Arunachal Pradesh Trip (9-20 March 2023)
After a lot of ifs and buts, this time caused by my health issues at last moment (acute throat infection leading to fever) which even threatened to cancel our programme again this time (in 2015 also, our Arunachal trip was cancelled at last moment due to some tragedy in close family), finally I decided to not give a miss this time to my off-beat Arunachal Trip which has been planned with so much painstaking efforts as it involved lots of logistics (arranging accommodation including in Circuit house, cab, air tickets, managing my court calender etc.). Thanks to my friend posted in Arunachal Pradesh government, we managed to book accommodation at various Circuit houses and also got permit to visit Namdapha Park as well as permit to visit Pangsu Pass (India-Myanmar border).
This time, we had planned an off-beat tour of Arunachal Pradesh at places, where not many tourists go, perhaps due to lack of accommodation, hotels and other facilities there or due to scant information available about such facilities available here. We planned to cover Jairmapur (1 night), Namdapha (2 nights), Namsai (1 night), Roing (2 nights), Aalo (1 night), Pasighat (1 night), Ziro (2 nights) and Ita Nagar (1 night). These places are scattered over 5- 6 districts of Arunachal like Jairampur and Namdapha in Changlang district, Namsai in Namsai district, Roing in Lower Dibang Valley, Aalo in West Siang District, Pasighat in East Siang District, Daporijo in Upper Subansiri District, Ziro in Lower Subansiri district and Itanagar in Papum Pare district. We were interested in experiencing the joy of flying out from first airport of Arunachal Pradesh at Itanagar, which had opened only recently in November 2022. So, we planned to enter Arunachal via Dibrugarh (Assam) and exit via Itanagar (Arunachal), and booked our air tickets accordingly.
We managed to arrange a cab on phone through the cab vendor Mr. Taposh Bhaumik (9706922821) who offered Maruti Ertiga (2020 model) at good rate (Rs.3000/- per day incl driver’s food and drivers stay, plus fuel expenses as per actuals or @ Rs.9/- per km). He was decent speaking person and was a gentleman. We were impressed by the fact that he did not insist for any advance amount for the booking.
9.3.2023 Thursday (Delhi-Dibrugarh-Jairampur)
Finally, the day came when we were all set to start our journey. Me and Amit Burman boarded 6.40 am Indigo Flight from Delhi to Dibrugarh. We got the seats in the front row i.e. 1A and 1B. It was a delight to see that we were in august company of country’s law minister Mr. Kiran Rijiju who was in the same row as ours !
The flight landed at Dibrugarh at 9.20 am. We collected our baggage and came out of the airport terminal. There, we met our Maruti Ertiga driver Bharat Sarkar (8135969315) (he is a Bengali and lives in Tinsukia, Assam). From now on, he would be our driver and guide for next 12 days. We started from the airport at about 9.50 am. We got the car tank full on the way. On the way, we passed through various tea gardens, Digboi, etc. It was a travel mainly in the plains.
Then we returned back to Circuit house and took a walk around for about 25 min. At 4.15 pm, we returned to circuit house and relaxed in our room. At 5 pm, we had a small snacks session. It became all dark at about 5.30 pm (in North-East, sun set early). At 8 pm, we got prepared omlette slice in dinner. After that, we strolled for about ½ hour on the road outside. It was so mesmerizing, with full light on the road and no one visible and entire twon seems to be sleeping.
At 11 pm, we went to sleep.
There is not much to do in Jairampur. Only if you are planning to visit Pangsu Pass, only then you may think of staying in Jairampur. (Pangsu Pass is a sensitive area on Indo-Myanmar border and one can go only upto fence on Indian side. No one is allowed to remain there after 3.00 pm, as permission is granted only till 3 pm. The permission to go there is issued by the office of DC, Changlang, but only in exceptional cases).
10.3.2023 Friday (Jairampur-Pangsu Pass-Namdapha-Deben Forest Rest House)
At 7 am, we got up and Jinthun served hot water for drinking, whereafter we got ready.
At 9 am, we took breakfast (Bread toast and butter and tea) in the dining room on ground floor. We cleared the bill of Circuit house and gave payment to Jinthun.
We packed and put our luggage in the car and at 9.20 am, we started for Pangsu Pass (50 min journey from Jairampur). We passed by World War-II Cemetry, Jairampur. There is a helipad nearby. There is also a Jairampur Tourist Lodge here. There were tea gardens on both sides. It was up and down journey on serpentine road. We passed by Nampong village. Every year, in January, there is a big winter festival organised here. There is a helipad in Nampong (generally the Governor attend the festival and come by helicopter here). One of the famous winter festival Pangsau Pass Winter Festival is celebrated with pomp and show in Nampong in the month of January every year, where the cultural aesthetics of the North East Tribes and Myanmar people are highlighted.
At a checkpost (about 15 min before Pangsu Pass), Capt Jitender Singh (he joined army about 5 ½ year back after graduating from IMA. He is from Palwal, Haryana. He did B.Tech Electronics and communications from Army Institute of Technology, Pune. His father also retired as Hony Captain from Indian Army in 2021. He got married recently. His wife is M.Com from Gargi college and working in a company in Gurgaon in a start-up which is into data collection of Politically Exposed Persons) joined us in our car and escorted us to Pangsu Pass checkpost. We passed by a small make-a-shift temple of Dongri baba. There is no one here. Jawans at the time of commissioning and decommissioning here offer liquor here. It is said that dongri baba protects them. Faith !
In January 2020, a market was developed here with shops built on Mynamar land and Indian land. But before this market could be started which would have been a big boost to the relations between India and Myanmar espl the people living in border area, covid pandemic struck in March 2020 and the entire scheme went for a toss. Then, in August 2022, some infiltrators from Myanmar side opened fire here. This also marred any chances of reviving this market. There is constant fear of trouble from militant outfits operating on Myanmar side. These outfits have support of local people on Indian side espl village Nampong.
Then we had tea with the Captain. I wrote memoir in the army book. This post is handled by Assam Rifles. Captain is currently on deputation to Assam Rifles here.
At about 11.15 am, we started from Pangsu pass. We dropped Captain at his post. He is the commanding officer here.
We reached the spot where the road was going back to Jairampur and one road was going to Kharsang. We took route to Kharsang which was 17 km from here.
At 1 pm, we took lunch on the way at Sneha Foodland (8974271895), at Geo Enpro Road, Housing Tenali in Kharsang. The lunch was prepared so well : chowmein, mix vegetable and stuffed parantha. In my experience, such a delicious north-indian style vegetarian food is a rarity in Arunachal Pradesh. At 2 pm, we started again.
At 2.30 pm, we reached Miao gate and continued towards Namdapha. There were some really beautiful views on the left side (valley and trees with river flowing at distance).
