ARUNACHAL: ABODE OF LAKES AND CLOUD…

IT started long time back, I mean the process, started with buying of airtickets and that too keeping in mind the fact to avail the same at its lowest cost…and we succeeded. Then we followed on the process of attaining of inner line permits. We ,this time the group widened, nine adults and three little idiots..the champs of the tour who were only present to aggravate our adrenaline flow. But the truth is, they are the beauty spots on the face of a journey.

Lets start with the journey. It started 17th April , we boarded Indigo flight which departed from Kolkata at about 10:50 hrs. and landed on the wet land of Guwahati the same day at 12:05pm.Eventually we rented two cars, to take us to ASSAM TOURIST LODGE, where I prebooked four rooms . The journey from airport to the tourist lodge was quite pleasing as the weather was cool and the stupendulous green was a good treat for the eyes. After completion of a horrible lunch me , my husband and Tarak da went for booking a good car which would remain with us for nine days of our tour in ARUNACHAL. We directly headed towards Paltan Bazar, the main car market and finalized with one such of our requisites. Tarak da spoke beautifully with the guy and finalised the car at a very reasonable price.
The next day, 18th April, we rolled on for Bhalukpong(241km.) , the border between Assam and Arunachal. We are blessed with a very good driver who made our tour extravagant, he is Pramod Bhaiya. We reached our destination in the evening , needless to say the placement of the tourist lodge and the décor of the rooms made every one roared hilariously “ thank you moumita..” I just smiled back and patted on my back remembering the effort I gave in to book these government tourist lodges for this whole tour. Well we were very lucky to do a little tip-tap with the BIHU team which came into our lodge to show their dance, we too did a hip-hop with them and rewarded them with money , though the happiness we came across is nothing in comparison with the money. A single day spent in Bhalukpong was splendid in every sense, the place was so perfect in all sphere that we fell in love with the place. The river Kameng which is flowing down from snow clapped mountains of Arunachal is named as Jiabhoreli in Bhalukpong and passes along the side of the toursit lodge increasing the beauty of the place.Thanks to Mr.Kolita who helped me a lot to book rooms in Bhalukpong and Dirang.

The next day after having “KHICHURI” , cooked by Paromita we headed for Dirang at about 12pm which was a mistake on our part as we reached Dirang the same day at night and the experience we had on the road was terrific. The road was dangerous and extremely foggy we only had to rely on our life strength and perfection of Pramod Bhaiya. At places the car had to run on a speed of 3-4 Km. per hour. Anyway our nest at Dirang was beautiful and it helped us to shake off the tiring experience of the journey.I always believe journey in mountains should start at early morning so to avail the beauty and reach safely but sometime what we want does not happen. Dirang is a beautiful valley, 5500 ft. above sea level and the sight of the valley from Dirang Tourist Lodge is panoramic. We went for Dirang dzong, Sangti valley, Apple Orchard and the hot spring the following day. IN Sangti we met Mrs. Chakraborty , a tripura based Bengali Lady who took us to her house and gave us a good treat. We felt very blessed once more to come in acquaintance with such a lovely person in such a remote place, where the total number of habitants would be hardly hundred.
ON 20th April we started at about 8am for Tawang. And we were over excited to see SELA PASS on our way to Tawang. It was a mystical journey to a destination far too divine to describe in words. Perhaps it's a paradise on this very earth itself. As we soared high up into the mountains on a three-day-long spree, it was as if our very souls were uplifted to make us feel heavenly and pure. As we reached very near to Sela Pass “ALL IZZ WELL” roared up in Pramod Bhaiya’s music system and our heart leaped up with excitement and joy. Tarak da shouted –“ OI baraf dekha jacche” , to his comment we all hanged on from the window to have glimpse of the same. IN the mean time Kuntal da, Subhas, Tatai , Mistu and me were shaking our body sitting inside the car in the tune of the fantabulous song. Pramod Bhaiya’s Car stopped at Sela and we stepped out of our Chariot and was bit upset as the weather was not very clear and few drops of rain scared us a lot as rain in that high altitude is very risky for the rest of our journey. The weather outside was chilled and freezing wind in that very little time squeezed our skin of hand and lips very strangely. We had some snaps very quickly and threw some snow at one another…the age old game..!!!and headed for Tawang. The weather on road got worse and it was so foggy and misty that vision beyond few yards was impossible. Well Kuntal da and Subhas said we will surely see the sunny SELA on our return journey from Tawang. And sitting up there darling LORD heard us and smiled back! After some time the weather got clear and we saw lofty white waterfalls, gave the impression as if someone had placed a piece of frothy white linen against a backdrop of deep greenish-blue mountains. Thick lush green Pine, Oak and Rhododendron forests abound on both sides of the serpentine road as we moved ahead. We reached Tawang on 20th April in the evening , it was raining and our group was very hungry as we skipped the lunch. So me and Shilpi ran in the Kitchen of the Tourist Lodge and asked the cook and the owner to make some maggi for us (we carried with a whole lot of maggi) but he said us to cook the same. Well- with lots of effort we cooked 10 packs of maggi for all of us(it was a hard task) and served the same hot to our tour members. UFFFF……..loved it in that chilled, wetly weather.
The next day we headed for Tawang War memorial, Tawang Goompha which is very old and Anni Goompha. It is one of the oldest and the largest Buddhist monastery in Asia and can accommodate more than 700 monks. The monastery is spread over an area of 135 sq mts.The following day, at the call of the rooster, Pramod Bhiaya honked his car in front of our Lodge . I was up early after a toss-and-turn night, excited as I contemplated our hilly outing. Pramod Bhaiya smiled through his pleasing face and greeted, "Good morning dada, hurry up we have a long way to go." Indeed long was our journey. Our destination: Sangester Lake and PTSO lake situated high up in the West Kameng district in God's own good old virgin land of Arunachal Pradesh. The way to Sangester Lake had a extravagant panoramic view and we crossed through the top of the snowy mountains to reach the place which is also very , very beautiful. The way to Sangester lake is accompanied with hell lot of BUNKER of Military people making us realise that Arunachal is on the high target of the Chinese and anytime they can call upon a war. Well, we spent a gala time in Sangester The scenic and the ambience of the place made the couple take photos in a very intimate manner(don’t get scared nothing of that sort).

