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In the land of Dawnlit Mountains
Amidst much skepticism due to political/insurgency related problems and don’ts from people around we set out for Land of Dawnlit Mountains……..Arunachal Pradesh, far flung in North Eastern frontier of India. It is one of the active disputed territories of world. It is one of India’s most sparsely populated, little visited and least spoken of province. It comes to headlines (rather to any news story) during wartime or China making and India denying territorial claim over it. It was the theatre of Sino-Indian War of 1962 when China invaded Arunachal over disputes with validity of McMahon Line drawn in 1914 during Simla Conference to trace the northern border of Indian Subcontinent along northern most rides and peaks of Great Himalayas. Our journey was along the trail of Chinese in reverse i.e. westernmost sector of AP, Bhalukpong-Bomdila-Tawang circuit.
We started from Tezpur, the city of immortal love, in the banks of mighty Brahmaputra, Assam towards Bhalukpong, the gateway of Arunachal in this area. The road from Tezpur to Bhalukpong is beautiful. It runs through historical Balipara Frontier tract and then through the forest of Nameri National Park towards the foothills of Himalaya. After showing Inner Line Permits we started our Himalayan sojourn. Road to Bomdila, HQ, West Kameng district meanders along Kameng River, a tributary of Brahmaputra and Tenga river which is a tributary of Kameng. Thick, unexplored, virgin tropical rainforest started to engulf us as road moves up the hill. Lush green mountains, gushing mountain streams, numerous waterfalls looked so charming. It is an Indian mountain road least visited by tourists, mostly used by Indian Army and Border Road Organization (the creator of the road itself). So this area is not so polluted and studded by hamlets, Dhabaas, tea stalls, hotels, resorts. Here Nature rules her empire with her pristine glory. As we moved up negotiating dense fog and blind hairpin bends, Himalayan chill started to make us feel its presence. Taking welcome lunch, tea breaks at small stopovers like Tenga, Rupa valley etc we reached Bomdila (8500 ft) at dusk. Natives of Kameng are mainly Monpas, & Sherdukpens though settlers from Indian Plains, BRO and Defense personnel are outnumbering them causing a demographic imbalance which can turn into another insurgent political activity in decades to come whose roots I foresee in ubiquitous display of Monpa Autonomous Region demand. There is a Buddhist monastery in Bomdila located in a scenic backdrop.
Next day we set out for Tawang, HQ of Tawang district which is surrounded by Tibet in North, Bhutan in West and W.Kameng and E.Kameng in south and East. Tawang tract is the root of territorial dispute between India and China in Eastern Sector due to strong presence and past association with Tibetans throughout history both politically and culturally. Tawang houses the second largest Buddhist Monastery of the world, second only to Potala, Lhasa. Tawang hosted exiled Dalai Lama after China invaded Tibet and annexed it in 1959. HH Dalai Lama fled through high mountain passes and took refuge in Tawang and hence moved to Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh which is de facto seat of Tibetan
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