[Shubhendra]

Day 12: Kaho village and around in the morning
When we woke up at around 5:30 AM, it was way past sunrise but early morning view of our stay and surroundings were worth the morning. The homestay we stayed at was opened 4 months back by the head of the village. It is a typical homestay inside their house compound with wooden floor and mattresses. Simple, basic but well kept rooms. Although they have just 2 rooms for homestay but rooms are big and can accommodate 6-7 people in each room.






















They had a well maintained garden which was on full bloom, unfortunately couldn't click the picture of the garden.


They had some farmland behind their stay with a few livestock







After a round of tea and morning routine we got ready to a nearby hillock controlled by the Army to get a better view of the valley and China villages. Army denied entry hence we settled at the top most point of the village to have a look at the valley and China villages.
Kaho is technically the farthest village of India with sun rising up as early as 4:00 AM. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaho,_Arunachal_Pradesh) . There are very few houses and each house has a walkie-talkie with a designated channel to communicate to each other and pass on messages to someone at Dong which has a BSNL voice network. It has a typical rural and relaxed vibe and we would have stayed here for a day if we had time. You can walk around the village, go for jungle treks, bathe at waterfalls, relax/meditate at a monastery, chit chat with locals etc.. Locals are chilled out people and it's a place to relax for a few days.












Few houses (in white collar) you see in the pic below are in China side



Our hosts were ready with breakfast, a full meal in the morning. Wise old lady ensured we ate enough. She kept on referring to an old proverb, loose meaning of which is “you eat more than enough when you travel far”. She was not wrong to say the least and we realized the relevance of an old proverb as events of the day unfolded.



It was indeed a heavy breakfast at 7 AM in the morning. Dal, rice, goat meat, kimchi and red tea (yes, they call it red tea not black tea)


Details of the homestay if you ever reach so far

[Shubhendra]

Day 12: Kaho to Namsai

Today’s route: Kaho -> Dong -> Kaho -> Dong -> Hayuliang -> Parashuram Kund -> Wakro -> Namsai
Total distance traveled: 322 kms

Day 12: Kaho to Dong to Kaho to Dong to Hayuliang
We really wanted to spend an additional day but we wanted to cover more in those 15 days.
Unfortunately we had to rush and cross the traffic jam point (after Hyuliang) between 1-2 PM as that is the only window during day time to cross. Else, we were looking at another night at hayuliang which none of us wanted. We wanted to reach Hayuliang by 12 PM to have lunch at the riverside restaurant and then cross the road closure point. Our next destination was Pangsau Pass (India Myanmar border), although we knew that we won't be able to reach Pangsau but we wanted to cover as much distance as we could for today and stop at any accommodation by the evening.
After breakfast, we bid farewell to our hosts and their lovely family. While loading the bike, I borrowed my friend’s mobile to zoom and click a picture of the Chinese village. Due to misunderstanding between us, that phone was left on top of the house boundary. As we were getting late, one friend and I started our ride and the remaining two friends started a few minutes later. My friend assumed I had his mobile and I had assumed that I had already given him his mobile. As there is no network in the area, we couldn't clear the confusion. I and one of my friends rode non-stop upto hot water spring at Dong (around 50 mins from Kaho). When we all reunited at Dong, we both realized the goof-up. Now crossing Hayuliang road closure was looking bleak but it was important to get the mobile back. My friend and I rushed back to Kaho and the moment we reached there, our host waved to us with my friend’s mobile phone. We were relieved. He had sent a message to the next village through walkie-talkie to stop us but we crossed the next village before the message reached the next village.
View of Dong valley from Kaho





This tree must have fallen last night as it wasn't there when we came towards Kibithu and promptly cleared by Indian Army before 8 AM in the morning


First view of Chinese villages


A few pics taken between Kaho and Hayuliang

































We expressed our gratitude and rushed back to Dong, time was running out and we didn't want to stay at Hayuliang at any cost. It was rally style riding throughout and after reaching Dong we had to get 2 litres of petrol on 2 bikes which ran extra to Kaho and back. Thankfully a grocery store had petrol to sell otherwise we would have been in tricky situation. We decided to ride non-stop up till Khupa where we had to refuel and proceed further. Now, we didn't have luxury for lunch at the wonderful riverside restaurant at Hayuliang. We weren't even sure if we would be able to cross the road block point by 2 PM or if we would get lunch after that point.
Weather was open but it rained last night and waterfalls swelled and coupled with muddy road sections was fun and tiring.
The only photos I clicked of umpteen river crossings.




