Heavy rain fell on Majuli early in the morning on April 7. The sky cleared and about 9 I walked to the village center to get transport to the ferry. The ferry upriver didn't leave until 10:30 and wasn't crowded. Against the swift current of the Brahmaputra, it traveled much more slowly than it had going downriver. We passed small sand cliffs, just a few feet high, on the riverbank, quickly eroding.
The ferry arrived at Nimatighat about 12:15. I got transport into Jorhat and left on a 1:30 bus bound for Tezpur, about 100 miles west. The bus passed tea estates and forests, retracing about half the route I had already taken from Guwahati, but then it turned north to cross the wide Brahmaputra, taking about four minutes to cross the long bridge. We arrived in Tezpur, on the north bank of the Brahmaputra just west of the bridge, about 5:30. I had to try five hotels before I could get a room.
Heavy rain fell early the next morning, but then it was sunny the rest of the day. I spent much of the day walking around town, looking unsuccessfully for travel agents who could arrange Arunachal Pradesh permits, locating banks, and checking sumos to Arunachal Pradesh. When I realized I would have to arrange a permit by phone and internet, I spent a good deal of time trying to do so. In the late afternoon I walked to the banks of the Brahmaputra, an undeveloped area just past a Ganesh temple. The river is very wide here, with small sand banks just offshore and a small hill just upriver. I could see the long bridge over the Brahmaputra further upriver. Few boats were on the river.
There was no rain the next day. In fact, the day was sunny, with only a few clouds. I had been told the previous day by a travel agent (the one I had used before, when I was on Majuli) that if I wired him $70 by 11 this morning, he could get me a permit for the next day. I got to the bank before it opened at 10 and, lo and behold, got the money wired at 10:35. I went to an internet café, where I received a message from the agent not to wire the money. That was frustrating. I emailed the agent back asking what was going on and spent some time in the internet café and reading in my room. Eventually, the agent replied saying he could get me a permit for April 11, two days later. About 3 I headed to the river, past the Ganesh temple, and then along the river to the hill upriver and climbed it. The views over the wide river from the top were good. Again, there were few boats. I walked back to my hotel before dark.
The next day was sunny but windy. Waiting for my permit, I walked to the Brahmaputra about 10:30 and stayed there until about 1, reading Conrad's Victory, for maybe the third or fourth time, and watching sand excavators. I finally received my permit in the late afternoon, but it didn't start until April 13, two days later than promised, and three days later than originally promised. That again was frustrating, but I was glad at last to get a permit.
The next day was alternately cloudy and sunny, with a cool wind blowing. I bought a sumo ticket for Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh and spent the rest of the day in an internet café and reading in my room. I was glad to have a few sunny days. I had had so much rain in Kaziranga National Park and on Majuli Island that I was afraid I might have rainy weather in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh.
The next day, my last day of five full days in Tezpur, was sunny. There really isn't much to do in Tezpur other than go down to the river, and I did so in the afternoon. Other than that, I spent the day in my room reading. I had finished Victory and started Jude the Obscure, for the second time.
The next morning was cloudy as I walked to the sumo stand, getting there about 5:15. We left Tezpur about 6, and I had the front window seat in the sumo. I was looking forward to the ride north into the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, but the sky to the north was filled with dark clouds. We had a view of the hills as we approached them over the 40 miles of flatlands and then gently rising terrain to the border. About 8 we reached the border at about 700 feet elevation, according to my altimeter. My permit was checked and we stopped for breakfast. I ate chana puri. A few raindrops fell.
From the border we headed north up the heavily forested Kameng River valley, with the river far below the road in a rocky bed. The sky was cloudy and a few raindrops fell, but it was clear enough to see the hills. The road was good and the forested hills very scenic. We saw army trucks and buses transporting soldiers and supplies. Still heading north, we left the river and climbed to about 5700 feet, where we stopped at a small town or village. The air was cold.
