I was up before 7 in Hapoli on the morning of the 28th. As usual, the sky was cloudy, though sun did break through occasionally. I took a walk around town and saw a man with a cane hat with fur and a hornbill beak on it. From Hapoli and the Ziro Valley I wanted to continue through the hills of Arunachal Pradesh northeast to Daporijo and then onto Aalo, formerly known as Along. However, a bridge between the Ziro Valley and Daporijo had been damaged and was under repair, so no sumos or any other transport were going to Daporijo. I had to make my way to Aalo via Assam.
I left on a sumo bound for North Lakhimpur in Assam at 11:45. It headed south, retracing the route I had taken from Potin on my way to the Ziro Valley and then, from Potin, heading east down the beautiful green canyon of the Ranga River (with very little water because of the dam upriver near where we had crossed it before Potin). Under mostly cloudy skies we descended from about 3500 feet elevation at Potin to about 800 feet at the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border. From the border it was only about 15 miles more to Lakhimpur through green flatlands with big tea estates. The blue ridges of the hills of Arunachal Pradesh could be seen on the way.
We reached the scruffy town of North Lakhimpur, sunny and hot, about 4 or 4:30. I checked my thermometer on arrival and it registered 86 degrees, quite a change from the Ziro Valley. I checked into a room in a very cheap hotel (250 rupees, only about $4, a night) near the sumo stand. I didn't mind the cold water bucket bath. The temperature in my room at bed time, a little after 9, was 86 degrees, more than 20 degrees higher than in my room at night in Hapoli in the Ziro Valley.
I left North Lakhimpur at 7 the next morning on a sumo bound for Aalo. I had the window seat in front, next to two cute kids, about 8 to 10 years old. (The little girl, however, vomited twice en route.) The sumo headed northeast, paralleling the blue hills of Arunachal Pradesh. The countryside was green, with lots of tea estates. We traveled the 60 or so miles through flat Assam rapidly, reaching the Arunachal Pradesh border at Likabali about 9:30. A sign gave Likabali's elevation as 450 feet. We made a meal stop just beyond the border and didn't get going again until 10:45.
From the border the sumo headed north to Aalo up and down jungle covered hills. We reached 3000 feet three times, once as high as 3200 feet, according to a sign. We crossed rivers and made several stops. Once we got into the hills the sky clouded up. We passed many large thatched houses made of wood and bamboo. Small rice paddies appeared here and there. It was all very scenic and rustic. Only one small town, Basar, was on the way.
Before reaching Aalo, the sumo dropped off passengers in two villages of wood and bamboo houses, most of them with thatched roofs. I did see electrical wires in the villages. We arrived in Aalo, at the juncture of two rivers at about 1000 feet elevation, after 4:30, just as raindrops began to fall. I walked in the rain to a fairly good hotel. It seemed to rain all night.
It rained until about 8 the next morning, and then the sky cleared and the day was sunny until the sky clouded up about 3. About 9 I started a long walk, first through the ugly little town along the main road full of water-filled potholes, then past an army base just outside of town, and then east along the wide, fast moving Yomgo River (my map labeled it the Shyom River). The river was filled with white water and gravel banks. Green hills rose on either side and I could see a village of thatched roofed houses on a hill on the other side of the river. Once I got out of town the road was good, with little traffic. I passed thatched houses, rice paddies, bamboo, and ferns along the way, with great views of the river.
About four miles from Aalo I left the highway and walked down to a 450 foot long bridge over the river. I crossed it and walked into the village just on the other side. The village was very quiet. I bought some potato chips and water from a little shop and watched some of the villagers playing carom in the shade. The people were friendly, but shy. I think they are Adi Minyang. Aalo is inhabited mostly by Adi Minyang and Galo people and I was told the Adi Minyang live mostly on the other side of the river from the town.
I walked around the village a bit, rested on a shaky overlook of the river and bridge, and then headed back to Aalo about 1:30. The slow walk back, with stops here and there to watch women working in the rice paddies or anything else interesting, was hot until the sun went behind clouds. Just as I reached the drab outskirts of the town I got a ride from an American guy and his local wife. They dropped me off at my hotel about 3:30.
Later in the afternoon I walked across the bridge over the Sipu River, which flows into the Yongo at Aalo. I had crossed over this bridge on the road from Assam. Instead of walking south on this road towards Assam, I walked north on the road and then down to the Yomgo just before the Sipu flows into it. I talked to three guys sitting by the fast moving river, with good views up and down the river. The river flows down from the north and turns east at Aalo, soon reaching the Siang River, which is what the Brahmaputra is called in Arunachal Pradesh. From the riverbank I walked back to my hotel, reaching it after 5, just as the rain started.