At 3.15 pm, we reached M’Pen Gate, which is the entry gate to Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, Miao-792122. We showed our Namdapha permit here. We were charged 500/- for vehicle entry and Rs.50/- per person entry and Rs.100/- for camera. Then we crossed a red pillar gate which welcomed us to M’Pen-II Chakma Village.
After some time, we crossed another check post, where the Arunachal army girls checked our permit. (This road from Miao to Deben is going further to Vijaynagar, which is about 135 km from Deben and takes about 6 hours. The Capt had told us that Vijaynagar is very beautiful and is mini Switzerland of India. One can also book helicopter (haptor) from Miao to Vijaynagar, which flies probably on Tuesday and Thursday only and charges Rs.1000/- one way per person (to be confirmed?)). There is a shop here at this check point from where one can purchase any item as there is no shop after this point. We purchased chips, biscuits from here. The army girls told that after this point, we will not get any mobile signal inside jungle (But strangely, the Airtel signal worked inside jungle including in Deben !).
At 4.35 pm, we reached a point on Miao-Vijaynagar road (almost the entire road is non-metalled road), where there was a small road going down on left side with an entry board of Deban. We took this road down and reached Deben Forest Rest House at 4.40 pm, after crossing the office of Forest Range Officer, Deban.
Deben Forest Rest House / campsite is a cluster of cottages where people having booking through Field Director, Namdapha National Park & Tiger Reserve Miao can stay and enjoy the activities in Namdapha National Park. It is well maintained. I noticed that here, in Namdapha, people have assigned mile / km number to specific points, like Deban Camp is 17 mile (Deban campsite is 17 km from M’Pen Gate and 22 km from Miao).
We were greeted by Nore Bahadur Chetry, the Caretaker (9707151109) on reaching there. (He is from Tezpur, and is serving at Deban camp for last about two years). The cottage Dehing in Deban Forest Rest House was allotted to us. The driver removed our luggage (this time, we carried suitcase instead of rucksack) from car and put it into our cottage. These are VIP cottages. It has one common room and a bed room having twin beds, and attached bathroom toilet. This is quite a big cottage. (There were single room and dormitory also nearby). The caretaker told us that some foreigners were staying here for last 4 nights and have left today only. Now, there was no guest at Deben. Infact, the tourist season here has almost come to an end. In this campsite, the electricity is through solar panel. There is no geyser (caretaker, on request provide bucket of hot water). Mobile signal is perfect here (I worked on my laptop here, and browsed internet, without any problem).
The caretaker called the Elephant owner (we had already conveyed in advance that we would be doing elephant safari tomorrow). We told him to be ready in morn at about 8 am to take us on elephant ride to explore the national park. (He seemed not very optimistic and told that ride would hardly last for 20-25 min as there is not much to see nowadays !).
At about 9 pm, we took dinner. The caretaker warmed the dish left from lunch, for me, while Amit took chicken. Amit over. I strolled in the campsite campus. At 11 pm, we went to sleep.
The wind started blowing in the night. (Now, I knew why there was no fan in the room…its because in night the place becomes pleasant and cold due to winds !).
11.3.2023 Saturday (Elephant Safari at Namdapha)
At 7.15 am, we got up. I walked to the edge of the small hillock on which Deban forest campsite has been carved out, and sat on red bench there, staring at the riverfront, the Noa Dihing river flowing in front and the jungle across the river. There was a narrow bamboo bridge to cross the river. The river was not very deep but flow was good. The river water was clear and one could see the big pebbles under the river. After about 20-25 minutes, I returned to the cottage, drink warm water and freshen up. At about 8.30 am, the caretaker served our breakfast which we relished sitting outside our cottage. It comprised bread omlette and tea.
At about 9 am, the young couple returned after completing elephant ride. The elephant owner Japang (asst. is Ganesh Tamang 9383292733) met me. He is providing elephant ride services at Deban for last 27 years ! His family lives in Miao.
At 9.20 am, me and Amit climbed on the elephant (using an aluminium ladder) and started from Deban, for a mesmerizing unforgettable elephant safari. The Elephant was a male elephant aged about 17 years and was named Samrat. The mahaot was Ravi, a young boy. The elephant got down to riverfront from the side of the cottages. The elephant crossed the river and reached the other side. It was a unique experience crossing the river (must be about 100 mtr wide) on an elephant. After crossing the high rise grasses and bushes and meandering by the side of rivulets, the elephant entered the jungle. It was a steep incline in jungle but the elephant climbed it ! It was a unique experience climbing the trekking route on an elephant ! The jungle was full of tall bamboo trees and variety of flora. There were so many butterflies here. The mahaoat also showed us a rudraksh tree there. After travelling for about 1 ¼ hours, we reached a spot in jungle where a fallen big tree was obstructing the trail in such manner that the elephant neither could go below it nor above it. So, we decided to return from here (else we were proceeding towards Hadi____ campsite). We took the same trail back and returned back to Deben camp at about 11.35 pm (in 2 hours).
Me and Amit sat outside our cottage and gossiped, enjoying the wilderness and serenity of the surroundings. At about 1 pm, I took bath. We then again sat outside our cottage, waiting for our lunch. We were not relishing the food cooked here, so we ordered in kitchen for boiled eggs and potato fries.
At 2.30 pm, we started in our car to explore around. We took Miao-Vijaynagar road and moved towards Vijaynagar on uneven muddy road. After 5 min, we crossed a small picket of army (Assam Rifles) on left side, called B Company. We went about 6 km and reached a Watch Tower. (It was called 24 mile point). Four local boys on bikes were atop watch tower and taking pics. We also joined them and took pics. After 10 min, we moved further towards Vijaynagar. After 1 km, the road was so muddy that it was difficult for our car to go further. So, we decided to return from this point, which was about 7 km from our Deban Camp.
At 4 pm, we returned back to Deban camp. Me and Amit gossiped sitting outside our cottage, watching the sun go down. By 5.30 pm, it was all dark.
At 6 pm, we sat outside cottage and enjoyed music and snacks. I worked on my laptop.
At 8.45 pm, we took dinner. At my request, the cook gave me rice and hot milk and sugar (as I was not interested in eating the subzi, dal and roti cooked here).
At about 10 pm, me and Amit joined a group of trekkers from Assam. They were cooking their own food under a chhatri here. We gossiped with them. They also offered us the khichdi cooked by them. At 12.30 am, we said good bye to them and went to our room (they went for trekking in Namdaha jungle in morning at 5 am. They were carrying their own food and tent).
12.3.2023 Sunday (Namdapha to Golden Pagoda Resort, Namsai)
At 6.30 am, we got up in Deban Camp. Cool breeze was blowing, making the environment pleasant. Me and Amit sat outside our cottage and sipped tea.