We stopped once for water and twice to get ourselves out from mud and help fellow rider who fell in the mud pit. We didn't stop anywhere to click pictures or eat or relax. Nonstop riding helped us to reach Hayuliang by 1:15 PM, we went further to Khupa, refueled our bikes, came back to the road towards Tezu and crossed the road blockage point by 1:58 PM. Mission accomplished

[Shubhendra]

Day 12: Kaho to Namsai contd...

We all were happy as we avoided staying at the pathetic hotel in Hayuliang anymore. We stopped just after crossing the bridge at the road block and today there was a lady selling biscuits and cold-drinks. It was hot and humid day and we were a bit tired as we had been riding since 8 AM. A long break here with cold drinks and fun filled discussion with the local ladies was much needed.

Place of traffic closure


You can see that rope bridge in the far which we visited yesterday. Lady selling biscuits belongs to the village and told some heart touching stories of difficulties faced by villagers in the absence of this bridge.




We also opened GMaps to identify the further route after Udayak top. To go to Hayuliang and beyond you have to cross Udayak top (there is an under construction road through Parashuram Kund as well which we got to know later and currently it's not there in GMaps).
We moved towards Udayak top by 2:30 PM. and soon entered into deep jungles.





As we had experienced the sad condition of this section 2 days back, we wanted to cover this section in daylight. There is limited vehicle movement in this section because of road closure timings and there is no village and phone network in many places. But, surprisingly, today we were enjoying the offroad in this section and crossing those boulders, waterfalls with aplomb.
I decided to take a few pictures of variety of roads or no roads we rode. There were days when we had to ride on such conditions for most part of the day but the beauty of terrain was well worth travelling on these rough roads.











No, its not river, its dual purpose road cum river
















After more than an hour, we reached a junction from where if you take the right , you will go to Udayak top and Tezu. But if you go straight, it will directly take you to Parashuram Kund. We got to know this from the driver of the earthmover who was working there. Although he gave us a warning that the initial few kilometers are under construction and worse than previous sections which we had covered but later roads have been built.
Boy, he was not wrong, Initial patches were too bad with knee deep mud lanes created by movement of earthmovers and recent rains. We chugged along slowly helping each other. There were 2 odd falls in the mud pit but nothing major.







And as confirmed by the earthmover driver, after an initial few kms, the road became super smooth. It was a newly built butter smooth road with few bad sectors around waterfalls, nullah etc..


It was almost 5:30 PM, when we came across a small temporary labor camp. A young girl from the settlement was selling samosa and pani puri on the roadside. We hadn't had anything since early morning and the sight of fresh hot samosas and panipuri pulled us to her stall. I generally don't eat samosa, kachori etc. but hunger made me eat one samosa. It was so fresh and tasty that I ended up eating a few. Parashuram kund was just a 10 minutes ride from here.

Sun was setting up as we were about to reach Parashuram Kund, and we came across some beautiful views









Dedicated to sage Parshuram, Parshuram Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage site situated on the Brahmaputra plateau in the lower reaches of the Lohit River and 21 km north of Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.
We reached the temple just before the sunset and while we trekked to the kund, it started drizzling. We quickly completed the darshan and rushed back to the parking lot.
A temple on the way to Kund


At this time, we had 2 options:

1. Go via tezu and take a halt at Tezu
2. Go directly to Namsai for tonight’s stay

We went to the nearby hotel for tea and the hotel guy confirmed that the road to Tezu is closed due to road work and Namsai is hardly two and half hours if we go directly. We decided to move towards Namsai as it was still around 6:30 PM. While we were finishing our tea, drizzling turned into rain with thunder. Few kilometers towards Namsai, rain intensity further increased with frequent lightning.



