[Red Liner]

Day 13
Ziro to Pasighat
312 Kms

Our actual end destination was Aalo. And there's a shorter route via Daporijo. But the locals warned us that even locals don't take that route. Warnings accepted, and we started riding towards Pasighat.

Goodbye's are not forever​

Our exit out of Ziro was marred by some atrociously slushy roads. The dense jungles were now beckoning out to us.

The roads were blissfully empty, allowing us photo breaks like the one above in complete abandon.

Somewhere along the way, as we were criss crossing into neighbouring Assam and back into Arunachal Pradesh, I saw the Sun beginning to cast shadows. I waved my mate down for another photo op, with the Sun gazing down on us from just above the horizon. Isn't this what trips like these are about?

You and your best mate
riding terra firma unknown
exploring roads
out of your comfort zone
You crack open your visor
looking over
as you and your best mate
ride on forever...

As we trooped into Pasighat, which was to be our halt for the night, I had another best mate to meet. This was the guy who relentlessly helped me put this whole trip together. A guy I hadn't ever met, but thats the power of human relationships. They can transcend time, age, nationality, culture, language. More so if both of you are ardent motorcyclists. And we met right here on Team BHP

His name is Gunin Mattack. Let me stop right there. Here's a guy who's folks named him using the words Gun and Attack in the same breath. I am not even making this shit up! Damn!​

Riding these parts of Secret India, a local who knows the lay of the land is imperative to make the best out of your trip. His advice, encouragement, positive attitude, and always being there for us is something I will never forget - and hope to pay it forward. It was unfortunate that he was called off on duty, and hence couldn't ride with us (which was the plan).

He however put us up in a local hotel, and patched us through with his young deputies in Pasighat, who we promptly invited out with us to sit by the river side, enjoying the nightlife under a brightly lit full moon.

The next morning we were off to Aalo. We were back to riding!

[Red Liner]

The ride to Aalo brought us more hard packed trails and I was loving the braaap!

https://youtu.be/skvlafnGCVg

[Red Liner]

Day 14
Pasighat to Aalo
100 Kms

We were going to be riding alongside the mighty Brahmaputra.

It was going to be a short day of riding, considering we had only 100 kms to cover. So tons of photo breaks were scheduled.

Rode across this stunning formation yonder side. The layers, the colours, the myriad shapes captivated us.



The mighty Brahmaputra

The roads were smooth and the tarmac fresh. We enjoyed this dual sporting and tarmac riding intermittently.

We were getting close to Aalo. Riding past quaint sleepy villages, and we were loving every bit of it.

A hanging bridge. We were going to get on to that.






A tributary joining the mother ship, the Brahmaputra from under the bridge.





That was the bridge. Adventure anyone?

[Red Liner]

A little further on the roads turned into a hard packed trail again. And we had to stop almost abruptly!

Road work and construction is a never ending work in progress in India!

So we had about 3-4 hours to kill here. I set about making friends with everyone around lol. I actually enjoyed this downtime, it gave me an opportunity to talk to people I would have sped by.

My mate however decided to get some shut eye.

This pretty girl was riding her little scooterette, unnerved by our blasting around on bigger bikes. She could care less, like most locals riding little bikes with big courage wrapped all across their smiling faces.

I also got to talking with some telecom line workers who were now stuck along with us. I felt good to be the one asking questions. And getting to know their lives back home.

One of the women who was with us, whipped out these bananas, and we all had a nice little calorie break right there on the trail.

As we were waiting and chatting, I heard a loud rumble behind me. Almost like rocks were crashing down on us. The whole lot of us turned round, to see this rolling locomotive on two wheels lol!



It was the one and only Royal Enfield Bullet. But not any Royal Enfield, this was decked up as hell!

That was the owners name. Ete. What is it with motorcyclists, you don't need any darned reason to walk over and start chatting bar the fact you're both on two wheels! Catch that happening with cagers.

We had no idea that we were going to run into this dude again in Aalo.

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Once the gates opened though, it was every man for himself - as in most of India LOL!

https://youtu.be/fDvE-3T_tSg

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We reached Aalo well enough during the day light hours to have the full evening ahead of us. So we promptly ditched the bikes and our gear at the hotel and started walking around town, revelling in the new found freedom of our flip-flops and shorts.

The Indian army has a pretty big set up here. Place looked first class, whilst most of the town was in shambles lol.