We got ready and took our breakfast (omelette, tea). Then, we cleared bill and made payment to Nore Bahadur. (500/- per day for room, 1200/- for elephant safari and Rs.2000/-for food. Food was charged costly).
At 9.10 am, we started from Deban camp, back towards Miao. At 9.20 am, we passed by Anamika falls (a small waterfall on our left on the way). At 9.45 am, we passed by the board of ‘Moti jheel’. At 9.47 am, we passed Gibbonsland. It is also called 10th Mile checkpost (manned by Assam Rifles girls) Miao is 12 km from here.
After crossing this checkpost, there was a private camp for staying, called Dapha Valley Jungle camp (8798202658). Hardeep is the person managing here. One can stay at this place, overlooking river Noa Dihing. He told that charges are Rs.2000/- per night.
From here, the dusty road changes into black top road. At 10.08 am, we passed by Chakma Village red pillar gate.
At 10.17 am, reached M’Pen checkpost Gate (entry gate of Namdapha). We made entry here (to the effect that we are exiting Namdapha National Park).
At 10.45 am, we reached Mini Zoo in Miao. The entry ticket was Rs.20/-per person. We saw Hoolock Gibbons (2) and other animals here.
(We had enquired and desirous of taking helicopter from Miao and go to Vijaynagar, which charges about Rs.1000/- per person and is about 10 min journey by helicopter and but takes 7 hour by bumpy road. But today was Sunday, and helicopter does not fly on Sunday. Ladies at mini zoo told us that Helicopter flies on Monday and Thursday, but we can not just go there and return within 2 hours as Helicopter does not wait there).
At 11.05 am, we started again, and crossed Miao Gate. We reached Tibetan Refugee Settlement colony in 5 min. We saw Buddhist structures here : Guru Padmasambhava Statue and Gomang Chorten. We found that the famous Refugee market was closed due to today being Sunday (We noticed that on Sunday, almost all establishments in Arunachal are closed, the reason being given is that people have to attend to church in morning. (But, in reality, I am told, the youngsters instead of going to Church indulge in drinks and drugs and partying). At 11.45 am, we took lemon soda at an eatery in colony.
At 12.10 am, we started from the Refugee colony, and moved towards our next destination i.e. Namsai.
At 12.40 pm, we reached Kharsang (we were taking the same route back which we took while coming from Jairampur to Miao). In Kharsang, we reached Sneha Food restaurant. Incidentally, it was open while all other shops were closed being Sunday. We had hardly moved ahead when our car tyre got punctured. The driver replaced the tyre. We could not get the puncture fixed as Tyre puncture shop was closed (the owner was there but could not help in fear of being challaned by local Association). We were feeling hungry and were not sure of getting any good food outlet ahead. So, we came back to Sneha Foodland and took lunch here. I took mix Veg and parantha (which was tried and tested). We took Paperboat lassi from the shop below.
After taking our lunch, at 2.15 pm we started from Sneha Foodland for Namsai.
At 2.19 pm, we reached a junction (tiraha) on road - left going to Jairampur, straight going to Assam (Tinsukia) and right going to Namsai. We took road on the right towards Namsai.
At 3.15 pm, we entered Namsai district. It was called Chowkham road. At 3.35 pm, we reached a small place called Lathao. At 3.39 pm, we took a shall kacha rassta / trail off the main road on our right hand side (just before Forest check gate /barrier). After riding about 5 ½ km on this trail, which was dotted with tea gardens on both sides and culminated into a jungle, we reached Buddha statue at 4 pm. It was so huge and mesmerizing. Not many people are aware of it. We also got to know about it through some vlogs. It is said to be 280 ft high and touted as India’s highest Buddha statue. Strangely, it is lying incomplete. This place is also referred to as Laal Pahar.
After spending about 15 min here, at 4.12 pm, we started from here. At 4.30 pm, after retracing back about 5 ½ km, we reached the main road. The driver told that this main road is also called the Most Haunted Road, as there is Jungle on both sides and there is no light on this road and people are afraid of travelling on this road in night.
The driver was waiting outside. We drove to Golden Pagoda Eco resort, Noi-Chenam, Tengapani, Chowkham (Tel : 8730081650, 9101127358) which is just adjoining back side of Golden Pagoda monastery ! We reached in car within 2 min.
There, we met the Manager Mr. Majumdar (8262848992) at the reception. We were given cottage C-1. Our driver took the car right upto the cottage and dropped us there (and went back to town where he can get tyre and brake shoe of car repaired as car owner Taposh has his flat there).
After freshening up, at 6.40 am, we enjoyed evening drinks in room amidst listening to music. The masala papad and peanuts masala were awesome. At 9 pm, we took dinner in the room (I took hot milk and bread toast). Then, we strolled for 30 min. within the huge campus outside our cottage.
At 10.30 pm, we went to sleep.
The Hindi-Assamese movie 'Mission China' was shot here in Golden Pagoda. The hero, director and producer of this movie, Zubeen Garg, was the singer in Gangster movie. He was boycotted by local people here.
I noticed that there are lot of supari trees in Assam – Arunachal in the terrain we went.
Our driver told that Mahamritunjay is world’s largest shivling at Naogaon, Assam.
Animal Mithoon (Bison) is plenty in Arunachal.
13.3.2023 Monday (Golden Pagoda Resort, Namsai to Roing via Parshuram Kund)
At 6 am, I got up. I freshen up and completed previous day trip blog on my laptop. Then I took bath and got ready. Amit was still sleeping at 8 am. After waking him up, I went and explored the resort. It’s a huge property. There is a huge park / lawn in front of the lane of cottages. There are hundreds of trees in this park and a cemented trail to walk around (night lights on this trail). I was delighted to see trees of ber (small red ber), shehtoot and amrak (yellow orange color, not green. It is called Kamrenga or Star Fruit here). This reminded me of childhood days when we used to eat these things with chat masala and shakargandi.
At 8.35 am, I went to the Golden Pagoda Resort’s restaurant nearby, which was on 1st floor of the one floor building. Amit also came there. We took breakfast : chole bhature, bread toast with butter and jam and tea, and corn flakes with hot milk !
At 10 am, through the Golden Pagora monastery, we walked back to the lawn of our resort and walked on the cemented / tiled trail amidst the trees. Amit plucked some ber, shehtoot and amrak and we ate it. There are three ponds in the lawn, and one of the pond had orange and colored fishes ! We clicked pictures here.
At 10.20 am, we returned to our cottage C-1. Amit took bath and got ready.
At 11.10 am, our driver came and carried the luggage in the car. We went to the reception in car and settled the bill. (3500/- tariff + GST + dinner : 4760/-)
At 11.20 am, we started from the Golden Pagoda resort, for our next halt i.e. Roing via Parshuram Kund.
