[Judemayne]

[quote=hvkumar;2034322]Col,
Now the road runs beyond Walong till Kibithu 15 kms away. They are extending the road 5 more kms to the Chinese border post itself, and that should be over soon.

Roads are good - except during monsoons when access to Kibithu is not possible - and for rest of the time you have tarred road till Kibithu, although you can expect mud sections and bad roads from time to time on the road from Parashuram Kund to Kibithu..
Dear HVK,
I remember the helipad-landed there once or twice. The Then Defence Minister Mr Sharad Pawar had paid a visit. We used to walk with all our stuff loaded on mules from Walong-lovely walk.
Pass time fishing in the adjacent streams/rivers hooking trout?

[tortoiseNhare]

Excellent writeup, San Phrangmung. A year back I went up to Jairampur but due to lack of planning had to abandon the idea of driving to the Burma border. How far is Nampong from Jairampur? Is the road pliable by small cars?

Originally Posted by MX6

During WW2, he walked across to johor, walked mostly of malaysia, managed to get in to trains, buses, trucks, any vehicle and when they weren't there, he walked. He walked across Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh etc where there were no transportation.
It was a miracle how he reached south of India crossing the perils of jungle and war.
I wanted to go through that route sometime in this life to understand what all he'd have undergone.
His is a story which would dwarf many a war accounts. Many of these are reconstructed over the time with what ever my grandma could recollect of hearing from him once he reached home.

@MX6
Your post reminds me of one of my favourite Assamese Novels, Jangam, by the Late Debendranath Acharya. This award winning novel had a heart rending account of a contingent of Indians, during WW2, trying to come back from Burma to India (Assam). Since Sahitya Akademi Award winning novels are generally translated into various languages you might try your luck to find one. I'm sure you'll love the novel.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by tortoiseNhare

@MX6
Your post reminds me of one of my favourite Assamese Novels, Jangam, by the Late Debendranath Acharya. This award winning novel had a heart rending account of a contingent of Indians, during WW2, trying to come back from Burma to India (Assam). Since Sahitya Akademi Award winning novels are generally translated into various languages you might try your luck to find one. I'm sure you'll love the novel.

Hey Thanks for the book suggestion. I will also get the novel next time I go to Assam.

[TSEA]

very informative TL. Just reminds me of the fact that there is a lot to be seen in India itself, thanks for sharing

[San Phrangmung]

Nampong to Burma road.

The next morning i woke up quiet early only to find out that no one of the household was up yet.
So after freshening up i went out to have a look at Nampong township for the first time in daylight.
My first feeling on seeing the surrounding was that of moving back in time. The dwellings were made in a way long forgotten in the plains and on raised structures & mostly made of wood.
On a area in front of the place of my stay was a lone Arunachal Pradesh State Transport bus which connects the place with Margherita in Assam. Once a day one time return journey.
Ther's no petrol pump here, the nearest is about an hours drive down the road towards Assam in Jairampur. People from bordering Burmese villages come here on Chinese motor bikes with as many gallons as possible just to get petrol.
Its just a border town not tourist destination so no hotels no lodges. Just a state government PWD inspection bunglow is here which has to be booked way early. But civilians, tourists have less chances of getting a room as govt officials are first priority.
Ther's no resturent as such here to eat, just a chai, samosa, puri kind of place exists apart from grocery shop and pco. That's why plan your journey in such a way that you don't have to spend a night here.
The best place for spending the night is Tinsukia in Assam. Start early in the morning from there and you can safely be back by sundown after covering the Burma road.
Alright, so i wake up and talk a lonely walk in this nondescript border town of the remote north east looking for something. But there was nothing except the empty fair grounds where night guards were spending their last few hours of duty around a fireplace.
One or two souls crossed me as i walked along the straight road beside the town field. None of them seemed local though, there were cultural troops from various parts of north east as well as Burma there for the festival.
I saw two of them taking snaps at the makeshift stage and requested them to take one for me.
After some time the policemen also abandoned the field and i started to roam again.
There was one positive sight though, i saw one wooden plank of a only tea store in sight to be open. So i went ahead hoping for a cup of tea. The fellows had just woken up after a long late night but still told me to wait and arranged for some tea and biscuit.
Meanwhile a vehicle stopped outside and i could hear Bengali being spoken. Aha so tourists from Assam has arrived i thought. But no they were a return party who had seen the Burmese side the previous day and on their way back to their hometown Margherita. Had a little chat and found out that its possible to walk down to the Lake of No Return of Burmuda Triangle fame.
Good i thought if they have done it there should be no problem going down to the lake. So with positive thought in mind i made my way back to my bed & bed place (No breakfast here).
The owner a member of the organising team had not yet woken up but the lady was there. So i explained to her my situation, i had to be back in Dibrugarh airport to catch the Guwahati flight that day itself so need a vehicle to do the Burma trip soon.
She maneged to wake her husband up who in turn made phone calls after phone calls and informed me that something shall be arranged. Lot of time were wasted waiting for a car and finally got one by getting his former booking cancelled for some local family.
Then my host for the night took me to the fair grounds and we had breakfast at the food stall area as the first puris of the days were served.
The Maruti 800 arrived and so did hoards of tourists from Assam as well as others who arrived the previous day. We got our car pass and other papers made to cross over to Burma and the journey began.
The cabby who hailed from Bihar and been in Arunachal since childhood was a good company. He said he even knew my host and his wife since their schooldays. Got to know lot many interesting things about the area from him.
Our first stop on way to Pangsau Pass was the Indian Army check post where we had to disembark and show the papers. The jawan jotted down required details and we moved again. Here another Maruti joined us with a local gentleman from a neighbouring area whom i got to know later.
The road was under constrution on the Indian side and was in mixed condition but motorable. On the Burmese side however it was as the allied army had left it. Just stones after stones. My cabby told me no one dared to bring small vehicles here till he brought his 800 one day and proved everyone wrong.
Enjoy the pictures coming up from Nampong to the pass point.

