That was in October 2004, when I unloaded the bike from the train in Guwahati and holed up at a friend's place. <br>
Within an hour, several old friends started trickling in, and before I could say 'Whoa' we were some eighteen-strong.<br>
That meant some celebrations which carried on till the wee hours of the morning, spoiling my best-laid plans to leave for Cherrapunji the next morning. To make matters worse, one nut of a friend drove eight hours through the night from Kohima to see me.<br>
So that meant another evening of celebrations and the night passed away in a jiffy. I decided to take matters into my own hands and hit the road at 4:50 am, without having slept a wink.<br>
The previous night I'd made an unusual acquaintance. Most of them were curious about my plans, some almost close to saying how 'weird' I was, getting the bike all the way from Delhi and now planning to go to Tawang!<br>
Ritu was listening quietly and after a few many drinks caught me in a quiet corner. "Listen, can I join you on the ride to Tawang?"he asked. I agreed and asked him what cycle he has. <br>
He said, "A Yamaha 350 which is in about 30 pieces and is being built, a Yamaha 135 which I use for short rides and I can borrow a friend's Pulsar 180. You tell me which one should I take?"<br>
We met up again on my way back from Cherra and we exchanged numbers to finalise the plan.<br>
<b>October 26, 2004:</b><br>
Rinku, my pillion suggested that we move to Tezpur in the evening and spend the night there at a friend's place, so that we start the ride to Bomdilla afresh in the morning. <br>
I was dreading my father would shoot down the plan, citing how unsafe it's to ride at night and all, but he said, "Ya, it does make sense, but drive carefully."<br>
So, we left Jorhat at 6:30 pm and rode through the moonlight. (Highways in Assam are not lit up and traffic is also minimal in the early evening before the convoys of night buses start). It was a great ride, I picked up a Zen which was doing about 80-90 kph and tailed it till Jokholabandha.<br>
From there on, it was a beautiful moonlit ride, as we approached the Brahmaputra cruising at 90 kph. Suddenly the phone buzzed. It was Nipu from Kohima, wishing us a safe journey and carrying on, "you guys are nuts!"<br>
Well, so was he, driving from Kohima to Guwahati to meet me and then going back to Kohima the next day!<br>
Some cops stopped us just before the bridge and asked the usual questions. Knowing the local language does help and one cop started rattling off about Jorhat, his college days and friends.<br>
Another one joined in and started talking Bullets. We bid them adieu and reached Tezpur at 9:45 pm. Some guys dropped in at the friend's place and it turned out most of them had been to Tawang. One of them was very persistent on advising us not to go on the bike, going on and on about how cold and treacherous Sela Pass is.<br>
<b>October 27, 2004:</b><br>
Ritu arrived at 10:00 am and we decided to get the permits made at Bhalukpong instead of waiting at the office in Tezpur. He explained that he got stuck in Guwahati the day before changing the tyres for the ride to Tawang. His Yamaha 135 was all ready to conquer Sela.<br>
Ritu had driven to Tawang before and explained to me that "if it snows up there at Sela it could get quite treacherous". That was some comforting statement just before a ride. But we were prepared to conquer the world that morning.<br>
The ride to Bhalukpong was through the fringes of Nameri Wiildlife Sanctuary and the hills invited us from the horizon, as we snaked through the forest. <br>
We reached Bhalukpong at around 12 and after getting the Inner Line Permits, decided to have an early lunch. We bought some booze - a bottle of Old Monk cost Rs 90 and fuel came for Rs 36!<br>
That lunch break took us nearly two hours, and finally we started for Bomdilla at 2:25 pm.<br>
Right after Bhalukpong (Assam-Arunachal border) the terrain changed drastically and the hills start almost immediately. Soon, we were at Saddle Point, offering a beatiful view of the plains of Assam to the south and the rolling hills of Arunachal towards the east and north.<br>
After a short break there, we carried on. The ride to Bomdilla was one challenge. The road climbs up a steep slope and then goes down into a deep forest, designated the 'Fog Area'. There was no fog though. From there it climbs up and then again goes down a steep slope. <br>
Even though it was on second gear, I had to constantly use the brakes as the bike gained momentum on the slope downhill. (I was looking forward to climbing that on our way back). <br>
We reached Bomdilla at around 6:00 pm, but there were no hotel rooms available anywhere. Finally at one place, the owner showed us a common room with four beds. We took it up and asked for a good place to eat. He directed us to a small shop across the road, down a flight of stairs.<br>
The place was run by a couple and the guy even had booze and the kind of food we were looking forward to - pork and mithun fried and pork curry with rice!<br>
<b>October 28, 2004:</b>
We left Bomdilla at around 9:30 am and headed towards Tawang. The weather was bright and sunny, with only the slightest nip in the air. En route we stopped for tea, a light brunch and several stops for photo-ops. I kept asking Ritu when we'd reach Sela and he kept telling me to be patient.<br>
Dirang is a beautiful town on the way to Tawang and is only a few hours away from Bomdilla. I made a note of coming straight to Dirang next time. A few kilemetres after Dirang the road suddenly started twisting and turning and a massive wall of mountain came out in front of us, the tops of a snow-covered peak peeking out from behind in the distance.<br>
I was wondering if that was Sela, when suddenly, I saw a flash on top of the mountain. It was a tiny dot, too tiny to make out what make, but it was definitely a vehicle taking a turn on top of the mountain in front of us. I told Rinku, my pillion, that the peak was which we have to cross.<br>
That climb looked as if it'd take forever but at the end it felt like it was too short. Just before Sela, we stopped for a cigarette break and suddenly a car stopped on the turn. The guy was a friend of Rinku's from Jorhat and he told us that there was snow at Sela Pass.<br>
