November 15, 2014 
TEZPUR to TAWANG 360 km (Arunachal Pradesh)
Monyul Lodge, 900Rs/$14.66 double without breakfast

Preferential Treatment in Arjun's Sumo

The KF Hotel handed us a packed breakfast as we stepped out the door and made our way across the dark street to the junction at 5:15 am where the Sumo for Tezpur pulled up 30 minutes later.
   
We had tickets for seats 5 & 6 which are 2 of 4 seats behind the driver. That row was filled. The driver told us, with a big grin, that he kept seats 1 & 2 for us. Some Sumos have a small two seater next to the driver but this one was a bucket seat. The driver exclaimed immediately "Oh mam, this one is modified" as he produced a little padded module that fit between the two front seats. What the heck, we'll give it a try, we decided. 

A nice guy, who had been waiting for his Sumo to Balipara to fill up, gave us a hand lifting the luggage on the roof rack where our driver covered and secured it. When the good Samaritan turned around, his Sumo had taken off with his luggage and without him. We felt bad we had to leave him while being the cause of his dilemma. We were on our way at 6:00 am... mighty early and dawn was now upon us.


Scenic Ride into the Himalaya
 
We were surprised to see a number of tea plantations are around Tezpur. We watched the morning mist rise over the rice fields and villages waking with families huddled around small fires. Packs of monkeys sat along the roadside in several areas. I always get a kick out of them. 
  
...The entire road to, and well beyond the border, was heavily patrolled by foot soldiers. It has been decades since the Chinese Army invaded the area but the Indians are still wary.
 
At 7:30am, we reached the State border crossing at Bhalukpong. The military guy studied our permit as if it was the first time he laid eyes on permits. They never asked for our passports. We signed the permit and left copy with them and we were cleared to pass the border into the restricted area of Aranuchal Pradesh. 

A fun market was in progress. Goats and chickens were being slaughtered. Large fresh river fish and plenty of local grown produce and fruit was for sale. We enjoyed a cup of chai at a small stand and continued. The driver picked up a few more passengers and filled up the third row and the least desirable of seats in the way back. 
 
Soon thereafter, we ascended into the first ranges of the Himalayas covered in lush tropical rain forest. From here on, it was a one-lane road for two-way traffic. A lot of stopping and finding a broader spot in road to let opposite traffic pass. The going was slow because of road conditions and steep terrain.

 
Mountain High Lunch
 
By lunch time, after 6 hours of travel, we had merely covered 186 km, slightly more than 100 miles. We huddled in the kitchen around a small table in the popular little restaurant. Dave was happy with dhal and fresh chapati. The friendly lady fixed me up with tasty cabbage and tomato salad which I rolled in the fresh chapati... yumm. 
 
After Bomdila the temperature dipped as the mountains got higher and more bare. The road steadily deteriorated. Some roadwork was being done and often by women. Appalling shacks are provided for the laborers who make barely 200Rs for a full days work our driver Arjun told us. 
 
There is barely room for one-way traffic yet Sumos and huge garish trucks come from opposite directions forcing one of the parties to back up to a wider spot.
  
Dave, who a sat in the middle, had little catnaps along he way, no place to rest his head. He just kind of goes limp and lets gravity do the rest. I often interrupt his sweet slumber when I get tired of being squashed by his weight.

Dirang was a charming town we passed and would be a good place to break up the trip to Tawang.

At 4 pm, on our long way up to the Se La pass, we took a 10 minute coffee break. By now our rear ends are pretty numb. It has already been a long day. 
 
Soon after, we ascended the gnarly hairpins to 4376 meters at Se La pass in thick persistent cloud cover. We couldn't see ten feet in front of the car. Very scary. We passed the skeleton of brand new car that had gone over the edge on hairpin above four months ago. None of the passengers survived, Arjun told us. We are happy with our mild mannered young driver. He told us the Sumo is his own. When I asked him how much commission the ticket office takes, he told us they get 100 of the 750Rs seats they sell. 

 
Managing our Fooding and Lodging
 
Arjun, the driver, offered to "manage" our "lodging and fooding" (we think that means dining needs) while we are in Tawang. We assumed that means that he'll get a commission from our stay and food. We prefer to stay independent.we told him we will give him a call when we like him to show us around. Arjun was planning on staying in Tawang for 2 nights to be with his young wife and son before heading back to Tezpur. We booked the return seats with him for Tuesday. 
 
Dave finally got through on his cell to the guesthouse we wanted to stay at and was able to book a room just before he was cut off. At about 5:30 pm, Arjun pointed to the lights across the valley and told us that is Tawang. We still had 38 km to go and it looked so close. 

 
Tawang after 14 Hours!
 
And finally, after 14 hours, we arrived in Tawang at 8 pm. Arjun dropped us off at our hotel. Dave called the owner when we found no one manning reception. Norbu, the owner came down and showed us to our room. Simple but spacious and relatively clean. Norbu pointed to a buzzer in our room for room service. He had a generator going because electricity frequently stops. In the very unlikely event that there will be power in the morning, we will have hot water for a shower. Never mind internet. The temperature was hovering around freezing now. 
 
Next door, we went to the small restaurant where they pointed to the board of small lights, each correlating to a room. They light up and buzzer sounds to alert them a room needs room service. The small son (12 yrs old) is then sent to the room, takes order and delivers it when ready. The elder son, the only one who spoke fluent English, was a big help translating my wishes to his mom, the cook. Since they had not a thing on the menu that was not spicy, I was happy with sunny side up eggs and toast. Yokes soft, whites done, non greasy, and butter on the side. I feel like such a snob, by being soooo uncharacteristically picky. These people really try to please. I took advantage of the son being able to translate my wishes and asked if it was possible for his mom to boil squash for me with only little salt tomorrow, if I would get it in the market. He insisted his mom would get it for me. I was stoked. They filled our hot water bottles and a thermos of hot water for tea or coffee for us. We soon disappeared in our room under our thick quilt and two blankets with our hot water bottles. Time for long johns!

