Thank for your detailed travel blog to North East, we just completed a North East trip and your blog was inspirational and helped us a lot in the planning.
We hired a Ford Ecosport from Panda Rides from Guwahati, I strongly recommend them:
www.pandarides.com.
Avoided zoom cars because of all the horror stories.
This is the route we took:
~2500 kms Round Trip | 11 Days | 74h estimated driving
We took flights from Bengaluru to Guwahati. Avoid early morning DOMESTIC flights from Bengaluru in Dec/Jan as the flights will be delayed due to fog.
Day 1 Guwahati > Bomdila | 335kms | 8:30 hrs
Monasteries of Bomdila
Day 2 Bomdila> Sela Pass > Tawang | 170kms | 6 hrs
Tawang Monastery which is regarded as the second largest monastery of the world only after Potala Palace of Lhasa of Tibet
Absolutely NO snow fall and perfect clear weather when we visited in second week of December 2018
There is an Army checkpoint few kms before the Sela Pass where you need to make an entry and they will advice on the road conditions
Day 3 Tawang > Bum La Pass > Sangestar Tso > Tawang > 100 kms | 10 hrs
The Bum La Pass is located about 35*km away from Tawang. Tarmac roads are non-existent, in-fact the roads you travel were orginally laid by the PLA when they invaded India in 1962.
Requires permit to visit the Bumla pass from DC office and Brigadier office, which is organised by local cab driver. Only local cabs are allowed to visit the Bumla pass. Cab cost is 5,000 including Pass.
Pankang Teng Tso
Madhuri / Sangestar Tso
Day 4 Tawang > Bomdila > Tezpur | 330 kms | 11 hrs
Jaswant Singh 1962 war memorial just before Sela Pass, truly inspirational
Joginder Singh 1962 war memorial
Bhalukpong Water Falls, Nuranang Waterfalls
Nagamandir to Tezpur The most craziest roads we encountered in North East, frequent landslides and rock slides, road cutting work is going on, there is little tarmac. Don’t travel these roads during monsoon season.
Day 4 Tezpur > Dimapur Nagaland > Kohima | 300 kms | 9 Hrs
Please stay tuned to the news, there is frequent road blocks due to agitation by Nagas and other local organisations. These agitations don’t target tourists.
While four lane work is in progress, Dimapur to Kohima is the worst roads we traveled in North East. In couple of years this road should become a four lane highway.
Day 5 Kohima
The Hornbill Festival during first week of December
The Deputy Commissioners Bungalow - Battle of the Tennis Court
Bara Basti. Supposedly the second largest village in Asia. See the traditional Angami way of life.
Kohima Museum. Some rare Naga artifacts.
Kohima WW II Cemetry
Trek to the beautiful Dzukuo Valley. You will never forget it your entire life. Its a valley at the top of the mountains. What is amazing is that you will find Rivers and waterfalls in this valley which is situated at the top of the mountains.
Day 6 Kohima > Imphal (Manipur) | 140 Kms | 5 Hrs
Bad roads with many potholes and poor surface. Sparse traffic. After 5 pm you have heavy truck convoy with armed escort by Assam Rifles.
Kangla fort in Imphal City
Loktak Lake - The largest fresh water lake in North-Eastern India
Sambal- Lei-Sekpil garden. The garden is situated in Sagolban, Kwakeithel, Imphal, toward the Tidim road.
Khongjom War Memorial, Khonglom. Place where last war was fought against British India | On the road to Moreh
Manipur is a dry state (Alcohol is not allowed for sale or consumption). However bootleggers are plenty :)
Day 7 Imphal > Moreh > Imphal | 230 kms | 6 hrs
Moreh town and border crossing: it is a border town between India and Myanmar located 105 kms from Imphal.
Daily pass to enter Tamu, Myanmar can be obtained from the Myanmar side of Gate 2 at a cost of Rs 20 per person
Moreh/Tamu is a border town infamous for smuggling, don’t venture outside the main market or pagoda area in Tamu.
Day 8 Imphal > Silchar | 264kms 9 hrs
Isolated roads, many CRPF checkpoints and patrols on the way. Hills around Imphal are Naga militant active areas, however they don’t trouble tourists.
Day 9 Silchar > Krang Shuri > Dawki | 191 Kms | 6hrs
Watch-out for the long truck traffic, before you enter Dawki town. These trucks block one lane as they wait for their turn to enter Bangladesh, whose border is just 1km from Dawki Town.
Day 10: Dawki > Mawlynnong > Shillong – 113 kms | 4 Hrs
Dawki river boating
Living root bridge
Balancing rock
21 waterfalls view point
Mawlynnong - This was a little hyped, didn’t find it interesting.
Day 11 Shillong > Guwahati | 100 kms | 3 hrs
Excellent roads in Shillong and Guwahati
Absolutely fantastic ride you two have done. Something many of us can only dream of. Written so beautifully, I took two days to read, make notes and keep following your trip on google maps.
You have gone to places where even locals don't know about. I have been going to Meghalaya for last 30 odd years (wife is from there) but never heard of Kreng Shuri waterfalls! And I have been dreaming of riding the Jorabat Umiam section of NH6. It is one of the only 4 lane ghat road in India (besides the Mumbai Pune Expressway).
In spite of having punctures and inclement weather during some of the days your ride timing matches quite well with Gmaps timings.
Did you ever consider riding through Bangladesh? It would have cut down on your kilometers and given you another country to see.
And your attention to detail is amazing. How did you keep track of every little thing? From wake up times, to break times, to what you ate with price:eek:
An immensely detailed travelogue. I took turns to read it thoroughly.
Relived my time in Northeast [10 years] from your description & pics which are so detailed, crisp - I totally loved the post-processing on the pics.
On top of all, I appreciate & admire the hard work behind writing that mammoth travelogue. So many of my travelogues are in Pipeline because I don't feel like typing all those details. Someday perhaps.
PS: Was you rear tyre a Brand new one? {Pardon if you had mentioned it & I missed) Since it had almost worn out, I am inquisitive.
Great journey, excellent and informative videos. Hats off to you two for the guts and grit to undertake this journey.
Keeping our fingers crossed, as my wife and I want to complete our drive to all the State Capitals by striking out, from our Bucket List, the 6 Capitals East of Guwahati.
We have visited all Capitals/States, , West of Guwahati, by road from Bengaluru, to include Gangtok and Thimphu to the East with J&K (Leh included), HP, UK to the North, Guj and Raj to the West, Central-Chattisgarh, Jhakhand, Bihar, UP and MP, Odisha(Home state) and Bengal quite a few times and whole of South India(numerous drives).
Though served in NE for 3 tenures and covered all States but want to drive with the wife and complete our visit to all State Capitals.
Your T'Log will really help.
Regards
Col Jude Mayne
Always good to read your travelogues. What a wonderful trip you guys.
Now I am getting the itch to ride towards the beautiful NE States.