A few kilometres later we again stopped for a few photographs. Now there was snow on the mountains around us and I was too excited for words and just kept clicking away - it was the first time that I'd ever laid eyes on snow.<br>
A truck came down from the direction of the pass and one of the helpers told us that we wouldn't be able to make it since there was snow up there. Ritu and I however, decided that we'll cross it, even if it meant pushing the bikes. I was game and so was he, on the 135!<br>
We reached Sela, the highest I'd ever been on the bike at 13,700 feet! And after clicking a few photographs, started for the journey ahead. It was cold alright, but we were prepared with several layers of clothing. About a kilometre or so later, I suddenly started feeling drowsy. It was as if this giant veil of sleep had gathered around me.<br>
Spotting some shops by the roadside, I stopped to have some tea. It was very cold by now and we asked the lady of the tea shop to light a fire, while she prepared tea. It turned out, Ritu was also feeling drowsy, and I thought maybe a mild version of high altitude sickness.<br>
We were having tea by the fire when suddenly we heard some whoops and our friend from Kohima walked in! He and another guy were sitting in Kohima the night before, discussing our ride over a drink and suddenly they decided to come looking for us.<br>
It was around 3:00 pm then and they had been driving non-stop since 9:30 pm the night before! It'd be dark soon and to make up time, we decided to have Rinku in the car. Nipu proved that he can join the Raid de Himalaya in his Hyundai Santro, not once did he lose our tail as we ripped through the curves.<br>
It was dark by the time we reached Tawang but here again, there were no rooms available anywhere, thanks to the hordes of tourists!<br>
A friend of mine had strongly recommended Drong Khang - the guesthouse of the Tawang Monastery and we decided to split up in our quest for digs. Ritu and I headed for Drong Khang where we were told that it was already booked.<br>
The others located two rooms with an interconnecting door and after a few drinks, we called it a day.<br>
<b>October 29, 2004:</b>
After a visit to the monastery, we decided to head toward PT Tso, a lake about 25 km from Tawang on the highway to Lhasa. The highway is closed at the Indo-China border and we needed permission from the local authorities even to go till PT Tso.<br>
Ritu and I headed for the DC's office and the peon said that the DC would like to meet me. Seeing that I'd come from Delhi, he enquired where we were staying. As luck would have it, the caretaker of Drong Khang was standing there and we told him the story. Apparently the people who had booked the guesthouse couldn't even locate it the evening before and so it was waiting for us.<br>
We got the caretaker and took him with us to PT Tso. Ritu decided to leave his bike behind, but I had to take mine - (wherever I'm going the bike goes with me!)<br>
The region has a lot of military presence, thanks to the 1962 Indo-China war and there were only one kind of vehicle plying on that road - olive green. After some photographs at a small lake, we went further up to PT Tso. The smaller lake was more beautiful, but PT Tso has its own story. Legend has it that some monks even get to see an apparition of the Tawang monastery in the lake's waters.<br>
We headed back towards Tawang and went to the market to shop for dinner. On the menu was Yak meat, fish and lamb. We reached Drong Khang and everybody was taken in by the magnificent views from there.<br>
The guesthouse itself is basic, with just two bedrooms with attached bathrooms and a kitchen and a small dining area witha patio out in the front. The house was essentially a small cottage just below the monastery on a large grassy hill.<br>
We started our chores of cooking while the drinks were laid out. After a sumptuous meal we hit the sack at around midnight.<br>
<b>October 30, 2004:</b><br>
We decided to hit the road early, planning to make it to Tezpur if possible. We left Drong Khang at 8:30 and I stopped on the way to take some pictures. We stopped at Jaswantgarh, a war memorial dedicated to Jaswant Singh Rawat alias Jaswant Baba. <br>
It was the final phase of the war in November 1962. Even as his company was asked to fall back, Jaswant Singh remained at his post at an altitude of 10,000 feet and held back the rampaging Chinese for three days single-handedly. Legend has it that Jaswant Singh was helped by a local girl named Sela.<br>
After Jaswantgarh, we started off towards Sela Pass. There were yaks everywhere and I stopped to take a photgraph. After Sela we started our climb downhill and after an incredible journey reached Bomdilla by 3:00 pm. <br>
We were raving about the small shop in the town where we had dinner on our way to Tawang and so decided to have a late lunch. But lunch had to be cooked and after a two hour break, we decided to hit the road. It was alredy getting dark and some locals asked us where we were headed for. Some advised against travelling at night on the road to Bhalukpong, but our minds were made up. <br>
We crossed exactly three trucks on the road and there were no signs of any other traffic as we took on the curves in the dark. I was ripping, followed by the Yamaha and the Santro and By 7:30 pm, we were in Saddle Point.<br>
Nipu told me to ride slowly, saying that he could smell the rubber burning in his tyres as he tried to keep up. He travels extensively in the North East and has encountered wildlife many a time, most of them wild elephants. Now this is where he dropped the bomb.<br>
We had to go through Nameri and the strategy was that I would lead, followed by Ritu and then the car. He told me that herds of elephants are harmless but if there's a lone elephant, it's usually a rogue and the best strategy would be to turn back and run.
We reached Bhalukpong at 8:45 pm and some of us called up home. My father also warned me about elephants. There's a nice guesthouse by the river in Bhalukpong but we wanted to carry on. I took the lead and started cruising at 90 kph with the light on high beam. A spotted deer scuttled out of the way, but there were no signs of elephants.<br>
By 10:15, we were in Tezpur. Had a coulpe of drinks and dinner and Nipu started off for Kohima. We hit the sack and I started dreaming about mountain roads and yaks. |
