Continuing with the daily log of my trip to northeast India; this is the second log. It covers our journey from the beautiful town of Dirang to the cold mountains of Tawang; via the snow clad Sela Pass.
Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.
Anita Desai
Waking up at 6 in the morning is a routine of mine, although not for rest of my tripmates. Since it was an unfamiliar place for me, I decided not to step out for a walk alone. Instead I enjoyed the view by the window of my room. As the cool breeze flowed inside the room, with a cup of hot red tea in my hand; I felt peace and tranquility at its best.
Morning routine
Soon, within an hour, everyone was up and got ready. Each one of us enjoyed the authentic native red tea offered in traditional tea cups. Breakfast was ready by 8 and was brought to us in our rooms. Having garma-garam roti-sabji in a cool place gives a different kind of warm feeling. After repacking all our luggage, we loaded it in the car and started our journey by 9am.
After getting stuck in traffic for some time due to narrow two-way roads in the town of Dirang; we reached Thupsung Dhargye Ling Buddhist Monastery. There was ample of parking space, so we parked our car and set on foot to visit the monastery.
TDL Buddhist Monastery
The very first thing we observed while climbing towards the monastery was that; it was surrounded by mountains on all sides, thus providing an extremely scenic view. But the monastery in itself was so beautiful, that we almost instantly forgot about the mountains. Featuring vibrant colors with an amazing architecture, while also being maintained well; one could easily feel at peace while exploring it.
After climbing up the stairs, we got a breathtaking view of where the prayer hall was located. Decorated elegantly with colorful flower pots on the welcoming stairs; we could not help ourselves from stopping right there and taking in its beauty. We then headed in the prayer hall and were delighted to see pleasing intricate paintings inside.
After spending some time in the peaceful prayer hall, we headed back to the parking space. Our driver was a bit irritated that we took so long to explore the monastery. But he was back to being jovial once we resumed our journey.
Road towards Sela Pass
As we started heading closer towards Sela Pass, we saw snow clad mountains on both sides of the ghat. The weather started to get chilly and we had to put on our jackets to keep ourselves warm. We got to know that it had snowed just the night before. Hence the weather was extra cold and we were able to see fresh snow deposited near of the road.
As someone who was seeing snow for the first time in life, it was almost a surreal experience. The numerous photos I had seen of snow as if were being brought to life! We could not wait to get down and play in the snow once we reached our stop. But as soon as we got down reality hit us. It was so cold, with strong cold winds flowing that we could hardly take our gloves off!
Sela Lake and Sela Pass
While we were in the midst of strong cold winds hitting us, we barely managed to walk a few steps and saw the mesmerizing view of Sela Lake with abundant clouds still in the backdrop. After capturing a few photos we started to go on foot towards Sela Pass. Situated at a height of 13,700 feet, we were still trying to acclimatize to the high altitude by taking tiny steps and keeping up with our heavy breathing.
Our driver had already warned us against running and sprinting while walking up to Sela Pass, and we could clearly understand that now. We absolutely could not run down the steps and instead carefully walked down them, as they were a bit wet and slippery due to the snow that had deposited on them. They led us to a bridge above a water stream, that connected to another snow covered land with beautiful mountain peaks in its backdrop and a huge water body in between. We sat there on some rocks for sometime while enjoying the view and then started to climb back up to fill our empty stomachs.
Lunch at Sela Pass
Once we reached back at the top, it started to snow ever so mildly and we were so ecstatic to experience snowfall for the first time in our lives! We were instantly proved wrong when we thought it could not get more frosty, so we had to take shelter in one of the huts where we also hoped to satiate our hunger with some warm noodles and tea. While our food was being prepared the owners were so kind as to allow us inside their space and let us warm ourselves near the chulha.
We then had warm omelet noodles while enjoying the view of snowfall from the window of the hut; it felt like we were in a scene in a movie! We talked to some of the locals and asked them whether Bum La Pass would be similar or even more chilly. We were relieved to know that we would not feel this level of cold there as such strong winds do not flow there. Later quenching our thirst with warm tea, we then set out to call it a day and head towards our stay for the night.
Heading towards Tawang
As we left the snow clad mountains behind while on our way to Tawang, the weather was still cold. Just before we entered the town of Tawang, heavy rainfall started. With tall trees on both sides of the road, we were not complaining with the shift in the scenery from the white snow blanketed mountains to the rain washed tall lush green trees. In a matter of few minutes we had reached our stay for the night, where the hosts welcomed us warmly.
At around 5:30 in the evening, the sun had already set and it was beginning to get dark. There was no fan in the room but it was still cold, so we warmed ourselves in front of the heater. Later we had the authentic Thukpa for dinner and retired to bed early, since we had an early start the next day for Bum La Pass.