After going for about 10 min on Namsai-Roing highway, we took a right turn on the highway to go to Parsuram Kund (the road further beyond Parsuram Kund goes to Teju). It is single lane road upto Parsuram Kund.
At 11.50 am, we spent 20 min at 7th KM Resort (7005419380, 8974106645) (it was 7 km away on this single lane road on left side enroute to Parsuram kund and was 500 mtr deep inside from the road). We saw transparent fishes here ! It also has facility of elephant ride. We were told it is a popular picnic destination in this region. There are stay huts also.
After spending about 20 min there, we started again. Another resort called Saam Khey resort (7002930059) is just 800 mtr from 7KM. Thereafter, there are two other resorts opposite each other - Nam Waan resort and Cabana resort.
At 12.48 pm, we reached starting point of Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary at Foothill of mountains en route to Parsuram kund. We got filled petrol (3500/-) at petrol pump here. The Parsuram Kund is18 km from here (all climb up) and would take about 30 min from here.
At 12.59 pm, we passed by Wakro Circuit house. People visiting Parsuram kund generally stay here during season. We ate pineapple at an eatery on the way. This road is good (maintained by BRO). At 1.23 pm, we passed by Ninashi Homestay.
At 1.35 pm, we reached Parsuram kund. It is in Lohit District. It is also called Brahm Kund.
We visited the mandir here and took the pics. The statue of Bhagwan Parsuram here was inaugurated by Home Minister Amit Shah in 2022, the plaque read. The mandir complex is being developed and construction work was going on. There are stairs going up and then down to Parsuram Kund in the river but people coming back from that direction told that some construction/ repair work is going on about 100 mtr away due to which stones are falling and hence it is not advisable to go to Parsuram kund for next few days. So, we dropped the plan to go up and down to the Kund in the river.
We met Baba Hari Sharan Dass here (nicknamed Parshuram). He is 95 years old. On coming to know that we are from Delhi, he very graciously made us sit with him and offered tea. While sipping tea, he told his story that he came here in 1960 from Banaras and since then settled here. He also told us about the story / legend behind this place Parsuram Kund. He was surprisingly fit and fine at this age. He also discussed politics and even the ongoing Russia-Ukrain war !
As suggested by Baba, we went to the long road bridge nearby and viewed Parsuram Kund from there. We clicked some pictures of the kund. The road further beyond this bridge is going up to Tezu but it is uphill climb and if go from Teju, then it will take extra about 2 hours to reach Roing, as driver told us. He also told that there is nothing to see in Tezu. So, we dropped plan to go to Tezu. (There was Parshuram Kund Festival organised here from 12 - 16 January 2023 :
https://twitter.com/PemaKhanduBJP/status/1611700088686145541?t=ok3xqdCAhlwoEbzmDsSL8A&s=08
At 2.40 pm, we took lunch at a roadside dhaba in Parsuram kund (I took Gobhi parantha made at my request, with Amul lassi).
At 3.25 pm, we started our journey back from Parsuram kund.
At 4.45 pm, we reached back the main Namsai-Roing highway road and carried on this highway towards Roing. It was getting dark, and a little cooler also.
At 5.40 pm, it was all dark and we stopped at a JK Tyre shop on the highway in Roing ( 3 km before Circuit house Roing). Our driver got the tyre changed (which got punctured yesterday) and also got the brake shoe replaced.
At 6.25 pm, we started from there, and reached Circuit House Roing at 6.30 pm (in Roing market, near HDFC bank, we gave 20k to driver at Taposh’s instructions, and driver further transferred it to Taposh through some mediary here).
At Circuit House, Roing, we met the caretaker Rajiv @ Raju Sonar (8792832717). He took us to our room Hunli (Room no.3) on 1st floor. It’s a big room with double bed and sofas and attached bathroom, having geyser and TV. We settled in our room. I worked on laptop and searched information regarding further places of our itenary. We added Mechuka in the itenary (as the person and lady at JK Tyre shop told that it is very beautiful and is called Switzerland of Arunachal Pradesh). Due to this, we made changes in accommodation sequence in our itenary and communicated with X on whatsapp. He seemed averse to the idea of making changes at this last hour but finally said that he will try to make amendments in the bookings.
At 8.50 pm, we took dinner in the dinner room on ground floor (Paneer, beans dish with roti). At 9.45, me and Amit went out for a walk. We walked past house of DC, Roing : Soumya Saurabh; football field, office of DC Roing etc. and returned back to circuit house at 10.10 pm.
In the room, I completed the trip summary of today while Amit went to sleep.
At 11.30 pm, I went to sleep.
14.3.2023 Tuesday (Roing to Mayudia Pass to Roing)
At 7 am, we got up. We got ready and came down to dining room at 7.50 am. After taking breakfast and after clearing the bill (Rs.1500 for room + 760 for food), we started from the circuit house Roing at 8.50 am. Today, we are going to Mayodia Pass.
Mayodia is 56 km from Roing Circuit house. This is uphill journey and the road is going further to Hunli (88 km), Etalin (178 km) and finally to Anini (227 km) (all distances from Roing). The journey is through Mehao Wildlife sanctuary.
After 2 km from Roing circuit house, the uphill journey started taking us through the serpentine road. As we went up, we could feel that the air was becoming cooler and fresher.
At 9.35, we reached a small village (having only 9-10 houses) called Tiwari Gaon ! We spent some 20 min here and talked to the locals. One of them, who had stayed one year in Delhi, told that at this place he feel better oxygen level than Delhi.
The diesel fumes from the generator of the army tenement coupled with bright sun, cold wind and the serpentine journey caused motion sickness and headache to me. After spending about 15-20 min there, we started back towards Roing. At Tiwari gaon, we halted at a roadside eatery for about ½ an hour where I vomited and then settled down. From there, we then came down and visited Sally Lake which is at the start of uphill journey of Mayodia, inside Mehao Wildlife sanctuary. It was so warm here, as we had now came down to plains from the mountain. There is nothing much to see at Shally Lake. There is boating facility and a small restaurant here. After spending about 20-25 min at Sally Lake, we came to Roing market (Roing Circuit house is just about 2 km / 5 min from Sally Lake). I took ice cream here and we then returned to Roing Circuit house. I took lassi and amul milk to smoothen my guts and then rested while Amit went to market and had lunch.
It was a lacklustre day today and we decided to rest because of my health.
Since today’s journey and ordeal gave an indication that it would be difficult for me to go to places which involve climbing up through serpentine zig zag road, we modified the itenary and dropped Aalo (and newly added Mechuka) from the itenary.
At 6.30 pm, we took snacks in our room.
