Itanagar

Coordinates:

27° 6' 10.89" N 93° 37' 35.22" E

Itanagar is one of the most scenic and unpolluted city of India. Capital of Arunachal Pradesh is surrounded by hills from all sides and has ancient remains of a brick fort which gave the city its name. Has many picnic spots and people are friendly. Some can still be seen in their traditional tribal dresses which impart a colourful look to the city. If north east India is called kamrupa, this place is certainly the crown jewel of the region.

Route : Guwahati - Tezpur - VishwanathCharali - Banderdewa - Itanagar (Permit required to eneter the state of Arunachal Pradesh)

Tipi, Arunachal Pradesh

Coordinates:

27° 2' 16.23" N 92° 36' 17.96" E

BEWARE OF ELEPHANTS - The road side signs are prominent on Bhalukpong - Bomdila Road, specially near Tipi, which provides a good habitat for the tuskers. Tipi is situated at the end of hilly region as river Baharali enters into the plains. There is a forest departments rest house in Tipi which offers good views of wildlife across the river from its drawing room. I have spent some weeks at this place as this was the site for my B.Arch. thesis project. The ORDC - Orchid Research & Development Centre at Tipi, has today more than 8000 varities of Orchids and a state of the art tissue culture lab.

Route: Guwahati - Tezpur - Bhalikpong - Tipi. (Innerline permit required even by Indian nationals)

Sela Pass - Our Jawans at high altitudes

Coordinates:

27° 30' 13.20" N 92° 6' 16.39" E

Near China border in Arunachal Pradesh at Sela Pass, I met these friendly jawans who keep a watch on India's borders even in the toughest conditions. My salutes to them.

I was greeted with genuine welcome, shown the bunkers and met one Muslim jawan who was distributing the prasad from the Shiv Temple.

खतरे मैं हो देश अगर तो लड़ना सिर्फ़ धर्म है,
जीना है क्या चीज़ आदमी लेता नया जनम है।
ताक़त वतन की हमसे है, हिम्मत वतन की हमसे है,
इज्ज़त वतन की हमसे है, हैं देश के हम रखवाले।

Sela pass has quite a history. At times of 1971 war when Chinese were coming ahead, two girls Sela & Noora were helping by ammunition supply to the lone soldier Jaswant Singh who kept holding the accession of the chinese army. Chinese first tortured Noora. Jaswant Singh laid his life after killing many chinese soldiers. Chinese then ran after Sela, who climbed to the peak of the mountain and jumped to her death. The pass and the peak is named after Sela and there is a memorial nearby for Jaswant Singh. His washed uniform and polished shoes are still provided to him everyday. It is a known fact that his spirit still protects this pass.

Route: Delhi - Guwahati - Tezpur - Bhalukpong - Bomdila - Shangrila - Sela Pass

Elephant charging at me in Pichola Jungle

Coordinates:

27° 1' 44.58" N 93° 43' 34.76" E

I had gone to see the Forest departments' plywood factory at Pichola, Arunachal Pradesh. While returning to Itanagar just after the factory as the jungle road started, I saw this elephant who had strayed near the road. I asked driver to stop the jeep and got out to click the photos. As soon as the elephant sensed my presence, it took a turn furiously and started charging towards me. I pressed the click button and ran to the safety of jeep. A close encounter.

Approximately 470km from Guwahati. Route: Guwahati (Assam) - Tezpur - Gohpur - Pichola (Arunachal Pradesh) . Innerline permit required to enter the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Shangrila - Deadly roads in paradise.

Coordinates:

27° 29' 0.56" N 92° 6' 42.09" E

Our trip to Tawang Monastry was cut short by a heavy snow storm just before Sela pass in Arunachal Pradesh. Within minutes the landscape changed to white and we had no idea where the road was on the deadly slopes of the steep hills. We could not go forward. So we retreated and found a old forest inspection bunglow at Shangrila. We had no option but to wait and enjoy the beauty of the area as snowfall did not stop for 2 days. The monpa caretaker of the inspection bunglow tried making our stay comfortable with whatever facilities he had. Certainly this was not the place where anybody ever thought of stopping. But a stay of 2 days in this place, made us realise how we had always ignored the beauty of Shangrila in our hurry to cross the Sela pass. On third day we woke upto a beautiful morning. Army was clearing the snow from the roads and we were ready to go.

Approximately 650kms from Guwahati, Assam. Suggested Route: Guwahati - Tezpur - Bhalukpong - Bomdila - Shangrila. (Entry is restricted and authorisation is required to enter the state of Arunachal Pradesh even by Indians)