It was a surreal experience driving through deep jungle with rain, dark and lightning to our company. We were not able to use Gmaps because of rain but locals helped wherever required and we reached the outskirts of Namsai by 8 PM.
We started searching for the stay but as luck would have it, almost all the stay options we visited were full. While searching for a place to stay, we reached Golden Pagoda ( golden pagoda namsai ) even at night and in the rain it looked magnificent. However, we had no luck around the Golden Pagoda area and we moved towards the main town of Namsai.
We must have searched 6-7 stay options inside the town and either they were full or they were worse than a roadside shack. We divided ourselves into 2 groups and headed to different directions for the search. None of us could find a place and almost all the options suggested by locals were exhausted.
We all reconvened at a circle and were discussing other options. There were no major towns/cities nearby and it was already 10 PM. All of a sudden a young chap who arrived in a Bolero approached us asking if we needed any help. We explained our predicament and he took us to a hotel on the opposite end of the town. It was a small but clean hotel with the attached restaurant. Rooms were well appointed with AC, we couldn't have asked for more.
That person was a godsend to us. We were riding since early morning without lunch and in heavy rains since evening. During discussion, we got to know that he is also a rider and part of a local riding club. He saw us going randomly to different roads of the city and thought to check with us. Without his help it would have been a nightmare for sure.
In pouring rain, we unloaded our luggage and settled down at the hotel. We invited our newly found friend for dinner and we spent the better part of the night discussing various topics from riding experiences to local topics, roads and future riding plans etc.
We said goodbye to our new friend way past midnight with a promise to have breakfast together in the morning.

Highlights of the day:

1. Performance of Himalayan. Low end torque and sorted suspension is all you need in the hills and bad roads.
2. Our godsend riding friend at Namsai, he became a good friend and we hope to ride with him in the future
3. It was a long, tiring but interesting day. The amount of offroading we did today was the sum of the offroading we did in the rest of the trip.

Learnings of the day:

1. Check your belongings twice before leaving the place. A small error from our side would have costed us a day and another night at that dingy hotel in Hyuliang

[Shubhendra]

Day 13: Namsai to Pangsau Pass to Margherita
Today’s route: Namsai -> Nampong -> Pangsau Pass -> Nampong -> Jagun -> Ledo -> Margherita
Total distance traveled: 188 kms

We woke up with the sound of heavy rain and a call from our new friend. It was around 8:30 AM. Our hotel was situated on the river bank and there was a bamboo bridge which connected hotel to the agricultural fields on the other side of the river.
A perfect place to have morning tea


We got ready by 9:30 AM and our local friend along with a few riders from his riding group turned up by 9:45 AM. We all had breakfast together and after a customary photoshoot, they took us to a round of a few local places in Namsai and saw us off at highway to Pangsau Pass.


On highway towards Nampong. With a promise to return soon and explore remaining nearby areas.

We had contradictory information through the online search about the opening of Pangsau Pass. Our friends called a few local contacts at Nampong (where you get the pass to visit the pass) and confirmed that we can get the pass if we reach the Division office by 12 PM. It was already around 11 AM, and we had to travel around 80 kms to reach the office.

