14 Tawang

Tejpur, Assam 9th Feb 2006 5:00AM - I had booked my seat for the 5:30AM share Sumo to Tawang via Bomdilla (12hrs, Rs 400). After putting my bag up on roof of the Sumo, I went for tea nearby; but meanwhile the Sumo got captured by the local police and taken to the police station! The counter agent explained that the Police are rounding up available Sumos for the Congress party workers to go in procession for Sonia Gandhi's visit to Tejpur that day! I rushed to the Police Station to get my bag back, but there the owner-driver said to wait ... he is arranging to get it released "somehow"..... which he did manage finally ... and we left at 9:00am about 3+ hrs late. I already had my Arunachal Inner Line Permit faxed to me from Dibrugarh, so I was all set.

We entered Arunachal at Bhalukphong and throughout the day were going through beautiful and scenic forests in mountaneous terrain hardly stopping anywhere as driver wanted to cross the high passes before it became too dark. We passed Bomdilla at 1:00pm and went via Dhirang, Thenga, Sila pass, Jang and finally reached Tawang in pitch darkness at 9:00PM. It was freezing cold there and there was power failure. Checked into Alpine Hotel in darness, had some leftover Dal-Rice, by candle light and went to sleep inside three blankets.

Next day at 8:00am walked up the hill to the famous Tawang Gompa and took the pictures. Though it was bright an sunny it was bracing cold at about 8-9*C perhaps.

I stayed in Tawang another day and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Left for Tejpur on 12th Feb 2007 by the 6:00am Sumo arriving at Tejpur at 6:00PM. Checked into Basant Hotel again, but soon found out that next 2 days are Bandh in whole of Assam! So decided to catch the night bus back to Guwahati immediately. Luckily got a seat in a private bus-line "Blue Hill" leaving at 10:30PM. Reached Gauhati pre-dawn at 3:00AM and took a auto-rickshaw straight to Airport before the 6AM bandh starts. Waited whole day at the pretty modern Guwahati Airport (watching the 3rd ODI Indo-Pak cricket on airport TV!) and caught the 4:30PM Air Deccan flight to Kolkata that continued onward to Mumbai.