At 9 pm, we went for a walk out of Circuit house, on the main road. We took hot milk at a Bihari shop in the market. The market was all closed, except only a handful of small shops. At 10 pm, we returned back to circuit house. It rained in night.
15.3.2023 Wednesday (Roing to Pasighat to Bogibeel Eco Resort)
I got up at 7.30 am. The weather had become pleasant, as it rained previous night. There was no sun today. This cheered up our mood.
After getting ready, we took breakfast, cleared the bill (1500 + 320 + 200 tip) and started from Roing Circuit House at 9.15 am.
The mini zoo is just about 2 km from circuit house. We reached there within 5 min. It was within Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary. But it had not yet opened as the ticket counter clerk had not yet arrived ! The caretaker there Mr. Deben Sharma (a nepali) told that time for opening of zoo is 9.30 am but the ticket counter clerk sometimes come late. He also told that the Himalayan Owl which was a unique feature of this zoo, has been shifted to Itanagar zoo few months back and there are simple wildlife like barking deer etc here and hoolock gibbon is also not there. So, we dropped plan to see the zoo from inside, to save time. The trail further from here was going up to Mehao Lake, but it was 17 km away and most of it was to be travelled on foot. So, we dropped plan, to save time. We started return from here at 9.30 am. Here, in jungle, there is beautiful bunglow of Dorji Khandu, former CM of Arunachal Pradesh (his son is current MLA from Roing). Nearby is IGU Museum, which contains various information and articles about Mishmi tribe and their customs and traditions. It is housed in Mipi Pene Centre (having a conference hall). We saw the same and also seen videos of their customs and rituals on a TV screen here, using headphones.
At 10 am, we started from IGU Museum.
(It is better to see this place while coming from Namsai or Parshuram Kund to Roing, to save time).
At 10.55 am, we started from Bhishmak Nagar Fort remains and went towards Roing. We returned to a point where one road is going on right side to Roing and one road is going on left side towards Assam. We took left (Bhupen Hazarika setu is 45 km and Tinsukia is 110 km from here). But immediately after taking left turn, we took right turn which is going towards Pasighat (Pasighat is 100 km and Dambuk is 35 km from here).
At 11.45 am, we passed by Dambuk village. It is famous for its oranges. In December every year, the Dambuk Orange Festival is organised here. Last, it was organised from 15-18 December 2022. It is an adventure and music festival. We could still see on the road side the bamboo structures where Dambuk Orange Festival was organised recently.
At 12.45 pm, we passed by Mebo village. Amit bought local rice beer and rice wine here. We also bought Dambuk oranges here. The orange season has almost ended, and these oranges are probably the last !
At 1.15 pm, we crossed the bridge and entered Tebo Village, which is in jurisdiction of Pasighat. From here, one road is going on right towards Aalo. We took this road, to reach entry site of Sirki Waterfall within 5 min. The person here told that for reaching 80 ft high waterfall, we will have to trek in jungle for about ½ hour but for reaching main waterfall (120 ft high), we will have to trek for about 1 – 1 ½ hour. The trek terrain was full of big slippery boulders. To add to that, he was forcibly charging Rs.300/- for going to waterfall. So, we dropped the plan to trek to waterfall, and moved back towards Pasighat town.
In Pasighat town, we took banana chips, rasgulla (amit took chicken patty) at a pastry shop.
At 2.20 pm, we stopped at Wandhi Restaurant in Pasighat on the main road and took chowmein in lunch. We spent about an hour here.
From there, we drove to Bogibil Eco Resort (at Bogibil, Dibrugarh, Assam) (Tel : 9717512020, 9101702110, 9971994509), which is just 4-5 min drive from here. We met resort’s owner Dr. Pradeep Kumar Saikia (who is settled now in UK). (The tariff is Rs.3000-3500/- incl complimentary breakfast but on our request, he reduced it to Rs.2500/-.) He was a nice fellow. He showed us the resort and the facilities here. It’s a good property scattered over 18 acres, but currently constructed in only about 4-5 acres. Finally, we checked in our room. After freshing up, we sat in the lawn. There are various sitting areas in this large campus, where one can sit and enjoy the drinks or meals, without any disturbance. We sat there and took our snacks. The weather was very pleasant (due to rains today on the way). After many days, we got dinner of our choice : Paneer Butter Masala, tandoori roti !
I planned the itenary / activity for tomorrow and worked on laptop, and went to sleep at 1 am.
It may be noted that the Bogibeel Kanchanjunga Resort (having a cruise called Kanchanjunga Floating Restaurant) is different from Bogibil Eco Resort.
16.3.2023 Thursday (Bogibeel Eco Resort to Malini Mandir to Blossom Exotica to Jagannath Temple to Manohari The Tea Retreat resort)
At 8 am, we got up. I took a walk in the campus of Bogibil Eco Resort. At 9 am, we got ready.
At 9.30 am, we took breakfast in the lawn and then walked around in the campus. The birds Turkey, Imu, rabbits were here within the main campus, we clicked pictures. I completed yesterday’s trek summary, sitting in lawn. We gossiped with the owner Mr. Saikia. He is now settled in Birmingham, UK where he also has a restaurant / hotel. He retired as Scientific Advisor in South Africa. His daughter is also settled in UK, after marriage recently. He also has a house between Ziro and Itanagar. He is also in the process of winding up his assets here in India including Delhi NCR.
At 11.25 am, we started from Bogibeel Eco Resort, after clearing the bill (2500+food = 3200).
We crossed Bogibeel bridge and went towards Arunachal side. One half of this bridge is in Dibrugarh district of Assam and other half in Dhemaji district of Arunachal.
After darshan here, we savoured golgappas at a stall nearby. Then we visited the museum nearby, called Archaeological Museum, Malinithan, Directorate of Research, Govt of AP; which houses the artefacts found in excavation of this site.
We then came down to Malini temple and chance met both students once again.
Malinithan Rukmini Temple Likabali Arunachal Assam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo7FHyVk5Is
At 2.50 pm, we started back from Malini Mandir.
We went back towards Dibrugarh and crossed Bogibeel Bridge again. We passed by Dibrugarh university.
At 4.10 pm, we reached a place called Blossom Exotica, Kumaranichiga Chetia Chuk, Dibrugarh (PH: 9864153793). It’s a private picnic spot developed by someone, which has many varieties of flower and small boating space, tree house, small restaurant, small tea garden and playing area for kids. The entry ticket was Rs.40/- per person. We took chowmein and momo here.
( We could have avoided coming to this place and could have saved time. Its not worth visiting this place. Its mainly for picnic for kids. There were no special varieties of flowers.