On the way to Nampong. This region is like a real rainforest, its THICK forest cover as far as you see


Pangsau Pass or Pan Saung Pass, 3,727 feet (1,136 m) in altitude, lies on the crest of the Patkai Hills on the India–Myanmar border. The pass offers one of the easiest routes into Burma from the Assam plains.[2] It is named after the closest Burmese village, Pangsau, that lies 2 km beyond the pass to the east. (Information courtesy Wikipedia)
We thanked the riding group and rushed to Nampong. Weather had opened up and it became hot and humid by the time we left Namsai. Road to Nampong is well laid with minimal traffic and we reached Nampong by 12:15 AM. Upon reaching the division office we got to know that the Divisional Officer had just left for the day and a pass could not be issued for the day. We were sad however we asked if we could get the pass for tomorrow. While we were waiting for confirmation from the government employee, the Divisional Officer came back to collect a few files which he had forgotten. Employee reached out to the office who happily signed on our pass. Luck was on our side today
We would have either skipped Pangsau pass or would have had to spend a day extra for it. If we would have skipped it, I am not sure we would have ever come back so far/remote ever again.
Ecstatically, we rushed towards the border as the army closes it by late afternoon. Few kms from Nampong, there is a first army check post where they check our pass, ID cards, occupation etc. A point to be highlighted here - Army reserves the right to allow you further access. You getting a pass does not guarantee you would reach the border. The Army person posted here was not sure if we could go forward at this hour, hence spoke to his CO, provided our information and emphasized that we had come all the way from Poona to visit the pass. That made the impact and we were allowed to let go from the first checkpoint. After this checkpoint uptill border there is no civilization and everything is controlled by the Indian army. Nampong was hot and humid but as we started ascending towards the pass it got windy and cold. Few kilometers later we reached the second checkpoint where we had to submit our pass. Soldier on duty explained the do's and don'ts at the border and let us go.
It was fog all over when we reached the border and the unit deployed there was aware of our arrival. They were very helpful but strict. Their lead took personal interest and showed us all the places of interest with all historical facts, probably better than a professional guide would have been.

First look at the border. Yes, that's all you have in the name of border


Concrete haat structure on India side


A customary photo at the border


There is a haat (local bazaar) established at both sides of the borders and open on certain days of the month. People from both the sides are allowed to cross the border to attend and shop at these haats.Since Covid-19, its closed giving a deserted look.








There is a good presence of the Indian Army however we couldn't see a single Army person from Myanmar. Maybe they expect no one from the India side would infiltrate there
We couldn't see far off places because of fog which otherwise is visible from a watchtower at India Side.
Although we got a glimpse of the ‘Lake of No return’. It has been named because of the number of Allied aircrafts (on their approach to The Hump) crash landed in it during World War II. Information courtesy Wikipedia
Upon our request, we were allowed to cross the border and go to the market on the Myanmar side. There were a few young boys/girls from Myanmar who had come to visit the border. They didn't know Hindi/English/Assamese and we did not know their language. But we interacted for a while with them and also exchanged currencies.







A very popular mode of transportation in Myanmar, geared step through


The actual border which divides two countries





There is a watch tower on India side which provides a bird eye view of the valley. But today was not our day





This pretty looking dog although local but was damn ferocious and being taken care by Army people. He almost charged on us as soon as we entered towards Indian border side from Myanmar. Army people had to jump in and control him.



We must have spent around 2 hours at the border seeing different places, interacting with people. It was late afternoon when we were politely asked to hurry up as it had started drizzling and we had stayed for more than allowed time. There were a few follow-ups from the last check post about our whereabouts.
We decided to go to the actual road border and then push back to Nampong.


Before leaving that area, we rode around the hillock to the road between India and Myanmar for a quick photo. Rain had picked up by this time and Army guys gave us company until we left the place.
The road border, but no civilian vehicles are allowed to cross border from this location.


Luckily there was a shed to quickly wear our rain gears




A customary photo, there was a blessing in disguise. It was off season and we had this entire place to our own


After collecting the pass from the last check post we went to a Shiva temple a few kilometers away. It is said that lord Shiva keeps everyone safe and secure in this area and people offer liquor bottles as prasad. Sadly, we didn't have liquor to offer but after a prayer we moved to Nampong.
It was a moss covered slippery road because of continuous rains. Despite being careful , couldn't avoid a fall here





To be continued..........

