Arunachal Pradesh – the land of the rising sun, the heaven where clouds descend to greet the curious travelers and rivers and waterfalls dot the extra green landscape every few meters. Monasteries adorn the hill tops, glimmering lakes under the sun reflect the surreal mountain scapes and high mountain passes offer the thrill to adventure lovers.
Arunachal Pradesh is one place where I truly felt no pictures or videos could ever do justice to its unparalleled beauty. It is only to be experienced in person. So here is a complete guide to help you plan your trip to Arunachal. This is part one of the guide that will contain detailed itinerary along with places to visit and any pointers related to the attractions. For other details such as Permit, Accommodation, Budget and other important info for planning, please refer to Part 2 of this guide.
Itinerary breakdown for Arunachal Pradesh
Day 1: Reach Assam (Guwahati) and drive to Arunachal Pradesh. Reach Shergaon and stay overnight.
Fly to Guwahati and start your road trip to Arunachal Pradesh. We recommend taking an early morning flight to Guwahati so that you can reach Shergaon before evening. If you reach Guwahati by afternoon, stay in Bhalukpong for the night and proceed to Shergaon the next day. This will add an additional day to your trip.
Take any of these 2 routes on your way to Shergaon and the other one on the way back. I would definitely recommend the Nameri route at least one way since it’s very scenic.
Route 1: Guwahati → Mangaldai → Orang → Kalaktang → Shergaon
Distance: Approx. 250 kms
Time taken: Approx. 7 hours. But actual time will be more depending on stops made on the way.
Sightseeing: There is not much to see in this route in terms of sightseeing. You can make a stop on the way to see Bhutan border. Apart from lunch break, depending on time, you can make stops in between since its a long journey.
Route 2: Guwahati→ Nagaon → Tezpur→ Nameri → Bhalukpong → Rupa → Shergaon
Distance: Approx. 350 Kms
Time taken: Approx. 8 hours. Actual time will be more depending on what sightseeing you do on the way or the number of stops made.
Sightseeing: Mahamrityunjay Temple at Nagaon, Nameri National Park, Waterfall at Tippi, Lumum Waterfall etc. In my opinion, this route is better taken on your way back (from Dirang/Bomdilla/Shergaon to Guwahati) as it is longer and also you will be able to decide on the sightseeing considering available time.
Most probably it will be evening by the time you reach Shrgaon. Check into your homestay and rest for the night. We reached Shergaon at night since there was a landslide on the Kalaktang route and we had to take a long detour. So we just made a stop at Tippi and proceeded to Shergaon. The highlight of this day was seeing the full moon rise over the mountains amidst lingering sunset colours. It was such a beautiful sight.
Day 2: Explore Shergaon and drive to Dirang. Overnight in Dirang
After breakfast, it’s time to explore Shergaon. Here are a few must visit places in Shergaon.
Shergaon Monastery (Lower Monastery): Start your day by visiting the lower monastery of Shergaon, just at the foothills of Zengbu Gompa. This is a recent addition and is a beautiful place to visit. We met some wonderful locals at this monastery who were having their village meeting. They guided us through the monastery and invited us to join them for some butter tea. So this place will always remain one of my favourites in all of Arunachal Pradesh. Read the full Blog Here.