Sangester lake is also known as MADHURI LAKE as Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan did “Tanhaiii..Tanhaii..” song in the fillm KOYLA in front of this lake . So you see there were no reasons for us to hug our husband as the scenic and the background of the place was totally responsible for our behaviour…..!! Our seniors too enjoyed a lot in this place, specially Rita Miama, she loved the place a lot and had some beautiful pictures there..

The next day we had a long journey , as we have to reach Bomdila which is 180 km , apprx. From Tawang and we all hoped to have a pleasant weather at Sela and God fulfilled our wishes , we had a sunny , wethaer at Sela and the time spent there was really GREAT…,previous to this we experiences snow on the way to Sangester too but having pleasant , clear weather in Sela fulfilled all our hopes and we thanked to GOD for the same. The way side beauty of the snowy peaks is just garishing. We reached Bomdila at a very good time and directly went to the TOURIST LODGE of Bomdila where we had previous booking, like all other places but the person concerned cancelled our booking of the stipulated days without not reason and started quareling with us. We too shouted on him but the result was nill as it was his territrry. I would request me readers to be very careful with booking of tourist lodge in Bomdila as the staffr are just Hooligans.

Anyway we managed to stay in some other Hotel at the cost of Rs.1600/- per room and the rooms does not worth the amount. Bomdilla was not so pleasing for me because of the bad start and the poor power facility, throughout the night we stayed in candle light. Arunachal is yet to compete in tourism sector with Himachal or Kumayun or Garwal because of bad quality of roads at certain places and very poor power(electricity) facility. The stay in Arunachal was thus something out of the world experience for us. But, nature god is very happy with the state and abandons its full beauty on it.
From Bomdila , we headed for Bhalukpong(100km.) on 25th April , early morning , Bhalukpong Tourist lodge was a darling place to stay for all of us. Just after reaching the place, stagged our luggage and went to the kitchen where our ladies , except me, cooked DIMER JHOL, Bhat, ALU BHATE….Uff…it was simply great and read this…Subhas and Kuntal da knifed down some Banana leaves(KALA PATA) from the way side jungle while our journey to bhalukpong and pramod bhaiya too helped them to cut those. It was because the group all of a sudden decided to have lunch on kala pata. This is what I call a tour ! Captivating every moment to cherish in future.
A day stay in Bhalukpong was very fulfilling because of the zeal and potential of the tour members. Till late night we carried on with ADDA ….

As we travelled down from the sloppy hills to the plain of Guwahati my heart cried again to go back to the abode of cloud where on earth we found heaven. Like a flash light all the memories of our stay splashed one by one in my mind and I got absorbed in it. OH! God how kind you are to gift us with such good places so to make us enrich with quality memories.

Uttaranchal-Simply Heaven

I WISH I HAVE WINGS TO FLY , I WISH I HAVE EYES TO CAPTIVATE THE BLUES OF THE SKY AND WHITE OF THE PEAKS , I WISH I MAKE ABODE ON LOFTY MOUNTAINS AND I CAN HIDE MYSELF IN THE NOOK AND CORNER ON THE EARTHLY HEAVEN WHICH IS UTTRANCHAL, SIMPLY HEAVEN.

