[SubuS]

Dude - thanks for letting us live vicariously through you. One quick word of concern: See if you can somehow get medical insurance / coverage.

I remember a calculation once I made for fun - to see if I can lead one such life minus the daily jobs (just travel around / write about it) - I came up with a sum of about 5-6 crores in bank before I can get to it So working diligently towards that! (Then I got married / had a kid etc., those are minor details I suppose - triple the number!).

[traveloholic]

Merwin, I am kicking myself as to why I read this TL so late. You got me all glued to this Bro. Eagerly waiting for more.

[amitwlele]

@Roadinc - Where are you currently mate? Still in Arunachal or moved some place else. No updates from you for some days now?

[Roadinc]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

@Roadinc - Where are you currently mate? Still in Arunachal or moved some place else. No updates from you for some days now?

Hi Guys i am currently in Lohit district Arunachal Pradesh. just looking for a good net connection to upload pics... FYI: i am just back from Glow (Glao) lake the ancestral home ground or the Mizu Mishmi Tribe.

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by Roadinc

Hi Guys i am currently in Lohit district Arunachal Pradesh. just looking for a good net connection to upload pics... FYI: i am just back from Glow (Glao) lake the ancestral home ground or the Mizu Mishmi Tribe.

Great to hear from you after a long time. Hope you get a good net connection soon. Waiting for the pics.

[lohithrao]

Good to hear from you!

btw WOW!!! "Lohit district" , i dint know thier was a district by name "lohith"

Originally Posted by Roadinc

Hi Guys i am currently in Lohit district Arunachal Pradesh. just looking for a good net connection to upload pics... FYI: i am just back from Glow (Glao) lake the ancestral home ground or the Mizu Mishmi Tribe.

[San Phrangmung]

"The nearest road point is near Twam village on Chongkham-Wakro road from where one has to start trekking for the lake."

So did you have to leave your bike behind and trek or now its a different scene altogether?

Tried anything with the elephant's of Khampti tribes? The tribe recently inaugurated a new Buddhist temple, which is supposed to be a must visit place.

TC

[Roadinc]

Now this is second time I am penning down everything, not sure if I will be able to duplicate the text, but sure it would be a different version than I had originally written.

My Itanagar stay was pretty painful in many aspect, almost spent a week in getting the recommendations to acquire an all Arunachal permit for a longer period than 15 days which is given to tourist to visit the state. It took me almost 10 days to get the permits in my hands thanks to the working culture of the government offices. To add to it stay is quite expensive and so is food and internet.

No sooner I got my hand on my permit , I kick started and headed back straight to the eastern district of Lohit to continue from where I had left. And this time my permit is valid for one full year which also allows me to go easy and explore this culturally diverse state.

North Lakhimpur, Bogibeel, Dibrugarh, Rupai and finally Namsai gate. Checked in and life starts again.

As I was re-entering Arunachal a distant snow peak is visible, however no one know which peak is that, some say that it could be the High peak within the Namdapha park, some also suggested that it could be the snow peaks of Hawaii in the Anjaw district or even Kibithoo bordering china. any ways that sight kept me growing in anticipation.

On the way there is a huge pagoda funded by the Burmese government at Tenga pani quite an impressive space with huge statues of lord Buddha right in the middle of the temple. The first tribes you come across while entering Arunachal from Namsai is the Tai-Khampti, originally a warrior tribe who has common roots with Thailand and follow Buddhism, it is believed that this tribe travelled through Burma and entered India through the Vijaynagar stretch and finally settled in the Namsai - Chokham belt of the kamlang forest reserve.
After failed attempts to put up at the IB I was invited to stay at one Mr Vijay Namchoon a relative of one friend I met in Itanagar. The house was a traditional Khampti house with spacious rooms very different from the tradition houses of other tribes. The food eaten is all home grown, from rice, to ginger to leafy vegetables to bamboo shoots etc. Even fish is caught from the kamlang river.

Next morning I started my journey again starring at the distant snow peak on the way to Deban where I had to pick up some baggage I had left before I headed to Itanagar. I pitched my tent at Deban by the Noa – dihing river and ate with the locals, where I also chanced upon some wild meat. My days in Deban were spent clearing up my baggage, doing laundry, collecting firewood, assisting the locals in preparing for the Mahashivratri festival and taking a dip in the river. My nights were spent by the fire gazing alternatively between the stars and the embers and thinking nothing.

Emptiness can be quite satisfying.

[Roadinc]

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

"The nearest road point is near Twam village on Chongkham-Wakro road from where one has to start trekking for the lake."

So did you have to leave your bike behind and trek or now its a different scene altogether?

Tried anything with the elephant's of Khampti tribes? The tribe recently inaugurated a new Buddhist temple, which is supposed to be a must visit place.

TC

@ San, i did come across people who owned elephants in this area, these animals were owned by the Khampti tribe, The tusk that you see in my previous post is a tusk of an domesticated elephant which is still alive, sadly the owners had to cut the tusk out to sucure the life of the elephants from the threat of poachers.

[Funda]

As Always, the write up is catchy and as always, this is the first thing I do whenever I see an update to your thread - read it before doing anything else.

Amazing description and amazing shots. Few questions
1) Did you cross the bridge with the firewood on the back?
2) why is that you don't show your face in the pics - am sure everyone here wants to see that. I guess the only time you showed up was in the newspaper clipping. An special reasons?

