Bomdila, here we come!
Day 2
March 16 2008
Tezpur
Can you believe the sun rises at 4:45 AM in the north East? Well you better believe me. By 5:30 it was bright outside and we also were ready before 7:00. We came down and settled the bill. We had our breakfast of poori and masala in the hotel nearby. At 8:00 AM we called Meeraj and he came to the hotel on his bike. After some time, his friend and his driver came with his Sumo. I was a bit disappointed to see that it didnt have carrier. I was hoping to tie everything on the top and travel comfortably. Anyways the Sumo was big for the 5 of us. But...
It was then I saw that along with the driver, there were 2 more people inside the car. Others also saw them and started asking who they were.
Neither Meeraj said anything nor the owner of the vehicle said anything abt other passengers. I thought they'll get down somewhere nearby. So I calmed the guys saying.
Dont worry.. everythings under control!
But after 1 hr, I too lost patience and started chatting with the driver. His name was Bittu and it turned out that one of the guy was another driver of the sumo owner and the third guy was a passenger till a place called Sessa. So one of the guys Meeraj or the Sumo driver was greedy enough to accomodate one guy in our private taxi!
Since we didnt want to start off on the wrong foot, we kept quiet. After 2 hrs, we reached Balukpong (Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border) where I expected some through search or security procedure. But nothing of that sort happened. Bittu and myself went to the counter where the officer looked at the ILP and entered the vehicle and passenger details in his ledger. That was it. We entered Arunachal Pradesh!!! But not before the other guys shot a few villagers; "arrey wid their cameras boss!!"
Breakfast in Tezpur
Gokul wid a Balukpong-ian uncle
Rahul with Gokul
After 6 kms from the border, the hills started. For a few kms one side of the road, was dense forest. The other side it was the river! I have seen the some forests in south and north. But this was so different from them. I felt like we were in the location of some hollywood movies. It was more like the jungles of Cambodia or Amazon. (Remove the smooth road well maintained by the BRO, and put some heavy rains... you'll have the feeling you really are in Amazon!)
According to the plan, we were supposed to visit the TIPI orchid house, which is said to have more than 500 species of orchids. As soon as we crossed the Blkpong border, I told Bittu to take us there. He said OK.
After some time I reminded him of TIPI. He said no problem, its on the way. However after some we had come 20 km from Blkpong, still he didnt stop.
I asked him once again.
Then Bittu said "oh.. I forgot it altogether! We crossed it long back."
You should have seen Apoorv's face. Like me, he also had done a lot of research on the net and was having a list of places to visit. And now we
have missed one of the spots!!! Anyways I made sure we will be stoping in the orchidarium on our way back.
I dont know why.. but i started getting a feeling that Bittu was not very eager abt the trip or comfortable with us. Whenever possible, i tried to make conversation with him but he remained silent. Only when I asked about the plans for the next 3 days he opened up. But this is what he said.
I will be taking you to Bomdila today. Another driver will be coming from Tezpur to Bomdila, and he will be taking us from there. I will go return to Tezpur.
I asked.. "When is this driver going to reach Bomdila, and what if he is late"
He will reach Bomdila around 12.00 PM. Till then I will show you around in Bomdila.
Right there I told Bittu that this is not acceptable. No one was ready to acept this idea. The reason was,
1. If we go by his plan, then we have to stay in Bomdila for half a day.
2. And even if we start from Bomdila 12, we will be reaching sela in the evening and Tawang in the night!
3. That means we dont get time to spend in Sela Pass, as well as other spots on the way.
4. If the other driver could start from Tezpur and reach Bomdila, pick us and reach Tawang by evening / night... then why the hell aren't we doing it today? Afterall Meeraj's promises of stopping at each and every tourist spots on the way were just words.
Bittu was a bit angry. So were we. So to diffuse the situation, I suggested we'll reach Bomdila and talk to Meeraj / the Sumo owner.
NOTE: There is no network coverage for Airtel/Hutch. Only cellone is available!
Soon we forgot our disappointment and continued marvelling the beauty around us. After some time, we reached a small waterfall on the roadside.
Since it was not the rainy season, the water was less. But still it was a beautiful spot. So we stopped the car and started taking snaps. After
spending 15-20 minutes over there we started again.
A few kms ahead, we reach a place where it was possible to go down to the river. Once again we stopped the vehicle and went down to the river.
The place was so beautiful with mountains on all the sides and the river flowing between them. On top of this, there was a hanging bridge in the background. What more was needed for waking the photographers and models in us??
After spending a few more minutes, we left the place unwillingly. Again it was dense forest on both sides of the road. The road was well maintained by BRO and only in some places the ride was a bit bumpy. But even in those places repair work was going on in full swing!
We stopped for lunch in a place called Nag Mandir. We had rice, dal, alu-mattar masala and fish!!! Oh... and I forgot to mention the spicy chutney!