The mesmerizing beauty of the Himalayan Peaks , the innocence of the locals , the cold breeze of north hypnotizes one in its own way and several like us run in that direction just like a fly run towards a burning flame to discover the beauty inside and gets captivated there. Similarly we, the mountain lovers rush frequently to have lifetime experiences of charming Himalayas.
We began our journey on 4th October ‘ 2009 , we were six adults and two kids , tatai and mistu. They made the trip more joyous and their tenacity and energy level simply deserves a SALUTE.A friend of mine well said after having a glance of the pictures of our trip, a good – coherent group enriches the experiences of a tour and our group was a mixture of vigour and potential of youth, blessings and good wishes of elders which made our days bloom with happiness.

Our first destination was queen of Hills , Mussourie. Where we resided at Prince hotel, we rented a family cottage which actually made the stay much more enjoyable and happy. We spent a splendid time there. Mussourie, a sophisticated hill station of Uttaranchal gives a far sight of Himalayan peaks from the mall arena in a crystal clear sky , this feature of the place adds a feather to its crown. We went to Sukhanda Devi, Dhanaulty, Kempty Falls from Mussourie and in Surkhanda Devi we did a mild trek of 2.5 kms. . Dhanaulty is another place of idyllic charm and calmness and the place makes ones mind at peace. Kempty is a known destination to all and the vibrant falls gave a real jerk and joy inside. The two kids enjoyed the beauty of the falls a lot.
Roaming loosely at in Mussourie mall very often draw visitors attention towards the gorgeous Tandoori Chicken hanged on one after another.. And let me reveal a secret that my dear friend Paromita dies on Tandoori chicken , and thus the sight of ravishing tandoori pieces attracted her towards them , thus we too had a great evening relishing on Chicken Pieces.

Our next destination was Rishikesh, a abode of Gods, we enjoyed the stay and good food of GMVN bunglow. Had galloping and joyful autoride of the town for sight scene. Lachmanjhula was crowded as always but very welcoming. The tit-bits of a tour make a tour more memorable and close to heart. One such fact is Paromita’s effort of making Glucon-D at the middle of the road to quench the thirst of all of us , while everyone of us were tired with the scorching heat of the sun.

From Rishikesh onwards MA- GANGA accompanied us throughout our jorney to Rudraprayag and then Chandrapuri. On the way to Rudraprayag we enjoyed a Country Boat ride on Ganges. It was a life-time experience as it was very unusual and we generally see rafters going around in ganges . It was possible because of the cooperative attitude of the Car- driver who made it possible.

We reached Chandrapuri, which is 25kms. far from Rudraprayag and a small village in the lap of deep, green mountains , ornamented by scintillating Mandakini flowing aside. Mandakini is a river which originates from Kedarnath and the presence of the river and it’s gaudy sound increases the beauty of the place. When we reached the GMVN Bunglow of Chandrapuri it was late evening and the beauty of the place was covered in the darkness but the beautiful placement of the cottages made Kuntal Da dance with joy aftera tedious journey. I should mention here that it was Kuntal da’s happy and joyful nature and Subhas’s good managing capability which made our tour so glamorous.
The following morning i.e 11th October was a day of surprises and joy . our window curtains opened to a shinny , beautiful, sensuous morning.. We saw infront the scintillating, rough, extravagant and sexy mandakiny flowing just beneath the green mountains and just upright to it was the glittering, silvery Himalayan peaks of Chowkhamba, Sumeru, Kedarnath, Bhatrikuntha and enormous unnamed peaks. After experiencing the beauty of the scene for some time we geared up for our next destination that is to Deoria Taal, a lake at the top of the mountain guarded by lusty green forest and Himalayan peaks. When we reached Deoria after a tedious trek the beauty of the place calmed all our mind and body. It was enchanting environment which squeezed out from us all our pain of trek. The most credit of the trek goes to the two kids and my mother , because it was a tough journey for all three of them.

On 12th October we traveled back from Chandrapuri to Haridwar , with heavy heart we bid bye to Chandrapuri. Someday again we will visit you dear.

Late evening we reached Haridwar and had three days relaxing stay there. The stay was more remarkable for the shopping we did there, the evening were well spent hopping on different shops. On 15th October, noon, we came to station to avail UPASNA Exp. , as our tickets were not confirmed so all of us were praying to God for everything good but all our praying went to vain when we saw the train passing by , leaving us at the station with pale faces. No time to think more we managed a car and moved towards Delhi in hope to avail a Flight. On the way, after lots of phone calls and roller coaster ride of adrenaline our return tickets were booked by good Ashim Da from Kolkata in Flight on IC- 401. 15th and 16th October we had a stay in Noida Kalibari, another enchanting place . It is by the Blessing of “Ma” that we got to stay there for two days and had a splendid time. On 17th of October we sat on our destined flight and Zooooooo……, landed at 9.15 am in Kolkata airport.