We continued north, now descending and eventually reaching the Tenga River at about 3500 feet. Crossing the river and heading west, we drove along its north bank. This valley was drier than the Kameng valley. There were still lots of trees but also dry grass. The Tenga also had a very rocky riverbed and there were more army camps along it. We left the river east of the town of Rupa and climbed north, reaching the big town of Bomdila at about 8000 feet and then climbing higher to the pass at about 8500 feet just north of it.
We descended to the north and then west until we reached another river at about 5000 feet. We continued west along its south bank, heading upriver. The sun came out about 1, though the sky was mostly cloudy. No rain fell. We passed through old Dirang, and by its tiny citadel on a small hill above the river, about 2 and reached the new town of Dirang, three miles up the road, about 20 minutes later. The sun was out and my altimeter gave the elevation as 5400 feet. I checked into a pretty good hotel for 1000 rupees, about $16, a night.
Arunachal Pradesh has 26 different tribal groups. Monpas, Buddhists of Tibetan origin, live in this western part of the state, with Bhutan just to the west and Tibet to the north. I walked around the little town. Men were stringing Tibetan-style prayer flags over the road in the city center in preparation for a holiday the next day. A crowd of people had gathered at a little window in a wood building right in the center, but I never found out why. Most had faces very reminiscent of Tibet.
After wandering around the town, about 3 I walked up to Yewana village about a mile away. People were friendly but shy. Many houses were of stone or wood, with metal roofs, but there were also new houses made of concrete, among fields of green wheat and many cows. Beautiful trees grew in small groves and I could hear cicadas. The sun was out.
I walked up to the small gompa (monastery), fairly new by its looks, above the village at about 6000 feet, reached through a wheat field full of green wheat and a colorful arch just before the gompa. The gompa was closed but I heard and later saw some young monks in a building next to it. Lots of colorful pray flags were arrayed all around the gompa. There were great views up the valley beyond Dirang. I could see snow covered peaks. The sun set soon after 4 behind a hill.
I lingered at the gompa, looking around and enjoying the views, and then headed down through another part of the village. I passed goats and cows, old and new houses, vegetable and wheat patches. Some little kids were tied to their mothers' backs. Concrete paths led through the village, funded by MGNREGA, the government program creating jobs for rural people. (I think MGNREGA stands for the "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.") I got back to town at dark, about 6. There were few lights in town. I had thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup) for dinner and went to bed about 9:30.
I was up the next morning about 6:30. My thermometer registered 64 degrees in my room. The sun was out, though there were clouds in the sky. I wandered through town and then west on the highway out of town a bit, with a view of a lower part of the town and a new gompa near the river. I came back to the center for breakfast in an unappealing fly filled restaraunt and then about 9 started walking east along the highway I had arrived on towards old Dirang. The sun was out and the hour or so walk was pleasant. Looking back I had great views of snow covered peaks. Just outside of town I passed an army camp, with a friendly soldier in a camouflaged uniform on guard. From the highway above the river I could see another road right along the river on the other side. The highway (just a two lane road without much traffic) rose about 300 feet and then descended to old Dirang.
Reaching the edge of old Dirang, I first headed up to small gompa above the village. It was closed but had some interesting paintings on the outside, including the always interesting depictions of Buddhist hell, and great views over the town and countryside. I could see that a smaller river flowed from the south into the main river at the town. I could make out the remnants of the citadel on the small hill near the confluence, with a modern bridge carrying the highway over the river flowing from the south. Almost all the roofs in the old town are now metal.
I walked down to the old town passed a white painted chorten (stupa). In town I walked past old stone and wood houses, though now with metal roofs, through narrow lanes now made of concrete. The little river was full of garbage. To reach the citadel I climbed steps up the hillside to an entrance arch, flanked by old houses in varying states of disrepair. Inside are houses and the dzong, a small stone fortress three stories high and partially in ruins. It was locked. I wandered around the small hilltop neighborhood. Kids and adults were friendly and some of the kids followed me around. I found some stone houses with deteriorated bamboo roofs, but they were abandoned. A mani wall had Tibetan letters (probably Om Mane Padme Hum) inscribed on flat stones. I watched some kids racing down a cement lane in a homemade wheeled wooden cart.