[Shubhendra]

It was late afternoon and the only hotel in the area was closed. We had some biscuits and cold drinks at a stall nearby. We were on day 13th and now we had to start the return journey towards Guwahati ( around 550 kms). We checked the route on GMaps and decided to head towards Jorhat. Jorhat was around 250 kms from Nampong with an estimated duration of six and half hours. If we would ride non stop we could have reached Jorhat by 1-2 AM. This being not the practical stop, we decided to ride in that direction and make a halt wherever we find a good hotel.
Rain had subsided by this time and the weather became humid. While on our way towards Jairampur, we saw a board of WWII cemetery, we went inside the cemetery to find out more.





I just left my bike at entrance as there was no one inside and I was alone as rest of the gang didn't notice me stopping. Although they took a U turn after some time and came back looking for me



Information from : https://changlang.nic.in/tourist-pla...r-ii-cemetery/
The recently unearthed large Burial-ground with about 1,000 graves of allied soldiers believed to be mostly of Chinese, Kachins, Indian, Britishers and Americans soldiers who died in Second World War is located at Stilwell Road ( Ledo Road ) in the Jairampur-Nampong road, Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The hidden cemetery covered with thick jungles midst of the bank of Namchik River and on the Stilwell Road ( Ledo Road ), 6 km from Jairampur town, 39 km from Ledo and 24 Km before reaching Pangsau Pass ( Hell Pass ), India – Burma (Myanmar) border.
As per information on the board, the weather was so hostile in this area that most of the allied soldiers are believed to have died of various diseases and not from war. They also built the longest War time pipeline from then Calcutta to Burma.


Some pice from inside, despite being in day light, this place had some spooky feeling
















We paid our respect to the soldiers and went to Jairampur to get our bikes refueled and chain lubed. Just after this town, we reached Arunachal - Assam border. After submitting our ILP, we entered Assam with rain and thunder. What a coincidence it was, everytime we entered the Assam border we were showered with rain. Road conditions further deteriorated and there were back to back villages and traffic between Ledo and Margherita. We saw a nice hotel next to a fuel station 2 kms before Margherita and decided to stop for the day.
Margherita is a coal mining and tea garden area and apparently this hotel is owned by an award winning chef and his brother. By that time we also realized that there won't be many stay options after Margherita hence we called off the day here.
Our initial plan was to push till mid night and reach as closer to Guwahati as possible, heat and rain took toll on us and upon seeing a good hotel right on highway I couldn't resist. Another reason was experience from previous night where we had to struggle a lot in rains to find out a hotel.
As we had enough time for the dinner and after learning more about the Chef, we ordered a few curated local fish dishes. The taste was different and had very good local flavors. Another random decision of the trip turned out to be a good decision for us.

[Shubhendra]

Day 14: Margherita to Kaziranga
Today’s route: Margherita -> Digboi -> Namrup -> Jorhat -> Dergaon -> Kaziranga
Total distance traveled: 327 kms

We woke up quite late as today we were going to ride on plain roads and the distance was not much. Few of us had to finish office work as well.
We had a leisure breakfast and left the hotel by 11:30 AM.



Weather was really hot and humid and maybe we felt it more because we had returned from the mountains. Margherita being a coal mining town, there is a lot of traffic (unruly) and dust. We faced continuous traffic until Digboi which I believe is a major junction in this area. Digboi is known as the Oil City of Assam where the first oil well in Asia was drilled. The first refinery was started here as early as 1901. Digboi has the oldest oil well in operation.
This region is filled with tea gardens of all sizes and shapes. You can see right from half acre of tea garden in front of a house to a few hundred acres of sprawling gardens owned by big companies







An Elephant reserve after Digboi



After Digboi GMaps redirected us to an internal road which we followed for a few kilometers. Heat and humidity was getting unbearable and we took a small juice break at a small village and locals informed us that the river bridge a few kms down the road was damaged in recent floods and that road is closed. However, there was another route from the next village through some internal road which would connect us to our road.



