfare for Kolkata and booked my tickets instantly. After Reaching Kolkata I halted there for around 2 days and headed for an unplanned trip to North-east; Arunachal Pradesh & Meghalaya. I took a train for Guwahati first.

Expenditure- Kolkata to Guwahati S/F EXP Train- 1300 3-Tier AC

My Train got late due to some ongoing protest related to Bodoland. After Reaching Guwahati, I booked hotel just nearby Railway station by Goibibo for a night stay.

Expenditure- Rs 900; One night stay Hotel City palace, Guwahati

Then in morning from bus stand, just adjacent to Railway station I straight away took the bus for Tezpur. Then from Tezpur I took a shared cab for Bomdila, As I reached bit late to Tezpur So, I missed shared cab directly for Tawang. (Note- Some cab drivers may ask you that they can let you enter Arunachal Pradesh without Inner Line Permit, but Don't do that. You might get into a big trouble. Getting ILP is very easy, try to get it tfrom guwahati or from Tezpur. Do carry extra passport size photograph and photocopies of aadhar card or whichever ID you're carrying. Also if you enter there without ILP then you cannot visit border areas nearby Tawang & Bumla pass) Expenditure- Rs 235 AC Volvo, Guwahati to Tezpur/ Rs 550 Cab Tezpur to Bomdila)

So, firstly I reached bomdila and took night halt there. Bomdila is a beautiful place with a small monastery there. And road to bomdila is so much adventurous and thrilling. Also one can find beautiful landscape on the way to bomdila. You'll get so many tea gardens on road side. Once you'll start ascending to mountains then you'll start getting so many waterfalls on roadside. Wherever your cab will stop, just have maggi or momos. If you're a non-vegetarian avoid visiting on a dry day. Late evening or Night walk is a must to-do in Bomdila, as the place is so silent, being a delhite I literally felt the fresh air while breathing :D . If you're an alcoholic, then bomdila is all yours. Seat in open air in your hotel or wherever and just have it. (Note- Getting hotel late night is bit tough task, so either make a advance booking or just give a call to any hotelier in advance that you might visit late night. ) Expenditure- Rs 1000 Hotel in Bomdila

Early morning at around 5am, I came down to my hotel. From there only Sharing cabs to Tawang were lined up. I took a cab and started my much awaited beautiful journey to Tawang. Expenditure- Rs 550 Shared cab from Bomdila to Tawang

On the way to tawang one can find damn beautiful landscape with river or either side. On the way you'll get to visit Sela pass, one of the highest in India and in world. The cold breeze, subzero temprature will make you feel.... can't express that in word. Have a tea/coffee and ofcourse Momos there. If you're lucky you might find the clouds coming from downside direction to upwards towards you and striking at your face. That's the feeling one cannot express. Spend time while on Sela pass.

Then after Sela pass you'll find Jaswant garh on the way to Tawang. Jaswant garh is a memorial built in memories of a wonder soldier Jaswant singh rawat. Jaswant rawat is popularily known as Wonder man. You can feel his vibes there by going through his real story that what he actually faced during his critical time. Jaswant singh rawat was a soldier of Indian army and he fought alone against chinese invader troops during 1962 Indo-sino war. He holded his position for 3 days at an altitude of 10000 ft without giving up. Jaswant garh is 21 kms away from Sela pass towards Tawang. The place Jaswant garh was the last post held by Jaswant singh rawat. You can spend little time there.

After leaving from Sela pass we drove towards Tawang. Just after leaving Sela pass I got to see a mesmerizing view of Himalayan peaks standing above the clouds. When sunlight got reflected from the snow covered peak, the view was so mesmerized. Soon, just before 50 kms from tawang the place comes Jang fall, also known as Nuranang fall. The fall is so huge. As I visited during monsoon so I couldn't able to get so close to it as it the water from fall was striking around the way heavily. But that's also a must visit place.

FINALLY, AFTER SOOOOOOO LOOOOONG JOURNEY I REACHED TAWANG... The place was sooooo beautiful, peaceful, silent, cloudy. I just checked into my hotel and straightway reached to main market and had some Chicken momos with Tea. But one BIG MISTAKE I made during trip which I've mentioned at the bottom of the blog. Must go through that. One of my friend of Indian army was posted there So, he met me there. He took me around Tawang town. We visited The world's second biggest monastery which is in Tawang. There's a peace which you'll not get anywhere else and the view of valley covered under chunks of cotton like clouds. Monastery is just 1.5 kms from main market. After monastery we headed towards war memorial. War memorial is a first spot you'll find after just entering into Tawang. We spend sometime there. Overall, you can spend just evening to travel around Tawang town. Also, I rented out bike; Royal enfield for next day to visit Bumla pass situated at Indo-china border. Expenditure- Rs 1200 Hotel North hill homestay

Got up early morning, took bike from rental shop and headed towards Bumla pass. it took me around 3 hours to reach there, as I was going bit slow while taking halt again n again to capture landscape in my eyes. Special permit is needed to visit there sometimes as the place is bit critical. Road is not so good, avoid visiting Bumla pass on 2-wheeler during rainfall or snowfall. Tawang is a town which is surrounded by International borders from the 3 sides. 2 sides bordering with Bhutan, 1 side with China. Bumla is situated at an altitude of around 15780 ft which I checked on Apple compass. Bumla pass was the road used by Dalai lama while escaping from Tibet to enter in India. The place is damn beautiful, you can feel the thrill on the route of Tawang, that's actual an adventure. If your body will not acclimatized, you may find some difficulty over there. So, do carry Tablet of Diamox with you.

After Returning back to Tawang from Bumla pass first thing I did was to book shared cab for next day to return to Tezpur. Remember, there are many few shared cabs for tezpur so book it as early as possible & in morning they may pick you up from your hotel if you'll insist. Also I visited bit less places as I planned earlier because I was suffering from fever with temperature above 100 degree Fahrenheit. Expenditure- Rs 800 bike rantal/ Rs 1200 Hotel North hill homestay

Trust me, I didn't want to move back from Tawang. The town was very small, pleasant, colorful, lovely people and PEACEFUL. You'll forget your metropolitan life once after visiting there. I headed from Arunachal Pradesh to Meghalaya now. You can read that on my next blog. Expenditure- Rs 850 Shared cab from Tawang to Tezpur