It was so spicy and tasty too!
Lunch at Naag Mandir Hotel
It was 3:30 PM when we reached Bomdila. It was very cold in Bomdila and we knew it'll be dark soon. So we checked in at Hotel Samurai (suggested by Meeraj). The lady who was incharge of the hotel was a cheerful person and she was very helpful.
Once the luggages were kept in the room, we came out and told Bittu that we are ready. But Bittu said its very late today and he'll show the place tomorrow. I knew he has started his tricks again and went to call Meeraj. I told Meeraj the whole story and clearly told him that Bittu's suggestion of spending half a day waiting for the replacement driver is not acceptable. After that Bittu talked to Meeraj in their language and then gave the phone to me.
Meeraj said, ok no problem, tomorrow you start whenever you want, the other driver will also start from Tezpur. He will come as fast as he can.
whereever he meets you, he'll take over. We didnt have anyother option other than saying ok. It was clear that the next day, Bittu will try to delay us as long as possible so that the other driver will meet him on the way!
Anyways, we decided to see a monastery in Bomdila the same evening so that next day we'll be able to start early. But Bittu kept saying... its late today and the monastery is very far and the roads are very bad and we wont be able to come bcak and....and....and....and....
But we had enough of Bittu and we too were adamant! Atlast he had to agree and start the Sumo...
He too us to the main road, and parked the Somo in front of a football ground. We didnt understand anything. Then he pointed to a closed building and said, sir this is the Monastery. But its closed now. Its 6 PM. They close it at 4:30.
Bros... till then I had a small hope that this guy would change his attitude and start mingling with us. But now I was 100% sure that this guy has 0% interest in this trip and he is just there for some reason. All he wanted to do was go back to Tezpur.
Anyways we decided to play the game along with him. We walked away from the car and stopped a passerby. We gathered information about where the monasteries were, how far is it, do they close in the evening...
Seeing us talking to a local. Bittu knew he has caught and he came.. saying.. "there is another monastery. Come lets go there..."
We just smiled and sat in the car. He took is to the a REAL monastery this time and we went inside along with a small monk. The inside of the monastery was sooo cold, we felt as if we were standing on ice. After thanking the monk we came out.
By then, it was dark and it started to drizzle. We came back to our lodge relieved Bittu requesting him to come early the next morning. He said he'll be there at 6:00 AM when we come out!
March 16 2008
Tezpur
Can you believe the sun rises at 4:45 AM in the north East? Well you better believe me. By 5:30 it was bright outside and we also were ready before 7:00. We came down and settled the bill. We had our breakfast of poori and masala in the hotel nearby. At 8:00 AM we called Meeraj and he came to the hotel on his bike. After some time, his friend and his driver came with his Sumo. I was a bit disappointed to see that it didnt have carrier. I was hoping to tie everything on the top and travel comfortably. Anyways the Sumo was big for the 5 of us. But...
It was then I saw that along with the driver, there were 2 more people inside the car. Others also saw them and started asking who they were.
Neither Meeraj said anything nor the owner of the vehicle said anything abt other passengers. I thought they'll get down somewhere nearby. So I calmed the guys saying.
Dont worry.. everythings under control!
But after 1 hr, I too lost patience and started chatting with the driver. His name was Bittu and it turned out that one of the guy was another driver of the sumo owner and the third guy was a passenger till a place called Sessa. So one of the guys Meeraj or the Sumo driver was greedy enough to accomodate one guy in our private taxi!
Since we didnt want to start off on the wrong foot, we kept quiet. After 2 hrs, we reached Balukpong (Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border) where I expected some through search or security procedure. But nothing of that sort happened. Bittu and myself went to the counter where the officer looked at the ILP and entered the vehicle and passenger details in his ledger. That was it. We entered Arunachal Pradesh!!! But not before the other guys shot a few villagers; "arrey wid their cameras boss!!"
Breakfast in Tezpur
Gokul wid a Balukpong-ian uncle
Rahul with Gokul
After 6 kms from the border, the hills started. For a few kms one side of the road, was dense forest. The other side it was the river! I have seen the some forests in south and north. But this was so different from them. I felt like we were in the location of some hollywood movies. It was more like the jungles of Cambodia or Amazon. (Remove the smooth road well maintained by the BRO, and put some heavy rains... you'll have the feeling you really are in Amazon!)
According to the plan, we were supposed to visit the TIPI orchid house, which is said to have more than 500 species of orchids. As soon as we crossed the Blkpong border, I told Bittu to take us there. He said OK.
After some time I reminded him of TIPI. He said no problem, its on the way. However after some we had come 20 km from Blkpong, still he didnt stop.
I asked him once again.
Then Bittu said "oh.. I forgot it altogether! We crossed it long back."