We followed a local Bolero through those internal village road for 10-12 kms until we joined our original route. Road throughout was not good. There were back to back villages/towns with a lot of random speed breakers and potholes. Only solace was a few good views of the tea gardens enroute.
By late afternoon we stopped for lunch somewhere around Namrup. We were making slow progress because of the road and traffic. Sun was making his presence felt as well. We were dehydrated by the time we stopped for lunch. We had Biryani at a fastfood joint just after Namrup town. After an hour-long break here we resumed our ride towards Jorhat.
Somewhere around Boragaon, we entered the 4 lane highway. It was total chaos, worse than previous 2 lane undivided highways. People were using all the lanes to drive in both directions, too many diversions, haphazardly parked trucks/vehicles. Riding on this road was like playing road rash, it was too tiring. By late evening we reached Jorhat bypass, it was almost 6:30 PM and night was setting in.



While crossing Jorhat bypass, I came across a young boy cycling alone with a small board hanging on the handle. I slowed down to see what was written on the board but it was written in Assamese with a photo of Leh. I curiously asked that young boy where he was heading to ?
A reply came - Leh.
I asked: who else is with you?
He replied : alone.
I was just dumbstruck. We waved him to stop for a minute and got talking. His name is Saurabh, who just finished class 10th exams and was riding alone from a border (Arunachal-Assam) town to Leh without any support.
Bike and gears were gifted by the local MLA, a brand new smartphone and some money was gifted by others. He is not on whatsapp, not on Facebook, speaks broken hindi BUT he was so confident. Today was his day 1 and his only luggage was a small school bag with very few clothes. We enquired about his today’s stay which was sorted as he was supposed to stay at his friend’s house a few kms down the road. He didnt had reflective jacket etc. We gave him our reflective jacket and reflective band for his luggage. Gave him some money and a lot of advice on route etc forward. We also exchanged numbers and asked him to call anytime throughout his journey in case of any issues.





I salute his confidence, at such an early age he aimed for such a big target.
We wished Saurabh all the best and moved towards Kaziranga. Road became somewhat better after Jorhat and we reached our destination by 10 PM.We had booked today’s stay during our lunch at Namrup and had pre-ordered the dinner as well.
Coincidently we stayed at the same place where fellow bhpian RedLiner had stayed a few months back. It was a nice rustic camp setup which was started a few months before Covid-19. As usual, we were the only guests here and we had the entire property to ourselves. Hotel staff also connected us to a guide for the next day's jungle safari at the national park. The only pain was to carry our saddle bags to the tent from the parking lot.
Although it was cloudy it was not raining thankfully and we made use of the garden to relax and chitchat.
By the time we finished dinner and moved to our respective tents, it started to rain. We were not sure what would be the situation in the morning. Thanks to the rain, at least the temperature came down and we slept peacefully.

Highlight of the day:

• The young rider Saurabh, who hasn't stepped out of Assam, has very limited exposure, not fluent in Hindi but full of determinitaion. Lot to learn from such people

[Shubhendra]

Day 15: Kaziranga to Guwahati
Today’s route: Kaziranga -> Nagaon -> Jorabat -> Guwahati
Total distance traveled: 178 kms

We woke up early today and enjoyed serene misty morning weather in and around resort.





As suggested by our guide last night, we were supposed to meet him at the entrance of the central zone by 8:00 AM. The Central Zone was around 10-15 kms from our stay. Thankfully rain had stopped some time in the middle of the night which was a respite to us. We reached the entrance by 8:15 AM, parked our bikes at the parking lot, hopped on to the Gypsy and entered into the National Park. Due to rains, Kaziranga authorities had already closed two zones out of 4 zones along with Elephant safari. The remaining two zones were going to be closed on the same weekend when we were visiting this place. These conditions resulted in sudden tourist inflow at the national park.
Inside the national park, it was a standard route followed by all safari vehicles and we saw all the typical animals this park is famous for.

• Single horn rhino
• Water buffalo
• Deers
• Monitor lizard

And these old wooden bridges added charm to the drive






More than animals, I enjoyed beautiful serpentine roads and watch towers inside the national park.