I started back to new Dirang about 1 on the lower road along the river. Few cars passed. The valley was pretty, but up close to the river I could see all the trash in it. I crossed two bridges on the way back to new Dirang. Reaching the outskirts I stopped outside a house where a woman was mashing soybeans using a stone pestle and wooden mortar. She offered me a little wooden stool, so I sat down to watch. Then she brought me a cup of tea. She had a six year old daughter named Sonam who spoke fairly good English and was a lot of fun. She had two other daughters, ages 3 and 1. The youngest woke up from her nap while I was there and was brought outside to join everybody else. Besides the mother and her three daughters, a pre-teenage girl and two woman were in the group. I watched the mother roll mashed soybeans into little rolls. Eventually, her husband and a friend of his showed up and sat down. They were a very nice group.
I crossed a pedestrian bridge over the river and walked to a new gompa on the other side. On the grounds a group of women were counting rice kernels in baskets. I'm not sure why, but I imagine for some religious reason. I went over to watch and one brought me a chair, a glass of water, and an orange. They were very friendly, young and old, Mompa and Indian. I was a little surprised to see Indian looking women at the gompa.
I continued walking along the river, crossed another pedestrian bridge bedecked with prayer flags, and walked further upriver. I passed some kids playing cricket in the street and stopped at the modern gompa I had seen from the highway west of town that morning. A plaque said it had been dedicated by the Dalai Lama in 1983. A woman brought me butter tea, made of ghee, salt, and cow's milk. I sat and talked with her and some other women. One young woman spoke good English. From the gompa I climbed up onto the highway and made my way to my hotel, arriving about 5. The hotel, as the night before, was filled with noisy Indian tourists, and I didn't get to sleep until after midnight. I had to get up early the next morning for a sumo to Tawang.
The ferry arrived at Nimatighat about 12:15. I got transport into Jorhat and left on a 1:30 bus bound for Tezpur, about 100 miles west. The bus passed tea estates and forests, retracing about half the route I had already taken from Guwahati, but then it turned north to cross the wide Brahmaputra, taking about four minutes to cross the long bridge. We arrived in Tezpur, on the north bank of the Brahmaputra just west of the bridge, about 5:30. I had to try five hotels before I could get a room.
Heavy rain fell early the next morning, but then it was sunny the rest of the day. I spent much of the day walking around town, looking unsuccessfully for travel agents who could arrange Arunachal Pradesh permits, locating banks, and checking sumos to Arunachal Pradesh. When I realized I would have to arrange a permit by phone and internet, I spent a good deal of time trying to do so. In the late afternoon I walked to the banks of the Brahmaputra, an undeveloped area just past a Ganesh temple. The river is very wide here, with small sand banks just offshore and a small hill just upriver. I could see the long bridge over the Brahmaputra further upriver. Few boats were on the river.
There was no rain the next day. In fact, the day was sunny, with only a few clouds. I had been told the previous day by a travel agent (the one I had used before, when I was on Majuli) that if I wired him $70 by 11 this morning, he could get me a permit for the next day. I got to the bank before it opened at 10 and, lo and behold, got the money wired at 10:35. I went to an internet café, where I received a message from the agent not to wire the money. That was frustrating. I emailed the agent back asking what was going on and spent some time in the internet café and reading in my room. Eventually, the agent replied saying he could get me a permit for April 11, two days later. About 3 I headed to the river, past the Ganesh temple, and then along the river to the hill upriver and climbed it. The views over the wide river from the top were good. Again, there were few boats. I walked back to my hotel before dark.
