Tawang- A Place China Calls ‘Southern Tibet’.
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Published first in the Mumbai Mirror, Jul 2014.
Its not easy to travel to the place China calls ‘Southern Tibet’. The road near the Arunachal border is so rough it makes you want to turn around. But having trundled all the way from Guwahati and invested so much time and effort in obtaining the Inner Line Permit – essential for all Indian nationals travelling to Arunachal – I decided to brazen it out.
Eventually it becomes the sort of journey that makes you forget the destination. No sooner you leave the dust of the plains behind, a better road, huge mountains, precipitous waterfalls, cool breeze and silence rewards you.
The mountains begin almost immediately as you cross into Arunachal, cradling in its folds Arunachal’s thick jungles famed for its exotic flaura and fauna. If you stop a while, you may chance upon a rare bird in the high pine branches. Arunachal has over 500 bird species. Tracking them are men with sling shots, though thankfully their strike rate is pretty low.
There are wafer thin waterfalls, that you can see only in the morning or the evening light, when they leave a trail of iridescence along the mountainsides.
The looping road near Sela Pass, Arunachal
Whenever the road emerges from the forests and enters human habitation you see barbed wires, army trucks, men in fatigues, speed breakers and “Photography not Allowed”, signs. Army cantonments dot the hills, often overlapping the villages. You barely see the locals.
This is just as well. The Chinese claim- that Arunachal is part of its territory– has put the Indian Army on edge leading to an intense militarization of this isolated region.
Everyone here talks of how China has built a four-lane highway right upto the Tawang border. To counter that threat, road widening is in full swing and you have to wait at several points along the highway for the road rollers to finish their job.
Bomdila is the first major town on the road to Tawang. In the 1962 Indo-China war the Chinese soldiers had marched as deep into India as this sleepy little town before retreating. Like all Indian hill stations, Bomdila is pretty but congested. It has a wide range of hotels but its best to bypass the town and head up to the monastery guesthouse, which sits right at the top of the town. The guesthouse attached to a Buddhist monastery, provides only basic services but lends extravagant views of the valley and the mountains.
He walked like this trying to get as many snowflakes on his tongue as possible, Bomdila- Arunachal
From Bomdila the road gets steeper. It spirals up the mountains to reach Sela Pass– the highest motorable pass in these parts. At 4170 meters, Sela Pass is beautiful, according grand views of the valleys you ascended. There are fierce winds and an ephemeral lake, which remains frozen for half the year. But the most fascinating aspect of Sela Pass is perhaps the fact that two girls live here all by themselves. Laza, 29 and her kid sister Gije 16, have been living here alone since several years managing a tea stall. They live here with practically no connection to the outside world. There have no electricity nor water connections and phone signal is sketchy at best. Their tea-stall is frequented by army jawans and drivers who stop for tea, maggie noodles and the warmth of their hearth.
From Sela Pass it’s a steady descent for about 50 kilometers until it levels out across the valley leading intermittently though farmlands and forests.
Where it not for its monastery, Tawang (or Southern Tibet as China defiantly likes to call it) would be just another nondescript hill town. The peaks surrounding it lend it a magisterial air but its nothing compared to the beauty of similar valley towns like Sangla or Sarahan in Himachal. The presence of military pickets everywhere also take away that sense of tranquility one expects in such remote hill towns.
The monk missed the wicket by a whisker as the batsman completed his run, Bomdila- Arunachal
The 17th century Tawang Monastery however adds a meditative glamour to the town attracting hordes of tourists and believers from far and wide.
Its the second largest monastery in the world after the Potala Palace in Lhasa and like all Buddhist monasteries its perched high above the town. Its the centerpiece in the lives of the Tawang residents almost all of whom are practicing Buddhists.
I couldn’t have thought of the worst time to visit the monastery as almost all monks had gone to Bihar for the Kalachakra ceremony. But it turned out a blessing in disguise as the monks left behind, relieved of their ecclesiastical duties, talked more freely and took me around the monastery including their lodgings.
The monks and to some extent the Tawang residents are somewhat insulated from the big stakes political game being played on their behalf between India and China. And as an elderly monk, too old to go to Bihar, put it, “ We may fight and claim and counter claim but in doing so we waste our lives. We forget we all die one day. The wheel of live and death keeps moving”.
The traditional headgear of the Monpa tribe in Tawang is this rastafarian spider looking contraption, Tawang
How to Get there.
Almost all major airlines fly daily between Mumbai and Guwahati. One could also take one of the many trains to Guwahati – the best being the Mumbai LTT- Guwahati Express.
From Guwahati its almost 500 kilometers by road to Tawang. One can either take a local bus or hire a taxi. The road is not so good so it can take more than 16 hours to reach Tawang. Its best to break ones journey in Bomdila.
Where to Stay:
In Bomdila:
The Guest House run by Bomdila Monastery is decent. It is located in a peaceful wooded part of the town with superb views. The room tariff here begins from 1200 rupees.
In Tawang.
Tawang Inn: By Tawang standards Tawang Inn is good. It’s a short walk from the market and the monastery. The room tariffs here begin at 1500 rupees.
These two boys had been wrestling for good ten minutes before we reached the bridge, Arunachal
Monks learn up the Buddhist scriptures at Tawang Monastery, Arunachal
Lazo and her kid sister Gije ,manage the highest tea-stall in Arunachal at 4170meters where they live alone, Sela Pass
This monk displayed amazing skills at rubberband juggling or ‘chungi’ as its called here, Tawang Monastery, Tawang.
You mostly see women working. The women carry huge bundles of leaves for their farms, Arunachal
Rd it in MM 2dy n lvd d pic of d kid catching a snow flake on his streched out tng xctly wht v usd 2 !