I know I was thinking of going to morning puja, but I definitely had no plan for it to come to us at 3.45am. Sleep is more tempting at this hour so go back to sleep waking at 5am and it is all still happening, 6am and we decide we might as well go down and have a look at what we are listening to. Down the Main Bazaar street of Bomdila to the Gompa where the sound is nearly deafening, speakers up on the roof of the prayer hall and a large amplifier on the foyer. It is quite non Buddhist. The paintings in the foyer of the Prayer Hall make up for the noise, fantastic figures including a horse that has wild eyes. I think some of them rate as my favorite from throughout India and Nepal.
Still great weather, a little light spitting but otherwise sunny. Cool in the mountains though and we all have fleece jumpers on. Follow a couple of Army trucks out of town before being able to pass on narrow roads. Only a few road crews out today busting rocks as Sunday and most people appear to be taking a day off or starting later. Stop in for quick chai after crossing the Nechiphu pass and catch up again with Dawa, part owner and Nepali by birth, also Buddhist so we have a look at the "Wheel of Life" Thanka I picked up in Tawang.
Following chai we continue downhill back to the river which is now moving swiftly toward the plains.
Pass the various army encampments as we move our way south, hit a few sloppy sections but more from spring fed mud versus the light rain which has now stopped. The Sumo swivels from side to side as Niron aggressively swings the wheels to try and maintain traction and forward movement. Into Balukpong and following lunch at Hotel Tashi Yangtse sign out of Arunachal at the police check post.
The plains feel suprisingly stimulating after the grandeur of the mountains. Fluffy clouds, white and grey, sit over the fields and jungle giving a feeling of calm tension. The road across the next section of road works, shaken not stirred. So glad to see the tar even if it was only a demo section before hitting the next section of sandy dirt. Scenic mud rendered houses with thatched roofs, not as heavy as those we saw on the Terai and without the red colored lower section. So much road work going on. The piles of river rocks which are tendered for to be smashed using sledge hammers into road base size. According to the guys one pile (one truck trailer load) will take three people about two solid days work for which they will receive about 3000 INR.
Enter Tezpur also called the city of blood, which sounds pretty dramatic for relatively standard looking outskirts. Niron does put on his seatbelt on the edge of town though. No seat belts in the back, guess if the worst occur we hope we go under versus over the front seats. Thankfully, though the winding and twisting along the good road did occur, we made the hotel with no issue bar the sporadic use of horn. Hotel KRC not so flash name but the foyer is finished well and the staff professional. One of the guys accompanies up to our room in the scary lift carrying our pannier bags. Once in the room loiters for ever.
After dropping the bags off we drove across towards the Brahmaputra and the reason for the heavy tag for the city. Enter the Agnigarh Hill park which is believed to be the Fortress of Fire from Hindi mythology. The story goes that a Demon king by the name of Banasura had a daughter called Usha who dreamt of her love but her father was a rock on the protective side and to safeguard her he secured her in a Fortress of Fire. The dream lover however became reality in the form of Aniruddha a prince. (and also the grandson of Lord Krishna) The two lovers secretly married which enraged Banasura and lead to a war between the Hari and the Hare (as a rule apparently exists that gods cannot battle directly). This battle turned particularly ugly, hence the "city of blood". The park has a great view but is a touch kitch.
From the hill we drove back towards town and another large park, Chitralekha Udyan, this one with archeological remnants believed to be from the Gupta period (roughly 10th century) sourced from private properties and random sites from around Tezpur. Sun setting and mangos dropping from the trees in the park we wander around. Some great sandstone carvings and huge.
Off to the market where we leave the guys and go fruit shopping before finding our way via a circuitous route back to the hotel. In the room set up our washing and overlook the annoying and recurring habit of hotel staff in this part of the world to attempt to be overly helpful, but which turns some times into interruptions of your time. Hopefully good nights sleep before final day tomorrow and returning to Guwahati.
Still great weather, a little light spitting but otherwise sunny. Cool in the mountains though and we all have fleece jumpers on. Follow a couple of Army trucks out of town before being able to pass on narrow roads. Only a few road crews out today busting rocks as Sunday and most people appear to be taking a day off or starting later. Stop in for quick chai after crossing the Nechiphu pass and catch up again with Dawa, part owner and Nepali by birth, also Buddhist so we have a look at the "Wheel of Life" Thanka I picked up in Tawang.
Following chai we continue downhill back to the river which is now moving swiftly toward the plains.
 |
| From Arunachal Pradesh, India. May-June 2011 |
Pass the various army encampments as we move our way south, hit a few sloppy sections but more from spring fed mud versus the light rain which has now stopped. The Sumo swivels from side to side as Niron aggressively swings the wheels to try and maintain traction and forward movement. Into Balukpong and following lunch at Hotel Tashi Yangtse sign out of Arunachal at the police check post.
The plains feel suprisingly stimulating after the grandeur of the mountains. Fluffy clouds, white and grey, sit over the fields and jungle giving a feeling of calm tension. The road across the next section of road works, shaken not stirred. So glad to see the tar even if it was only a demo section before hitting the next section of sandy dirt. Scenic mud rendered houses with thatched roofs, not as heavy as those we saw on the Terai and without the red colored lower section. So much road work going on. The piles of river rocks which are tendered for to be smashed using sledge hammers into road base size. According to the guys one pile (one truck trailer load) will take three people about two solid days work for which they will receive about 3000 INR.
Enter Tezpur also called the city of blood, which sounds pretty dramatic for relatively standard looking outskirts. Niron does put on his seatbelt on the edge of town though. No seat belts in the back, guess if the worst occur we hope we go under versus over the front seats. Thankfully, though the winding and twisting along the good road did occur, we made the hotel with no issue bar the sporadic use of horn. Hotel KRC not so flash name but the foyer is finished well and the staff professional. One of the guys accompanies up to our room in the scary lift carrying our pannier bags. Once in the room loiters for ever.
After dropping the bags off we drove across towards the Brahmaputra and the reason for the heavy tag for the city. Enter the Agnigarh Hill park which is believed to be the Fortress of Fire from Hindi mythology. The story goes that a Demon king by the name of Banasura had a daughter called Usha who dreamt of her love but her father was a rock on the protective side and to safeguard her he secured her in a Fortress of Fire. The dream lover however became reality in the form of Aniruddha a prince. (and also the grandson of Lord Krishna) The two lovers secretly married which enraged Banasura and lead to a war between the Hari and the Hare (as a rule apparently exists that gods cannot battle directly). This battle turned particularly ugly, hence the "city of blood". The park has a great view but is a touch kitch.
From the hill we drove back towards town and another large park, Chitralekha Udyan, this one with archeological remnants believed to be from the Gupta period (roughly 10th century) sourced from private properties and random sites from around Tezpur. Sun setting and mangos dropping from the trees in the park we wander around. Some great sandstone carvings and huge.
Off to the market where we leave the guys and go fruit shopping before finding our way via a circuitous route back to the hotel. In the room set up our washing and overlook the annoying and recurring habit of hotel staff in this part of the world to attempt to be overly helpful, but which turns some times into interruptions of your time. Hopefully good nights sleep before final day tomorrow and returning to Guwahati.
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