At around 9 pm the power came on and stayed on till maybe 5 am. This is Tezpur quota at this time of year we were told.
 


November 16 & 17 2014
TAWANG 3050m, Aranuchal Pradesh 
Monyul lodge 900Rs/$14.66

Tawang Wiki-Notes
 
Tawang is at an elevation of approximately 3,048 meters (10,000 ft) in the northwestern part of Arunachal Pradesh of India. 

Tawang was historically part of Tibet inhabited by Monpa people. In 1914, the British drew the McMahon Line making Tezpur part of India. The area is now claimed by China and India. During the Sino-Indian war of 1962, Tawang fell briefly under Chinese control, but China voluntarily withdrew its troops at the end of the war.

The Tawang Monastery was founded by the Merak Lama Lodre Gyatso in 1681. When the 14th Dalai Lama fled from Tibet to escape from Chinese army, he crossed into India on 30 March 1959 and spent some days at the Tawang Monastery before reaching Tezpur in Assam on 18 April.
 

Patiently Waiting for the Sun

You may ask, what does 900Rs get you in the accommodation department in Tawang? This place was rated a good budget choice in LP. We have a reasonably sized room. We can walk at both sides of the bed. The sheets are definitively not changed after every guest but probably get washed once a week, if they need it or not. They do have a generator to keep the lights on during frequent outages. Hot water is a tiny electric boiler, maybe 10 liters. Naturally, the generator doesn't put out enough to power the water heater with a result that getting a hot shower is hit and miss. It is mighty cold out and no space heater is provided. No toilet paper either (a first for us in long time.) The hotel owner has been good about filling our hot water bottles bottles and, when we request it, he gives us a thermos for tea or coffee. There is no cozy common area where one can meet other guests. A sign of "rules" on our door states: DO NOT THROW BABY DIAPERS OR SANITARY NAPKINS OUT THE WINDOW. I suspect that must have been a problem in the past. 

We have not seen any westerners so far in Arunachal Pradesh. It rained last night and the clouds hung low on the mountains when we awoke. 

I am still congested and feel like staying in bed with hot lemonade and honey. We decided to take short walk through town in search of a cozy cafe with a view where we can hang for the better part of the day. No such luck. The town has a fair amount of charm with several colorful gates and prayer flags. A statue of a deity that watches over town from the hill above. The central market is where the Bompa tribal women sell fruit and vegetables, many wearing the traditional black yak-wool gurdam (skullcaps that look like behemoth hairy spiders perched on their heads). The market is surrounded by prayer wheels. 

Through breaks in the clouds, we got brief glimpses of the Tawang Monastery complex which is arguably the second largest in Asia. With clear skies, it is a striking sight across the valley. 
 
There are a few Internet cafes in town but none are open because frequent power outages. We asked around for a restaurant where we can spend some time behind a cup of chai. None of the places that were recommended were open. Nowhere is a grain of coziness. With the temperatures hovering around freezing, we could not find a place to sit and relax in comfort. We went back to our room and had our hot water bottles and thermos filled so we could make some tea and coffee. 
    
We ventured out to the small restaurant below for dinner where I enjoyed my boiled potato and pumpkin. Dave was happy with his thali. 

  
Let's Visit the Second Biggest Monastery
 
Dave texted Arjun the Sumo driver and asked if he could take us to the Monastery in the morning. 

Arjun was happy to take us to the monastery. Under normal circumstances we would have walked the 3 km to there. But with my congestion, the altitude really affected my endurance. Besides, we liked Arjun's company. He reminded me of my son in law of whom I am very fond.  
 
......It was another overcast day. We passed through several Monpa villages. Locals busyed themselves with daily chores. Every home has neatly stacked wood storage next to their homes. From what I can see, it's mainly used for cooking. Summer and winter, the doors are kept wide open. 
 
  From the Monastery parking area, we followed the steps up between the monks quarters and library to the main prayer hall. We're lucky. It was open and we were free to admire the stunning decorations and the 8-meter high statue of Buddha Shakyamuni at our leisure.

Arjun, who is Hindu, wanted to have his picture taken with us. 

We checked out the small museum afterwards. It had a respectable collection of religious artifacts but I liked the pictures of the Dalai Lama's escape from China in the fifties best. There is also one of Indira Gandhi in Monpa traditional dress, complete with the black yak wool gurdam (skullcaps)


Arjun's Wife

Arjun invited us to meet his wife and 1 year old son. They rent a very small bare room. Arjun told us his marriage is a love marriage. They fell in love with each other and decided to marry but his parents do not accept his wife because she is from a lower caste. Their room is beside the gas station down from the market. Arjun pulled aside the curtain in front of the door opening and introduced his lovely wife and young son. His wife, a tall striking girl with thick shiny black hair tied back in a casual knot, busied herself with making tea for us on the one small burner stove. Here, we barely could stay warm enough in our multi-layers and all she wore was a cotton salwar kameez, a cardigan and flimsy sandals, no socks. We sat on hard platform that was their bed. Several quilts and blankets laid neatly stacked on top of some belongings. A flat woven basket with dry rice stood in one corner. Arjun lifted his son with pride. I took several nice family photos of them. Arjun told us he hoped to save enough money so he could buy a small shop in Tezpur for his wife. On the way back to our hotel, we had some copies printed of the pictures we took of them. He doesn't own a camera and doesn't have picture of his little family. 

After Arjun dropped us off, we had a decent lunch at Dragon Restaurant.