[Roadinc]

Originally Posted by Funda

As Always, the write up is catchy and as always, this is the first thing I do whenever I see an update to your thread - read it before doing anything else.

Amazing description and amazing shots. Few questions
1) Did you cross the bridge with the firewood on the back?

The bridge is a metre is just a meter wide, there is another way through the river in case one has got some baggage.
in this images below is the route through the Kamphai river, in case you dont want to take the bridge








2) why is that you don't show your face in the pics - am sure everyone here wants to see that. I guess the only time you showed up was in the newspaper clipping. An special reasons?

well i have not thought about it, and i dont believe it is significant, what i want to share is an experience that can happen while one is trying to create a lifestyle on the move. PS: even the newspaper clipping idea was someone else's.

Note: i am stealing your signature line as will use as my status up date. it just stands so true in my journey.

[Roadinc]

In this Himalayan state you don’t have to go too far to seek adventure, all you have to do is ride and you will get all the thrills the off road experience while being on the road such as crossing streams with heavy currents, riding on a one meter wide suspension bridge or even spotting some wild animals and for my luck I did spot one Clouded leopard crossing the road and I could recognize it because had already seen one in the zoo at itanagar. Too close and yet could not capture it on lens.

Now I have been moving in the mishmi territory, and the change is quite visible with people with different features, clothing and the differently designed machetes that they carry. One can see electric poles – a sign of development and better governance with school and medical units, however not sure of the inside truth.

The Mishmi tribe has 3 subtribes and Mizu Mishmi, Idu Mishmi and Digaru Mishmi. The region I have entered is of the Mizu Mishmi’ tribe and its believed this tribe not too long ago lived up in the mountains near a huge lake, the lake is still present and is named after the place Glao’ or Glow lake. As the foundation for the roads in this area was being laid out these tribes came down from their ancestral place and built settlements closer to the road. However people still use the lake to catch fish and leave their cattle (Mithun’s) in this jungle to graze. There is one caretaker who feeds salt to these animals so that they still remain domesticated.
My agenda became very clear, to see this ancestral place with a locals and to be safe and not disturb any sentiments of people as there were some obligatory rituals to be performed before we reach the lake and to show me the way as it has to be traversed through thick tropical forest with a few varieties if big cats. It takes 6 -7 hrs to reach the lake.































The next few days I spent in finding someone to take me there.
Interestingly it was more difficult to find one because of the time I was there. The reason: It is a last few days of harvesting the Opium crop.
Everyone in every house hold seems to be involved in harvesting opium. As it turns out I had to wait for a few days to go to the lake. This time is used to visit these fields and watch tribal’s do what they all do at this time. This is what I find out: Kani’ as it is called here is a very important ingredient and is deeply woven in the Mishmi culture. It’s a part of the ‘Jhum Kheti’ system (cultivation where a piece of forest is cleared in a designated area and is used for farming with rotation of crops, it does not require an irrigation system.) Every mishmi pooja needs it along with a sacrificial meat. The women do all the work with initial help from the men, and the men use up all the produce. Every produce is consumed by the locals and it does not leave the mishmi hills.


Finally after a week people got free from their hectic work and I gathered few of them to come along, we picked up ration, mainly rice and salt and left for the lake. Since we left in the afternoon we camped by the kamlang river and headed up in the morning.

The trek is a steep uphill climb begins from a broken hanging bridge across the river and then keep climbing up for about 10 to 12 kms and its quite strenuous on the way you will come across orange plantations, loads of Bamboo of all kinds and Mithun’s . The last bit is a downhill climb for an hour before you reach the lake. Over all it takes about 8 hrs from Ziro point in Wakro.
On site the lake a huge mass of water spread across 6-8kms and is surrounded by mountains from all sides, in the distance are snow clad peaks the contrast in the scenery. Around the lake many small streams feed the lake which eventually drops into the Kamlang river to reach the Mighty Brahmaputra.

At the lake I got to pitch my tent within a camp already there of the fisher folk as in the open the cattle may create havoc. Sofrum my local guide burnt some incense and performed a small prayer for acceptance before we enter the lake.
The next few days were spent by the lake chilling, taking a ride in the huge lake on a bamboo raft, going with the tribal to see if there is any animal caught in the trap, made a new bamboo raft with 7 bamboos, ate some deer meat of course loads of fish. (Smoked, boiled dried).
We waited till all our ration got over and then unwillingly headed back to Wakro with an invitation to come back during the rains as the fishes will be 3 time more that what we saw this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I5UKKfIl58&NR=1

YouTube - The Bamboo raft.

As I came down from Glow, the skies become so clear that snow peaks become very clear. Thinking that it would be a great time to head towards kibitoo, situated at the China border I headed into Anjaw district. A place less travelled and is home to 2 hot spring , Millenniums’ first Sun rise and from where our late Prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi got inspired to name the state as Arunachal Pradesh

[San Phrangmung]

Hey finally a clear picture is emerging, we are lucky that there are still places which have not changed much since the British conquest, for one to explore.

[Roadinc]

YouTube - The one meter wide Kamphai bridge.

Its a daily feature in eastern Arunachal, as i said earlier one does not have to go to far to seek adventure

[jaysmokesleaves]

The beat of that engine buddy.. in the last vid.. loved it.. Kinda reflects your life if heard closely.
Cheers,
This life is yours to live, lucky man.