We could have saved time had we seen Malini temple yesterday while coming from Roing to Bogibeel/Dibrugarh. Today, for going to Malini temple, we retraced back about 35 km same route from where we came yesterday. So today going there and coming back to Dibrugarh consumed about 70 km which could have been avoided).
At 4.45 pm, we started from Blossom Exotica and moved towards Manohari Tea Estate in Mohanbari, near Dibrugarh airport (which we shortlisted only today, on the way, online).
Jagan Nath Mandir Dibrugarh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Q8omMFlpQ
At 5.40 pm, we started from Lord Jagannath temple. We crossed Dibrugarh airport, Air Force Station Mohanbari and reached Manohari The Tea Retreat resort at 6.25 pm. It is a 5-star resort managed by Manohari Tea Estate owned by Suntok Tea Co. LLP Kolktta of one Mr. Rajan Lohia. It is located at the back side of Mohanbari (Dibrugarh) airport. More details can be had at www.manohariretreat.in and 7002679579 and 9706052244. We met the manager Mr. Biki Bora. The room tariff was 5999/- plus 12% GST. We negotiated to get 15% discount (now price 5711/- inclusive of GST and breakfast).
There are several cottages. We were given room 301 in a cottage.
The room was lavish and had all amenities of a 5-star hotel. We took snacks in the room, followed by dinner in the room at 9.30 pm. The food was delicious and was of same quality as we get in North India / Delhi (Paneer Butter Masala, Garlic naan, tandoori roti !).
At 10 pm, me and Amit strolled and walked inside resort and outside resort for ½ hour. At 10.30, we returned to the room and went to sleep.
17.3.2023 Friday (Manohari The Tea Retreat resort Dibrugarh to Ziro in Arunachal)
We got up early at 5.30 am, so that we can explore the tea estate in morning weather.
At 7.40 am, we returned to our cottage and got ready.
At 9 am, we took breakfast (buffet) in the open dining area near main building of resort (housing Reception desk). It included sambhar idli, bread butter toast, cut fruits, sandwich, corn flakes with hot milk etc.
After clearing the bill (5711 + food ; 6215/-) (bell boy : Nayak), we started from ‘Manohari The Tea Retreat’ resort at 9.50 am. We passed by Dibrugarh airport, Delhi Public School Dibrugarh, Jagannath Temple (at 10.30 am). At 10.48 am, we crossed Bogibeel bridge. We are today going to Ziro via Kimin.
At 1 pm, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the highway, by the name “The Bambooz” at Bypass Road, North Lakhimpur, Assam (Ph : 7002870725). We took mix veg, tandoori roti. (657/-)
At 1.50 pm, we resumed our journey. At 2 pm, we did darshan in a Ganesh temple on the way and spent about 10 min there. At 2.15 pm, we took right turn from Deju Tea Estate, for going to Ziro (the straight road was going to Itanagar).
At 2.40 pm, we crossed Kimin border gate. Few hundreds mtr further, at check gate, the army personnel asked us for the ILP (Inner Line Permit). I told that we have got Pangsu Pass permit and that we were in Arunachal and had to go to Assam for some work and now returning back to Arunachal. I managed to persuade him and he allowed us to enter Arunachal without ILP.
At 3.10 pm, we got petrol filled in Ertiga (1.5k). From here, the road was going up and down in the mountains. The village used to be on low height and after crossing the village, we would climb up, only to come down at the next village. We passed through villages Potin, Yazali, Yachuli. Finally, at 5.25 pm, we entered Ziro. First came the Hapoli town, where the district administration of Ziro has its offices. We searched for a hotel to stay tonight. We, on phone, enquired from Siiro Homestay (Punyo Chada : 9856209494), Siiro Resort (3788225123) and Abasa Homestay (Ms. Kago Kampu : 7640912419) but all had their rooms booked. So, we looked for some hotel in Hapoli. We checked 2-3 hotels but did not like. We also checked some hotels online. We also checked E&K's Passa Lath Resort on the roadside while going from Hapoli to Kasa resort. The huts were all booked. The man there showed us the room on upper deck. It was nice and tariff was 3500/- but somehow we gave it a skip.
Finally, we went to Kasa Resort (8974642166, 7630831459) in Himalayan Heritage Complex, Suluya, old Ziro (6 km from Hapoli) after talking to them by searching their contact number from internet and reached there at about 7 pm. They charged tariff 3500 (+ 12% GST = 3920/-) minus 5% discount incl complimentary breakfast. The girl there at the reception showed us the cottage and checked us in (no other staff !) We were in cottage C-1. This place is undulating one. For reaching our cottage, we have to first go down, then go up. We settled in our cottage and took snacks. We got the dish (left from today’s lunch) warmed and ate it with tawa roti, in our cottage.
It is recommended that for going to local villages and interacting with the people of Atapani tribe residing in these villages, one needs to hire guide of same tribe otherwise people of this tribe may not allow you to interact with them and may be annoyed. This tribe has the Unesco Heritage tag. So, we were on the lookout for some local guide. From some online blog, Amit found number of a guide Ms. Guddi Doging (9615928709). I talked to her. Unfortunately, she was out of station on some tour. She gave number of another guide Mr. Pilya (8014575925). I talked to him. He quoted Rs.2000/- for acting as guide for one day (9am-6pm), and he finally came down to Rs.1000/- but he will send another guide Novin (9378098306) from 9am-4pm. We agreed. He will come tomorrow morning to our resort.
It was raining when we entered Ziro. The weather became cool. I was feeling cold (but Google was showing temp as 12 degree !).
We could not go out of cottage for walk as it was dark and slippery outside.
At 11.30 pm, we went to sleep.
The recent movie Bhediya, starring Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, was shot exclusively in Ziro.
18.3.2023 Saturday (sightseeing in Ziro)
(Today turned out to be most spectacular day of this entire trip, as you would shortly find out).
We got ready and went up to resort’s fine dining restaurant, called ‘Kasa The Oaktree’, at 8.55 am, by climbing stairs in the open resort. We ordered our breakfast. The staff took its own time in preparing and serving it. The driver also stayed in the same resort (800/-).
At 9 am, our guide Novin (9378098306) arrived. He is a young boy (saala of Pilya) aged about 20 years and is 2nd year student at a college in Bula affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi university and is studying Economics Honors. All these local guides, including Novin, belong to Apatani tribe. Most of the villages in Ziro are inhabited by people belonging to Apatani tribe. Most of the villages are now turning modern and old traditional bamboo houses are being replaced by houses with iron slope roofs and concrete houses. The modern generation belonging to this tribe and living in villages or in town is educated and are either self employed or in Government jobs. The ladies of Apatani tribe (mis-spelled by some as Atapani tribe) in old days used to pierce their nose in a unique style, in which two big holes were cut in the nose and cylindrical wooden piece was inserted into the nose through these holes; and they also used to make tattoos on their face. The belief (I don’t know whether it is true) is that ladies of this tribe used to be very beautiful and used to be abducted / kidnapped by rival groups, so they resorted to this practice to look ugly to deter rivals to kidnap them !). The modern generation ladies have stopped this practice long back. It is very difficult to find such old ladies nowadays but few (who are in their eighties and nineties) are still alive and live in these villages. We hoped to meet one or two such ladies in the villages which our local guide from this community, Novin, will take us to, today. He also told that only Apatani tribe people can own land in these villages. He told that there are two sects in Apatani – one sect is of Hindus and one of Christians, but population of christians is on the rise.
