Tezpur is a small sleepy town , it still has old fashioned cinema hall’s , no fast food restaurants or branded hotels . Small by lanes that lead to the main street and then bifurcate into the town . I walked into a local temple to witness the Pooja session , I was welcomed with open arms by some ladies and even given praam made of Bondi and halwa . I stayed in a good hotel with room service and morning breakfast and decided to move to Twang the very next day . It is a 12 hrs journey I was told by the bell boy of the hotel . So I decided to take a Bolero Jeep all the way upto the valley .
The ride began is we started driving out of Assam, into the state of Arunachal Pradesh this is where the Tawang valley is situated at around 3500 metres above sea level , the first exciting place for me was the Seal Pass this is like a gateway into the Twang Valley , the pass has a huge arched gate built in Tibetan styled architecture , the words “ Welcome to Tawang “ are inscribed on it in golden letters . Near by was a small Shiva temple and a cafeteria that was made of wood and logs . The local soldiers and BSF jawans served tea to the tourist who went through the Sea Pass situated at 13, 800 feet above sea level . From here I could see mist and snow all across the mountain. It was cold and I wore my jacket before I had my tea and biscuits in the cafeteria . The soldiers were watching old Hindi film songs . Most people here were watching entertainment that was more then 40 years old . I saw a few old Divya Bharti and Jackie Sherof films here and then we drove upto the Nakula Lake , this is a natural still lake one of many in this region . The locals say it is a place of worship , people from Tibet and across the mountains come here to pray for prosperity . He also admonished a tourist who was trying to piss near the lake . These lakes are holy for the pool of this region .The morning snow had drifted into the lake region with rocks and mountains being covered by thin white snow , some even melting to from small waterfalls , mist lovely cool mist surround us like a blanket all though our jour y into the valley .It gave the entire place a heavenly feel and a vibrant energy . The cool weather that remained 15 degree through out comforted me and gave me strength . This is a Avery unexplored and untouched region , spilling into Indo China and even parts of Tibet it has been disputed by China and the Dalai Lama also .
For meals we would stop over at local eateries serving Dal , Mutton , Vegetable and Pork curry for only Rs 100 . It was a dream as I would sit inside on wooden benches and have my meals .The people here had their shops or did farming , their were areas where internet was bad but , you had cable TV everywhere and the wifi was good enough too have chat with friends even being on the move . We covered area’s like West Kameng , Papum Pare , Holongi , Bhalukpong . The area is untouched by tourist and is less densely populated which is why Tehri is no pollution here . Most people are monk’s and have their own school and monasteries across the region . In the evenings one can Hera the chanting of the monks as it reverberates in the air , I saw that at the Dhirang monetary .Nature really welcome you with open arms here and my eyes are opening up to absorb the wondrous beauty of Tawang .