These watch towers provide a good vantage point to professional photographers with long range lenses as its mostly flat land in the zone we visited.






Red markings on the pillar is flood water level with year it occurred, was scary to see level of water it rises during flood












We couldn't see the Royal Bengal Tiger as they must have retreated into the core area. We came out of the park by 10:30 AM and proceeded to a local hotel suggested by our guide for a nice breakfast of Puri sabzi. We also did souvenir shopping from a nearby shop and reached our hotel by 11:30 AM. Trip to the national park was a good experience considering Kaziranga was our transit stay. I would not rate it exemplary or something may be because of the off season/zone location or maybe because my native is very close to 3 famous national parks in central India.

Road to the National park



It took us quite a while to get ready, pack our belongings and load everything on our bikes. It started raining heavily when we were almost done with loading our luggage. We stayed back for 30-40 mins for the rain to subside. We were not in a hurry as it was just the distance of 160 kms on plains and our stay at Guwahati was sorted. With rain subsiding after 12:30 PM, we could only leave for Guwahati by 01:00 PM.
AH 1 (Assam Highway 1) goes through the Kaziranga National Park and Govt. authorities have come up with various initiatives to ensure smooth passage of wildlife. At a few locations they have put real time speed indicating boards, speed cameras put in various locations and big boards throughout the road reminding not to speed. They also have traffic vans with speed guns to ensure people don't speed in this corridor. We got our bikes refueled at a petrol pump closer to Kaziranga and moved towards Nagaon.



Last view of tea gardens


Weather conditions were unpredictive till Nagaon with rain, sun, cloud all giving company at various places. Roads after Kaziranga corridor deteriorated till Nagaon. We had a late lunch at a roadside dhaba on Nagon bypass.
At Nagon we saw the destruction because of floods a few days back. Even after two weeks, many places,fields around the road were still submerged in water.
Roads became better after Nagaon but with increased traffic density. We reached the outskirts of Guwahati by sunset and after a tea and bio break we headed towards our bike rental shop. It must have taken us more than an hour and half to cover the last twenty kilometers. It was a mad evening rush in Guwahati, traffic intensity was probably more than Pune. Despite being on bikes it was difficult to navigate the traffic. Hot and humid weather added to our misery as well.
Somehow we reached the office of the bike rental company at around 8:30 PM. We quickly unloaded our luggage, settled accounts and Danish from the rental company was kind enough to drop us at our hotel by 10:00 PM. It was nice to come back to the same property with nice hosts who welcomed us with open arms. It was past midnight by the time we finished our dinner and went to sleep.


Our last day of the trip was allocated for Guwahati as our flight was at 11 PM. We were planning to roam around Guwahati, visit Kamakhya Temple, do some shopping, eat at some good places etc. We woke up quite late in the morning and decided to take it easy. Weather was very hot and humid and we wanted to relax today. Our homestay had a big sit out area next to our rooms and we utilized it to do the proper packing of bags. Hosts were nice enough to allow us to use the sit out area after our check out time. We left our homestay by late afternoon after lunch. We had hired a cab to take us to a few places and drop us at the airport. After visiting a few places and dinner at a local eatery, we reached the airport and by late night reached our respective homes in Pune.

Our first trip to the North East states was although tiring but an interesting one. We started the trip with an open itinerary and thank god we didn’t have itinerary and bookings. It helped us to cover places based on our pace/likings/weather conditions.
There are just so many places to explore in Arunachal Pradesh that despite riding for 15 days, we could only visit half of the Arunachal. Despite being remote and not on a typical tourist map, hospitality throughout the trip was awesome. There is no language barrier as such and people are courteous, jolly and helpful.
After such a positive experience in Arunachal, our eyes are all set to cover remaining of North East India.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Red Liner]

As I started reading your log, I was apprehensive with all the detailed planning you had done and was assuming you were doing the routine arunachal trip.

Boy was I wrong! You guys had true adventure throughout your entire trip, staying with locals, changing plans on the fly, exploring little known places in exchange with the big names.