We were told that in almost all tribes in Arunachal like Idu, Mishi, Mishmi, Apatani etc., there is a tradition that any boy intending to marry a girl of these communities / tribes have to pay certain quantity of Mithoon (bison is called Mithoon in North-East region) to the girl side in dowry (as demanded by girl parents) otherwise the girl refuses to marry ! However, with times, this practice is waning. However, compared to other tribes, Mishmi tribe people are more rigid and they are reluctant to marry off their daughter unless the boy side give some quantity of mithoon. (The mithoon weighs around 500 kg and costs around Rs.2 lakh and is consumed as meat). All this information was given to us by local guide (and confirmed by our driver who is from Assam) (however all this information needs to be confirmed?).
We noticed that the mithoons on the way from Dibrugarh to Ziro were cross-breed between cow and bison unlike other places in Arunachal where one witness pure breed bisons / mithoons.
At 10 am, me, Amit with local guide Noveen started from Kasa resort in our Maruti ertiga cab. We will do village hopping today and Noveen will take us on a tour through various villages inhabited by Apatani tribe community people. You may call it Village safari or village hopping ! These villages are very scenic and picturesque. All the villages in sequence (one after another) are connected with motorable kacha raasta (became muddy by overnight rain).
At 10.10 am, we reached Siikhe lake. The entry ticket is Rs.20/- per person, and Rs.40/- for vehicle, charged by Siikhe Multipurpose Coop. Society. Such a beautiful view there. The boating facility was also there.
At 10.25 am, we started from Siikhe lake and moved towards villages on that side.
At 10.30 am, we reached Lempia village, where we took pictures of two Apatani ladies who were incidentally passing from there (at Novin’s request, they did not object to our taking their pictures). Thereafter, we went through Bula village. In every village, there is a chaupal, which is called Lapang here, identified by a tall bamboo / flag. The Apatani community has many castes and each cast / title has its own Lapang.
At 10.55, we passed through Kalung village and then we passed through Hari village and Biiri village.
At 11.30 am, we reached Seeh Lake (also called Sii Lake). It is also an artificial lake like Siikhe lake. The view around this lake is so beautiful and mesmerizing. We walked around the periphery of lake and witnessed some breath-taking views which we generally see in magazines or in movies. The area is dotted with very high pine trees here and the view became marvellous by the fallen brown color foliage of these trees. The lake complex is being further developed by the Arunachal Pradesh Govt, as per the banner and board put up there.
At 12.20 pm, we started from Seeh lake and reached Pechi Putu within 5 min. The famous Ziro music festival is held here every year in September. It is a large meadow / grassland. A board of ‘I love Ziro’ is also put up here, where one can click pictures against background of the Ziro valley. There were few Kiwi plantations / gardens here but we could not find any kiwi hanging (as this is not Kiwi season). Kiwis are grown in abundance in Ziro. We also noticed that there are pink leaf trees in abundance in Ziro, which gives a spectacular background against green trees and other colors. These pink tree are called Sembo trees (Sembo is peanut type fruit - some are sweet and some are bitter in taste).
It may be noted that at every place, one has to buy entry ticket, which is generally Rs.20/- per person at every spot. This help local people and communities to manage their finances and livelihood.
We then passed through Hong village.
At 1 pm, we passed through village Mannipoliyong. There are certain quarries here which are excavating pathar and baalu. After that, we passed through village Dilopoliyong.
After this, there was descent to Siiro village. We entered Siiro village. There are few homestays in village Siiro (also spelled as Siro). At 1.45 pm, we passed by Siro Resort in this village. From here, we took Hapoli-Siro road and after passing through Hapoli village, we reached Hapoli town which is the main hub / centre of Ziro and reached the police beat circle there at 2 pm.
We took lunch in Bliss Bistro Restaurant here, opp. SBI Bank, Hapoli, Lower Subansiri distt, Ziro (Tel : 8729947342). It was a tastefully done modern restaurant. I ordered Veg Cheese Burger here.
At 2.45 pm, we started from here after taking lunch.
At 3 pm, we reached Shivling in an area called Kardo. There appeared to be no habitation around this place except a small hut of the pandit who sits here. This place seems to be secluded and not many people come here (may be because not many are aware of this place or this place’s location). It is hardly 15 min (5 km) uphill drive from Hapoli.
This is claimed as the world’s largest natural shivling of rock. Pandit DEVENDER DUBEY, who mans this place called Shree Sidheshwar Nath Temple, told us that in 2004, a wood cutter discovered this natural rock shivling and since then this shivling is being worshipped and this small complex has been built around it. This shivling had a huge garland of rudraksh (donated by some devotee). An idol of Nandi has also been installed here, apart from shivling made of Sphatik (donated by some devotee). There are many ghantis (bells) put up here including a big one at the entrance. Pandit Devender Dubey is from Mujjafarpur in Bihar and is here since 2004 when a wood cutter discovered this shivling. Not a single tourist or person was there here, apart from us !
At 3.20 pm, we started back from the Shivling.
Novin took us again to tour of some other villages around. At 3.46 pm, we passed through village Bamin Michi when it started raining. We then passed through Mudang Tage village, and then Dutta village and Hija village (Hija is ancestral village of Novin).
At 4.03 pm, after traversing through several villages, we came on to the main road.
Then we entered Village Reru. At our request, Novin had located and arranged an old lady of the village who had her nose pierced with wood inserted and tattoo on face. We went to her house. She is Mrs. Kuru Yadii, an 80+ years old lady belonging to Apatani tribe. We clicked her pictures and gave 150/- to her family. Old lady, in local language, is called Anne. We bid bye bye to her by saying Paya Aaro pacho (meaning ‘Thank you’).
It started raining.
Novin then took us to the highest point of Ziro i.e. Guest House (PWD) which is situated atop a hill and was hardly 5 min drive from there. We enjoyed spectacular view of Ziro town and valley from here. From here, we returned to Kasa resort.
We settled down in our cottage room and had snacks and dinner in the cottage and went to sleep at 10.30 pm.
Notes :
The Meghna cave temple is in Daporijo and not in Ziro as wrongly reported by some people / blogs online.