I left on a sumo bound for North Lakhimpur in Assam at 11:45. It headed south, retracing the route I had taken from Potin on my way to the Ziro Valley and then, from Potin, heading east down the beautiful green canyon of the Ranga River (with very little water because of the dam upriver near where we had crossed it before Potin). Under mostly cloudy skies we descended from about 3500 feet elevation at Potin to about 800 feet at the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border. From the border it was only about 15 miles more to Lakhimpur through green flatlands with big tea estates. The blue ridges of the hills of Arunachal Pradesh could be seen on the way.
We reached the scruffy town of North Lakhimpur, sunny and hot, about 4 or 4:30. I checked my thermometer on arrival and it registered 86 degrees, quite a change from the Ziro Valley. I checked into a room in a very cheap hotel (250 rupees, only about $4, a night) near the sumo stand. I didn't mind the cold water bucket bath. The temperature in my room at bed time, a little after 9, was 86 degrees, more than 20 degrees higher than in my room at night in Hapoli in the Ziro Valley.
I left North Lakhimpur at 7 the next morning on a sumo bound for Aalo. I had the window seat in front, next to two cute kids, about 8 to 10 years old. (The little girl, however, vomited twice en route.) The sumo headed northeast, paralleling the blue hills of Arunachal Pradesh. The countryside was green, with lots of tea estates. We traveled the 60 or so miles through flat Assam rapidly, reaching the Arunachal Pradesh border at Likabali about 9:30. A sign gave Likabali's elevation as 450 feet. We made a meal stop just beyond the border and didn't get going again until 10:45.
From the border the sumo headed north to Aalo up and down jungle covered hills. We reached 3000 feet three times, once as high as 3200 feet, according to a sign. We crossed rivers and made several stops. Once we got into the hills the sky clouded up. We passed many large thatched houses made of wood and bamboo. Small rice paddies appeared here and there. It was all very scenic and rustic. Only one small town, Basar, was on the way.
Before reaching Aalo, the sumo dropped off passengers in two villages of wood and bamboo houses, most of them with thatched roofs. I did see electrical wires in the villages. We arrived in Aalo, at the juncture of two rivers at about 1000 feet elevation, after 4:30, just as raindrops began to fall. I walked in the rain to a fairly good hotel. It seemed to rain all night.
It rained until about 8 the next morning, and then the sky cleared and the day was sunny until the sky clouded up about 3. About 9 I started a long walk, first through the ugly little town along the main road full of water-filled potholes, then past an army base just outside of town, and then east along the wide, fast moving Yomgo River (my map labeled it the Shyom River). The river was filled with white water and gravel banks. Green hills rose on either side and I could see a village of thatched roofed houses on a hill on the other side of the river. Once I got out of town the road was good, with little traffic. I passed thatched houses, rice paddies, bamboo, and ferns along the way, with great views of the river.
About four miles from Aalo I left the highway and walked down to a 450 foot long bridge over the river. I crossed it and walked into the village just on the other side. The village was very quiet. I bought some potato chips and water from a little shop and watched some of the villagers playing carom in the shade. The people were friendly, but shy. I think they are Adi Minyang. Aalo is inhabited mostly by Adi Minyang and Galo people and I was told the Adi Minyang live mostly on the other side of the river from the town.
I walked around the village a bit, rested on a shaky overlook of the river and bridge, and then headed back to Aalo about 1:30. The slow walk back, with stops here and there to watch women working in the rice paddies or anything else interesting, was hot until the sun went behind clouds. Just as I reached the drab outskirts of the town I got a ride from an American guy and his local wife. They dropped me off at my hotel about 3:30.
Later in the afternoon I walked across the bridge over the Sipu River, which flows into the Yongo at Aalo. I had crossed over this bridge on the road from Assam. Instead of walking south on this road towards Assam, I walked north on the road and then down to the Yomgo just before the Sipu flows into it. I talked to three guys sitting by the fast moving river, with good views up and down the river. The river flows down from the north and turns east at Aalo, soon reaching the Siang River, which is what the Brahmaputra is called in Arunachal Pradesh. From the riverbank I walked back to my hotel, reaching it after 5, just as the rain started.
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