There was another Donyi Polo temple here in Aalo which I wanted to visit. I kid you not, we walked "through" someone's house to get there (some kind of a shortcut). The family who let us through were very welcoming. I was lost for words.

The kind priest opened the temple up just for us.

And even accepted a photo op.

Some sights as we were walking around town. Fun fact: Alcohol stores outnumbered every other class of shop in town.

A volleyball match. Am a sucker for them especially with cute women playing.

Some dudes playing carrom. They were a bit miffed I took their picture though.

We were back at the hotel as the evening sunk in. There was a conference going on downstairs, by the Rural Livelihood Mission - the same folks who were helping us out with places to stay on this trip.

We knocked down a few nightcaps with a new mate of ours, a local who helped set up the next few days of our riding. An ardent fan of the Royal Enfield, Karik was a godsend and an introduction to me by a common friend between us.

The next day we were off to Mechuka, our first in a series of stops that would take us within spitting distance of the India-Tibet border - a border closely contested by China and India. Fun times.

[Red Liner]

Day 15
Aalo to Mechuka
186 kms

Now this was going to be a helluva a ride. The roads for the most part were going to be non existent, and we were going to be riding through verdant jungles, across pristine waterfalls and glacial streams.

The sun is always up early, and so were we to tackle this gnarly day. We were absolutely looking forward to reaching the high snowcapped borders of India and Tibet.

Being able to stop and take in everything the moment gives you is your divine right. Never ignore it.

As we rode, we came upto many terraced farms that abound this area. Since the sun is up early and the evening comes quickly, farmers usually get to their fields by 4 am.

Soon, terraced farms were giving way to deeply forested jungles.

We were entering the Mouling National Park.

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Our ride through the Mouling National Park area and beyond towards Mechuka.

https://youtu.be/Azu8rhtSIs8

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As always the blacktop ended pretty quickly, and we were back on the dusty dirt tracks we were so used to calling home.

The jungles represented an ever present and clear danger. It was eerie just peering through the thick foliage. I half expected some wild sabre tooth to just bounce out and make away with my head, helmet be damned.

Ofcourse, there was no such existential threat. Because every single animal out there has been hunted for its meat. The people of this land are phenomenal hunters, and in recent times their home made catapults have given way to more sophisticated air guns. This and the fact that most of the population don't really give too much of a damn about growing their own livestock means wildlife is at an all time low - inspite of fantastic jungle cover.

The best thing about riding through such terrain is the access to fresh mountain springs. I kid you not, I could actually taste the mineral content in the water. Shows how much has been sterilised in the name of progress in our lives.

Halt, wash up, refill, refuel, go.

BRO, is a wing of the Indian Army to put it succinctly. BRO stands for Border Roads Organization. And as the name suggests, they are in charge of all the road construction and maintenance across all the borders that India shares with her restless neighbours, China and Pakistan.

My mate on this ride is an ace photographer and an even "acer" editor. I chose well.

I can't stop about how prehistoric these jungles actually looked in person. I can bet some of these trees here are a couple of hundred years old, and have their own stories to tell, for the wayward wanderer who has the time to stop and listen.

Can you spot the little bridge across the river?



Anyone wanna have a go at this hill climb? LOL

The river was our companion, guide and mentor. The river flows only one way, just like time. The river is ever present, always new, right here and now. But at the same time, the humility of its simple beginnings from the mountains that abound is not forgotten. There is much to learn from the river.

[Red Liner]

Our route took us through the amazing Siko Dido Waterfalls.

We spent some time at the waterfalls, enjoying the quietude of the forests amidst the din of the Siko Dido. Lunch was a brilliant fish meal served at the local restaurant abounding the waterfalls.

The route leading us out of the waterfalls toward Mechuka was everything we dreamt of on an adventure trip.

Stopping by waterfalls became a regular occurrence.

I might not be carrying the best photographic equipment, but I enjoy "framing" the right shot in my head.

I think this was the road we rode down from, viewed from behind us.

We had now finally crept up to Mechuka, and the cold sights of a high altitude plateau greeted us.

And just like that, we had reached Mechuka. Cold and freezing on the outside, warm with excitement for the adventure unfolding from within.

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Siko Dido Waterfalls

https://youtu.be/xReVWy2LZF8

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We checked into a fabulously situated home-stay right at the edge of Mechuka. A home stay is kind of like a family run establishment, where you join the family in the kitchen eating and drinking along with them (which we did a LOT of!). I love staying at home stays because its a really authentic way to understand the local cultural nuances, their everyday way of life, and is way more enjoyable as compared to a sterile dingy hotel room.