Fantastic, I enjoyed reading the whole log in one go.

We had lunch with the ladies at huayliang as well lol!

[100Kmphormore]

NIce travelogue with great pics. But only one question, if this is a rental service, numberplates are black background with yellow letters/numbers, correct?

[atu2good]

Such an authentic and beautiful post, thank you for sharing your experiences! I have not been to Arunachal Pradesh till date but have surely had it on my list for quite some time now, especially to attend the annual festival of the Tawang monastery known as Torgiya festival during which the monks from the monastery dress in elaborate costumes and perform various dances. The most attractive part of the costumes are the masks worn by the monks (I recommend Googling it & checking the images).
When I finally get to do so I will definitely be referring to your adventure as a guide for sure.

[sukhbirST]

Hats off to you guys for this daring and tough ride across 15 days. Thank you for sharing your experiences with lovely photos. Going through the detailed trip was really inspiring. Wish you more such trips. Must have been physically tough and tiring.

[vagabond128]

Please share details of the places you stayed at. Even eateries that you would recommend.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Boy was I wrong! You guys had true adventure throughout your entire trip, staying with locals, changing plans on the fly, exploring little known places in exchange with the big names.

We had lunch with the ladies at huayliang as well lol!

Thank you!
knowingly or unknowingly, We friends have been doing such unplanned trips since last 8-10 years, especially bike ride. I did Ladakh, Zanskar (interiors of it) last year on Thar and we decided our first destination when we reached Srinagar
Coincidently , you and me covered some common places in Arunachal and Assam.

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

NIce travelogue with great pics. But only one question, if this is a rental service, numberplates are black background with yellow letters/numbers, correct?

Based on our discussion with Bike rental services, there is some special policy for north east states to allow such system (bike rental and homestay) to promote tourism. I don't how true it is but we weren't stopped anywhere throughout the trip. Even at state borders of Arunachal and Assam which we crossed frequently

Originally Posted by sukhbirST

Must have been physically tough and tiring.

Thank you!
Yes, few days were not easy when we rode for more than 12-13 hours in non-stop rains and unpredictable roads. But We 4 friends have been travelling together and a good support to each other.

Originally Posted by vagabond128

Please share details of the places you stayed at. Even eateries that you would recommend.

I can definitely share information about stay but many eateries were some small nondescript eateries which are almost impossible to identify while driving /riding.

[Junaid42465]

Hats of to you guys for such an adventurous ride. No small feat riding 100+ kms in the mountains and that too in the heavy rain.

Arunachal, rather most of NE, is best visited just post monsoon i.e. Oct - Apr. Last year, the four approach to Aalo (Along) that one can think of (via Ziro, Likabali, Pasighat, Ying Kiong), had landslides (roads washed off) and was cut off for good 15 days. Only the Heli service was available, that too when the weather permitted.

The road widening going on through out Arunachal is the Trans Arunachal Highway project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Arunachal_Highway. Targetted to be completed by 2023-24. Once completed, drive/ride/cycling through all of Arunachal will be much accessible and comfortable. The incessant rainfall for the 4-5 months and resulting landslides may result in the delay. But, those construction workers are working day and night during the dry spell.

There is another project planned, called the Arunachal Frontier Highway, which will be connecting all the forward areas along the LAC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunac...ontier_Highway

Yes, in NE, we call it "Laal Cha" ("Ronga Saah" in Assamese), literally translating to Red Tea.

AH-1 is not "Assam Highway" it's the Asian Highway. AH-1 is from Tokyo to Bulgaria Border in Turkey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Highway_Network


For off road riding, it's Arunachal with lots of off beat tracks and many of the small towns have riverside camping. For good tarmac riding with some twisties, its Meghalaya. Almost 80% of roads are great, including some of the interior areas. In Nagaland, the main highway from Assam to Dimapur and Dimapur to Kohima, further to Imphal is again under road widening process. Not a good idea during monsoon.