The next day was sunny but windy. Waiting for my permit, I walked to the Brahmaputra about 10:30 and stayed there until about 1, reading Conrad's Victory, for maybe the third or fourth time, and watching sand excavators. I finally received my permit in the late afternoon, but it didn't start until April 13, two days later than promised, and three days later than originally promised. That again was frustrating, but I was glad at last to get a permit.
The next day was alternately cloudy and sunny, with a cool wind blowing. I bought a sumo ticket for Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh and spent the rest of the day in an internet café and reading in my room. I was glad to have a few sunny days. I had had so much rain in Kaziranga National Park and on Majuli Island that I was afraid I might have rainy weather in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh.
The next day, my last day of five full days in Tezpur, was sunny. There really isn't much to do in Tezpur other than go down to the river, and I did so in the afternoon. Other than that, I spent the day in my room reading. I had finished Victory and started Jude the Obscure, for the second time.
The next morning was cloudy as I walked to the sumo stand, getting there about 5:15. We left Tezpur about 6, and I had the front window seat in the sumo. I was looking forward to the ride north into the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, but the sky to the north was filled with dark clouds. We had a view of the hills as we approached them over the 40 miles of flatlands and then gently rising terrain to the border. About 8 we reached the border at about 700 feet elevation, according to my altimeter. My permit was checked and we stopped for breakfast. I ate chana puri. A few raindrops fell.
From the border we headed north up the heavily forested Kameng River valley, with the river far below the road in a rocky bed. The sky was cloudy and a few raindrops fell, but it was clear enough to see the hills. The road was good and the forested hills very scenic. We saw army trucks and buses transporting soldiers and supplies. Still heading north, we left the river and climbed to about 5700 feet, where we stopped at a small town or village. The air was cold.
We continued north, now descending and eventually reaching the Tenga River at about 3500 feet. Crossing the river and heading west, we drove along its north bank. This valley was drier than the Kameng valley. There were still lots of trees but also dry grass. The Tenga also had a very rocky riverbed and there were more army camps along it. We left the river east of the town of Rupa and climbed north, reaching the big town of Bomdila at about 8000 feet and then climbing higher to the pass at about 8500 feet just north of it.
We descended to the north and then west until we reached another river at about 5000 feet. We continued west along its south bank, heading upriver. The sun came out about 1, though the sky was mostly cloudy. No rain fell. We passed through old Dirang, and by its tiny citadel on a small hill above the river, about 2 and reached the new town of Dirang, three miles up the road, about 20 minutes later. The sun was out and my altimeter gave the elevation as 5400 feet. I checked into a pretty good hotel for 1000 rupees, about $16, a night.
Arunachal Pradesh has 26 different tribal groups. Monpas, Buddhists of Tibetan origin, live in this western part of the state, with Bhutan just to the west and Tibet to the north. I walked around the little town. Men were stringing Tibetan-style prayer flags over the road in the city center in preparation for a holiday the next day. A crowd of people had gathered at a little window in a wood building right in the center, but I never found out why. Most had faces very reminiscent of Tibet.
After wandering around the town, about 3 I walked up to Yewana village about a mile away. People were friendly but shy. Many houses were of stone or wood, with metal roofs, but there were also new houses made of concrete, among fields of green wheat and many cows. Beautiful trees grew in small groves and I could hear cicadas. The sun was out.
I walked up to the small gompa (monastery), fairly new by its looks, above the village at about 6000 feet, reached through a wheat field full of green wheat and a colorful arch just before the gompa. The gompa was closed but I heard and later saw some young monks in a building next to it. Lots of colorful pray flags were arrayed all around the gompa. There were great views up the valley beyond Dirang. I could see snow covered peaks. The sun set soon after 4 behind a hill.