Gong by our experience of today, I strongly recommend that anyone visiting Ziro and intending to fully enjoy the beauty of Ziro, must hire a local guide. It is really worth. They charge Rs.1000 to Rs.2000 per day but they plan your day itenary in systemic way which saves your time and they know every nook and corner of each village and with them, you would not have any problem in any village and they can also help you to take photograph of local apatani old ladies (of course, for a price like Rs.50 – Rs.150/-).
The weather in Ziro is very unpredictable. In morn, the weather may appear to be good, but in evening it suddenly start raining
Fresh air and cold in Ziro.
’Paya Aaro pacho’ in local language means ‘thank you’.
19.3.2023 Sunday (Ziro to Itanagar)
At 7 am, we got up in Kasa resort, Ziro. We got ready and took breakfast at 9 am in the restaurant of the resort. From the resort, which is atop the hill and one can have good aerial view of Ziro town from here, we clicked some pictures. The staff at the resort is mainly of Nepali origin.
After clearing the bill (3920x2 days – 5% + food = 8332/-), we started from the resort at 10 am for going to Itanagar (105 km from Ziro : 3 hr drive), for where we will catch our flight back to Delhi tomorrow.
At 11.30 am, we reached Potin village (44 km from Ziro). Here, one road is going to Kimin (which further goes to Passighat and Dibrugarh) and other road is going towards Itanagar. We took Itanagar road. At 12, we passed by Village Hoj.
At 12.30 pm, we halt at a junction where one road going to Itanagar via Doimukh (3 km) and Naharlagun (15 km) and other road going to Itanagar through other route.
We halted at Lucknow Bakery here and took patty and pastry, and took route of Doimukh and Naharlagun.
We crossed Doimukh at 12.55 pm and Naharlagun at 1.20 pm. From here, Itanagar is 6 km, Chimpu is 14.5 km, Hollangi is 30 km, Tezpur is 165 km and Gauhati is 338 km.
We entered Itanagar around 1.50 pm. We enquired about Ita Fort, Zoo, Ganga Lake, etc but most of the people were not aware ! We went to Tourist Information Centre in Itanagar but it was closed (today being Sunday, most of the shops were closed). Finally, a local lady told us the way to Ita Fort.
At 2.15 pm, we reached Ita Fort (The Board there mention as Eastern Gate of Ita Fort!). It is very difficult to locate Ita Fort. It is totally neglected. There are no sign boards to show way to Ita Fort. I feel it is misnomer to call it Ita Fort. Infact, these are just few brick walls and brick structures, by the side of boundary wall of Governor’s house on a hill. So, proper expression for calling it may be Ita Fort Ruins. It is presumed that Ita Fort was built in 14th -15th century AD, Ita is local name for bricks and hence the name Itanagar derives its name from Ita (brick) fort. We clicked some pictures here.
Then we went back to Itanagar main road and crossed city centre and looked for some good hotel. We looked few hotels like 3D, Blue Pine, Cygnet, but did not find the same good. Feeling hungry, we took lunch at 3.45 pm at Malabar Restaurant on the main road at Ganga Nagar. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. We took dosa and utpam.
To make good use of time, we decided to visit Gompa. At 4.45, we reached Gompa Buddhist Temple which was atop a hill (2.5 km : 10 min drive from City Centre).
After enjoying the views at Gompa, we started from there at 5.30 pm. We decided to take a look at Hotel Weii International which was just 500 mtr from Gompa. The Hotel was good but in the meanwhile we received call from Cygnet hotel that one room has become empty and they can offer us good deal. So, we went back to Cygnet Hotel.
At 6 pm, we reached Hotel ‘Cygnett Inn Trendz’, Chandranagar, near D.C. Office, Distt. Papum Pare, Itanagar (Tel : 0360-2291720/21, 2300720/21). It is located on the main road in Itanagar. It is a premium property. We got room 208 on -2 level. You may be surprised that reception is at 0 level and rooms are levels -1, -2 and -3 !
We settled down in the room and had snacks. We took dinner in room at about 9.30 pm.
Notes :
It was cold in Ziro but not in Itanagar.
It is not worth coming to Itanagar, if you are planning to tour Arunachal Pradesh. There are no tourist points worth seeing here and not many good hotels. We had added Itanagar in our itenary with exit from Itanagar as Itanagar airport started only recently in 2022 and we though that it would be a good idea to experience Itanagar airport. Has we not added Itanagar in itenary, we could go back to Dibrugarh and take flight form there. This would have saved time and expenses.
Instead one should come to Arunachal via Dibrugarh airport and exit from Dibrugarh airport (3-4 hrs from Ziro).
No toll in Arunachal.
20.3.2023 Monday (Itanagar to Delhi)
At 8 am, we got up and got ready and took breakfast in the restaurant of Cygnett hotel at 9.30 am.
After clearing the bill (4000+ dinner :4500 ), we started from Hotel Cygnett at 10.38 am. (Its a premium plush property having 5 floors : 3 floors below road level (but still above ground level), one 0 level having reception.and restaurant area etc, and one floor above.
At 10.38 am, we started from Cygnett Hotal.
At 11.15 am, we reached Itanagar airport (35-40 min drive from City Centre). We cleared bill of Taposh (paid balance 8200/- to Bharat sarkar driver).
We entered the airport. The weight of baggage of we two came to 29.7 kg (just short of limit of 30 kg!). The staff at this airport appeared to be rigid about weight of baggage - if it exceeds upper limit of 15 kg per person, they were charging for the extra weight !
It is a small airport. It opened very recently in November 2022. When we reached there, there were hardly 10-15 passengers. We got issued the boarding pass (we will get out luggage directly at Delhi). We cleared the security. Gradually, the passengers increased.
There are sufficient mobile charging points here, though mobile network was weak. The plane came at about 12.45 pm. The boarding started.
At 1.15 pm, the plane took off from Itanagar airport. The plane was almost full.
At 2.34 pm, the plane touched down at Kolkata airport. We cleared security check for Kolkata to Delhi connecting flight (also by Indigo). We took lunch in Airport lounge (using ICICI credit card). It had a variety of foods available !
At 4.20 pm, we boarded the plne to Delhi. The plane was to depart at 4.50 pm but we kept sitting in the plane for 2 hours waiting it to take off as it was denied permission due to inclement weather, rain and thundershowers at Delhi airport due to which few flights at Delhi had to be diverted. At 6.25 pm, the plane finally took off from Kolkata airport.
At 8.30 pm, our plane landed at Delhi Airport (Terminal T-2).
After picking baggage from the conveyer belt and hiring a cab, at 9.30 pm I started from th airport and reached home at 10.30 pm.
This way, a memorable trip (the longest one so far) came to an end.