The views from the homestay were just absolutely breathtaking. It had just rained, and the misty mountain tops made for excellent photography.

Aside from running his homestay along with his wife, Lakpa Sona, the owner also had his own farm. We took a walk with him to explore how he runs his everyday life.

I also got introduced to his personal security.

Later that evening, we watched a squadron of army recruits run up this bridge into the mountains. This was apparently their daily "walk in the park". We were invited to join the route the next morning - kind of a trek.

I had no clue what the hell I was getting my fat arse into.

[Red Liner]

We were up early the next morning. Today was the day we were off to climb up to Mechuka Top.

Mechuka has a very interesting name. The name Mechuka or Menchuka is derived from the Memba dialect of the Memba tribe, who were the original settlers in this land. Men means medicine, and chu means water, streams and the like. And ka means snow. This roughly translates to the "the land blessed with medicinal snow fed water and streams".

29 kms North of Mechuka sits Tibet, and the McMahon line which acts as the defacto border between Tibet (China) and India.



We were due to climb to one of the points above Mechuka which will give us a birds eye view of the town.



More importantly, we will also follow the route taken by the Indian Army to keep their young recruits warm and ready for action.

We were led by Lakpa Sona's nephew, who was visiting with a bunch of his friends and was also staying over at the homestay. Gazing back, we were making reasonable headway up towards Mechuka top.

The sun was up and bright, drying away the rains that beat down the valley the past few days. The undergrowth was still moist and wet however, and we had to be careful about where we put our feet in front of us.

Before long, we had reached about a quarter of the way, and were beginning to find little treats of a view from mid way up.





This also meant we could take a short break, enjoying the sunshine with good company.

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I was beginning to get breathless now. Not because of lack of oxygen, but more so because my fitness levels had deteriorated so much during the preceding Covid pandemic of 2020.

I kept using the excuse of "great views" to stall the climbing and get some much needed rest. But the views were good!

Our friends were getting restless now. We still had a long way to go apparently! Damnit, I was stuck in no man's land now. I couldn't go back and the only way was to go forth!

We finally got moving again. This was the route ahead of us.





We were now pretty high up, but the mountains were still playing spoilsport, hiding behind a veil of summer clouds.

I kept staring at the route ahead, thinking of how difficult it was, how breathless I was, and how I could have just sat around at the home stay below and chug a few lites. These incessant thoughts are usually the culprit when things start getting tough in life. The mind is a great conspirator and is perennially lazy. It just wants the easiest way out of any activity. Anything that does not form a part of our comfort zone is immediately wished away.

But the rewards of stepping out of your comfort zone is infinite! The dopamine and adrenaline hormones course through your brain and body, providing for feelings of euphoria and a sense of achievement. Its almost akin to a Genghis Khan moment.

[Red Liner]

We began the climb down in earnest. We hadn't eaten throughout the trek barring a few biscuits which our new found friends had thoughtfully carried along with them.

I was ravenous. Wild blueberries to the rescue! Ah the joy of eating wild fruits as you walk along in terra ferma unknown is to be experienced!

As I was munching on the truly succulent wild berries, I looked back to gaze on the path we had just traveled. Once in a while, it is important to look back at your life, relive all your trials and tribulations, the joys and the depressions, and see how far you have come. Your life is the best story ever told.

The mountains were still playing hide and seek. But I was not one to lose hope, and kept my eyes up and head held high to catch a glimpse of these pretty maidens when they deem fit.

Now, this is probably why the Indian Army uses this trail fairly regularly to train themselves. This here is a barrack. We found a number of these - some on our path, some lower, and some higher. Built strategically to ensure the Indian Army has the higher ground in the event of an unfortunate skirmish with our Chinese neighbours. Which is becoming incessantly normal by the way.

The soldiers are meant to spend a night or two at these barracks every now and then. The conditions were harsh and the barracks themselves were spartan. This had to be the fortitude of mind over body to live here.

Finally, the maidens of the Snow Clad land of Mechuka felt me worthy of their sight. Maybe I had to prove myself by climbing up here.

Our climb down was now swift, more so in our eagerness to hit the closest cafe for some well deserved coffee and food. We spotted a road, but decided to climb straight down as the crow flies.

We finally did end up getting onto the road, but some lovely shots more than made up for the walk back into civilisation.