I lingered at the gompa, looking around and enjoying the views, and then headed down through another part of the village. I passed goats and cows, old and new houses, vegetable and wheat patches. Some little kids were tied to their mothers' backs. Concrete paths led through the village, funded by MGNREGA, the government program creating jobs for rural people. (I think MGNREGA stands for the "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.") I got back to town at dark, about 6. There were few lights in town. I had thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup) for dinner and went to bed about 9:30.
I was up the next morning about 6:30. My thermometer registered 64 degrees in my room. The sun was out, though there were clouds in the sky. I wandered through town and then west on the highway out of town a bit, with a view of a lower part of the town and a new gompa near the river. I came back to the center for breakfast in an unappealing fly filled restaraunt and then about 9 started walking east along the highway I had arrived on towards old Dirang. The sun was out and the hour or so walk was pleasant. Looking back I had great views of snow covered peaks. Just outside of town I passed an army camp, with a friendly soldier in a camouflaged uniform on guard. From the highway above the river I could see another road right along the river on the other side. The highway (just a two lane road without much traffic) rose about 300 feet and then descended to old Dirang.
Reaching the edge of old Dirang, I first headed up to small gompa above the village. It was closed but had some interesting paintings on the outside, including the always interesting depictions of Buddhist hell, and great views over the town and countryside. I could see that a smaller river flowed from the south into the main river at the town. I could make out the remnants of the citadel on the small hill near the confluence, with a modern bridge carrying the highway over the river flowing from the south. Almost all the roofs in the old town are now metal.
I walked down to the old town passed a white painted chorten (stupa). In town I walked past old stone and wood houses, though now with metal roofs, through narrow lanes now made of concrete. The little river was full of garbage. To reach the citadel I climbed steps up the hillside to an entrance arch, flanked by old houses in varying states of disrepair. Inside are houses and the dzong, a small stone fortress three stories high and partially in ruins. It was locked. I wandered around the small hilltop neighborhood. Kids and adults were friendly and some of the kids followed me around. I found some stone houses with deteriorated bamboo roofs, but they were abandoned. A mani wall had Tibetan letters (probably Om Mane Padme Hum) inscribed on flat stones. I watched some kids racing down a cement lane in a homemade wheeled wooden cart.
I started back to new Dirang about 1 on the lower road along the river. Few cars passed. The valley was pretty, but up close to the river I could see all the trash in it. I crossed two bridges on the way back to new Dirang. Reaching the outskirts I stopped outside a house where a woman was mashing soybeans using a stone pestle and wooden mortar. She offered me a little wooden stool, so I sat down to watch. Then she brought me a cup of tea. She had a six year old daughter named Sonam who spoke fairly good English and was a lot of fun. She had two other daughters, ages 3 and 1. The youngest woke up from her nap while I was there and was brought outside to join everybody else. Besides the mother and her three daughters, a pre-teenage girl and two woman were in the group. I watched the mother roll mashed soybeans into little rolls. Eventually, her husband and a friend of his showed up and sat down. They were a very nice group.
I crossed a pedestrian bridge over the river and walked to a new gompa on the other side. On the grounds a group of women were counting rice kernels in baskets. I'm not sure why, but I imagine for some religious reason. I went over to watch and one brought me a chair, a glass of water, and an orange. They were very friendly, young and old, Mompa and Indian. I was a little surprised to see Indian looking women at the gompa.
I continued walking along the river, crossed another pedestrian bridge bedecked with prayer flags, and walked further upriver. I passed some kids playing cricket in the street and stopped at the modern gompa I had seen from the highway west of town that morning. A plaque said it had been dedicated by the Dalai Lama in 1983. A woman brought me butter tea, made of ghee, salt, and cow's milk. I sat and talked with her and some other women. One young woman spoke good English. From the gompa I climbed up onto the highway and made my way to my hotel, arriving about 5. The hotel, as the night before, was filled with noisy Indian tourists, and I didn't get to sleep until after midnight. I had to get up early the next morning for a sumo to Tawang.
No comments:
Post a Comment