[San Phrangmung]

Originally Posted by tortoiseNhare

Excellent writeup, San Phrangmung. A year back I went up to Jairampur but due to lack of planning had to abandon the idea of driving to the Burma border. How far is Nampong from Jairampur? Is the road pliable by small cars?

Its not far from Jairampur. One hour at the most and i went in a Maruti 800 so no problem to take your fiat which has even climbed the Darjeeling Himalayas with ease.

[San Phrangmung]

Originally Posted by TSEA

very informative TL. Just reminds me of the fact that there is a lot to be seen in India itself, thanks for sharing

Thanks, right said the country is so huge with such varied landscape and cultural diversity that one lifetime is not enough to see it all.

[Sutripta]

HI SP,
At heart you are an explorer.

As you explore the NE, why don't you also maintain something analogous to a rutter, (or Mr. Kumars notes). Would help a lot of people.

I normally give GHY a miss, but will make an exception to meet you. And can lend you my GPS datalogger till such time you get your own.

Regards
Sutripta

[San Phrangmung]

Thank you Sutripta, that's a gracious compliment.

I also feel the need of a GPS logger as most places are not mapped at all and whatever is there are more or less misplaced.

Recently got the Nokia 5230 that has gps but a weak 2mp camera that does not do justice to the lovely surrounding.

I would be more than glad to meet you during your next journey through this region.

Thanks once more.

[San Phrangmung]

Thanks TnH, its been 16 years since i red the Jangam, the only book in Assamese language to have narrated the pain and suffering of the common men during the war era.

The book.


Author. Debendra Nath Acharya


Epitaph


Its a must read for everyone who loves history.

[San Phrangmung]

The route of the novel Jongam.


Present day Burma over Patkai. Source Lonely Planet


Eastern Arunachal map 1984.


Tirap district 1979


Lohit district 1978


Arunachal tourist map 2007


Arunachal hotel details.

[hvkumar]

Wow, that is one fantastic database of info, San.
Maps of Arunachal are so difficult to get.
I managed to get the same 2007 map of AN after searching all over, and got it in Pasighat bazaar.

[San Phrangmung]

HvK, I feel a bit uncomfortable travelling unless have some sort of map in any whatever condition. Now thankfully atleast the internet is there for pre tour research and collecting all kind of information.

Wish to learn proper map reading some day though.

But we must visit Vijaynagar some day as well. Hopefully its going to have a road finally.

[San Phrangmung]

The road from Nampong to Pangsaung village in Burma was not in good condition but drivable. When i visited, the BRO was widening it up to the last Indian point. On the Burmese side, it was dirt track with lot of stones and narrow single lane.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

HvK, I feel a bit uncomfortable travelling unless have some sort of map in any whatever condition. Now thankfully atleast the internet is there for pre tour research and collecting all kind of information.

Wish to learn proper map reading some day though.

But we must visit Vijaynagar some day as well. Hopefully its going to have a road finally.

San, unfortunately, AN is "off bounds" and does not have good maps either physical or online. When I planned my drive last year to the East Arunachal, I could not get any info, and I had to simply piece together info from whatever I had read of some of the places I wanted to visit. There are roads in places not marked in maps and there are no roads where maps show they exist! To my credit, I navigated quite well, although I ran a day late, but I made it up by cutting out Tuting which was in my original itinerary.

3 places I have to visit in AN - Mechuka (from Along), Tuting (from Panging) and Vijaynagar/Ledo/Stiltwell (from Digboi).

Now luckily, I have made my own GPS profiles of the route that I took.