You should have seen Apoorv's face. Like me, he also had done a lot of research on the net and was having a list of places to visit. And now we
have missed one of the spots!!! Anyways I made sure we will be stoping in the orchidarium on our way back.
I dont know why.. but i started getting a feeling that Bittu was not very eager abt the trip or comfortable with us. Whenever possible, i tried to make conversation with him but he remained silent. Only when I asked about the plans for the next 3 days he opened up. But this is what he said.
I will be taking you to Bomdila today. Another driver will be coming from Tezpur to Bomdila, and he will be taking us from there. I will go return to Tezpur.
I asked.. "When is this driver going to reach Bomdila, and what if he is late"
He will reach Bomdila around 12.00 PM. Till then I will show you around in Bomdila.
Right there I told Bittu that this is not acceptable. No one was ready to acept this idea. The reason was,
1. If we go by his plan, then we have to stay in Bomdila for half a day.
2. And even if we start from Bomdila 12, we will be reaching sela in the evening and Tawang in the night!
3. That means we dont get time to spend in Sela Pass, as well as other spots on the way.
4. If the other driver could start from Tezpur and reach Bomdila, pick us and reach Tawang by evening / night... then why the hell aren't we doing it today? Afterall Meeraj's promises of stopping at each and every tourist spots on the way were just words.
Bittu was a bit angry. So were we. So to diffuse the situation, I suggested we'll reach Bomdila and talk to Meeraj / the Sumo owner.
NOTE: There is no network coverage for Airtel/Hutch. Only cellone is available!
Soon we forgot our disappointment and continued marvelling the beauty around us. After some time, we reached a small waterfall on the roadside.
Since it was not the rainy season, the water was less. But still it was a beautiful spot. So we stopped the car and started taking snaps. After
spending 15-20 minutes over there we started again.
A few kms ahead, we reach a place where it was possible to go down to the river. Once again we stopped the vehicle and went down to the river.
The place was so beautiful with mountains on all the sides and the river flowing between them. On top of this, there was a hanging bridge in the background. What more was needed for waking the photographers and models in us??
After spending a few more minutes, we left the place unwillingly. Again it was dense forest on both sides of the road. The road was well maintained by BRO and only in some places the ride was a bit bumpy. But even in those places repair work was going on in full swing!
We stopped for lunch in a place called Nag Mandir. We had rice, dal, alu-mattar masala and fish!!! Oh... and I forgot to mention the spicy chutney!
It was so spicy and tasty too!
Lunch at Naag Mandir Hotel
It was 3:30 PM when we reached Bomdila. It was very cold in Bomdila and we knew it'll be dark soon. So we checked in at Hotel Samurai (suggested by Meeraj). The lady who was incharge of the hotel was a cheerful person and she was very helpful.
Once the luggages were kept in the room, we came out and told Bittu that we are ready. But Bittu said its very late today and he'll show the place tomorrow. I knew he has started his tricks again and went to call Meeraj. I told Meeraj the whole story and clearly told him that Bittu's suggestion of spending half a day waiting for the replacement driver is not acceptable. After that Bittu talked to Meeraj in their language and then gave the phone to me.
Meeraj said, ok no problem, tomorrow you start whenever you want, the other driver will also start from Tezpur. He will come as fast as he can.
whereever he meets you, he'll take over. We didnt have anyother option other than saying ok. It was clear that the next day, Bittu will try to delay us as long as possible so that the other driver will meet him on the way!
Anyways, we decided to see a monastery in Bomdila the same evening so that next day we'll be able to start early. But Bittu kept saying... its late today and the monastery is very far and the roads are very bad and we wont be able to come bcak and....and....and....and....
But we had enough of Bittu and we too were adamant! Atlast he had to agree and start the Sumo...
He too us to the main road, and parked the Somo in front of a football ground. We didnt understand anything. Then he pointed to a closed building and said, sir this is the Monastery. But its closed now. Its 6 PM. They close it at 4:30.
Bros... till then I had a small hope that this guy would change his attitude and start mingling with us. But now I was 100% sure that this guy has 0% interest in this trip and he is just there for some reason. All he wanted to do was go back to Tezpur.
Anyways we decided to play the game along with him. We walked away from the car and stopped a passerby. We gathered information about where the monasteries were, how far is it, do they close in the evening...
Seeing us talking to a local. Bittu knew he has caught and he came.. saying.. "there is another monastery. Come lets go there..."
We just smiled and sat in the car. He took is to the a REAL monastery this time and we went inside along with a small monk. The inside of the monastery was sooo cold, we felt as if we were standing on ice. After thanking the monk we came out.
By then, it was dark and it started to drizzle. We came back to our lodge relieved Bittu requesting him to come early the next morning. He said he'll be there at 6:00 AM when we come out!
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