Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
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+Next: In and around Tawang
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When we headed towards the region above Tawang towards the country’s border, we were not sure what we are up to seeing. The road went up steep and within no time we had gone really high from Tawang. We had to pass several military barricades on the way, and we noticed that army had cut down a large number of alpine trees all over the slope. After 30 minutes of drive we started seeing snow which was melting fast, and plenty of water flowing down from each snow pile.
A little later, the road was getting flat again and the slopes had mellowed down. Thats when we saw our first surprise. I shouted when I looked at the beautiful lake amidst the snow – ‘look there..!’. We got down for a few photographs of the pretty lake and walked all around it. What I did not know was that there are many more to come. As we moved forward, we kept seeing lake after lake, each one surrounded by thick snow, and each one prettier than the previous. It all looked heavenly. I never imagined seeing so many beautiful water bodies in such a short distance.
There was no one around to tell, but from whatever I gathered from the signs, I think the region is called PTSO, whatever it stands for. We kept driving and stopping at short distances. We would hop into the jeep for a few minutes and then someone would shout a ‘look, one more..!’ and we would stop again and walk around another lake. It was evening when we headed back. On the slopes, the waterways created on the snow melting through the day had made some beautiful scaly patterns.
It was an incredible and short lived experience high in the mountains. The beautiful region was access controlled by the army and we have little freedom of movement. It depressed me to think of the neighbors that we have, who have forced our warriors to live in the harsh environs like this to protect our lands, be it in Siachin, Arunachal or Sikkim. It depressed me to think that such beautiful regions have to be restricted from us who worship the beauty that these mountains are. And C’est la vie is all I could say about it.
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: From Eaglenest to Tawang – II
+Next: At Tawang – Snow and Lakes
+Go to the beginning of the series
The first thing that comes into the mind when talking about Tawang is the the monastery. And that is where we headed next morning.
The monastery, blue skies and the snow caps
Tawang Monastery is said to be the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India and second largest in the entire world. It did not look very big in size though. When we went there, the morning prayers were finished and it was quiet inside. We were the only people inside, though we found a few people and monks wandering around the monastery.
Buddha statue at the monastery
We walked in and spent a few moments in its beautiful interiors. Every inch of the monastery is decorated in bright colors. Several lines of mats are laid out in parallel as seating for prayers, between a tall statue of Buddha and the main entrance. We lit incense sticks and sat inside quietly for a while. I love the prayerful feeling emanated from the interiors of a place of worship, and the quietness of the monastery made it all the more charming.
The Monk’s Assets
We struck conversation with a monk student when we came out. He told us a few things about the monastery, and when we requested if we can walk around with him and see his room, he was very obliging. He was happy to help us around, treated us like worthy guests and served us coffee and snacks when we were in his room. The approach to his room was through a narrow wooden staircase that led to his small but warm wooden dwelling, shared by two monks. It was a neatly arranged place with many books, tools of prayer and pictures of worship. A tape-recorder and a some Hindi movie tapes were a few things that seemed out of place!
Smiles..
More Smiles..
and more smiles..
even more smiles..
One thing that often strikes me with the Tibetans is how friendly and open they are. I see them smiling and happy all the time. They open up very easily and without any qualms, and seem to be comfortable with anyone at any time. It is the same story I have seen with the Tibetan Buddhists in all places. I don’t know if it is something in their blood or if it is their practices that keep them so alive. Even children are friendly, open and smiling all the time. The monk we met was also extremely humble and seemed to follow the phrase ‘athithi devobhava’ in every instance, even with us strangers. We saw so many smiling faces all around Tawang in the day, it would take many months to see so much smiles anywhere else!
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: From Eaglenest to Tawang – I
+Next: At Tawang Monastery
+Go to the beginning of the series
The part of the journey from Sela pass to Tawang was exciting. Soon after we crossed Sela, it was colder and we kept seeing patches of snow here and there. The valley beyond Sela was equally gorgeous as the one before – deep and wide and with great vistas.
The enormous mountains and valleys of the Himalayas make us feel humble
We now started driving down into the valley, which we had to cross and climb up again to reach Tawang. The road here passed between a few pine trees here and there, small streams emerging from melting ice and military barracks now and then. We were just getting hungry after the long journey when we arrived at Jaswant Garh.
Jaswant Garh is a place out of nowhere. It hosts a monument to Jaswant Singh, an army man who is known to have single handedly tackled an enemy Battalion during Chinese occupation of Arunachal. We stopped to take a look at the monument and walked around a bit. Army has a small snack shop near the monument where we had a cup of much needed coffee before moving ahead.
A Yak looks at us with curiosity
A little more driving took us to some nice views of the valley, where we could see Tawang far away on the other side, and some habitation just below us. We stopped here for some time to rest and enjoy the views. It was later hours of the afternoon with some haze filling the valley, but the layers of mountains around us still looked beautiful. The realization of the scales of the mountains and valleys of Himalayas always manage to humble the tiny bodies that are us. A few yaks(or is it dzo?) were grazing around and looked at us with keen interest.
The Gompa near Jung village
Jung village
The habitation nearby turned out to be the Buddhist village of Jung. A small Gompa with a beautiful golden colored crest stood at the entrance of the village. The place itself is a small hamlet with a few wooden huts and brick houses and little else. We stopped to take a look at the village but did not see any elders around. A bunch of enthusiastic kids were playing with a bicycle on the road, and when my friend aimed his camera at them, got all happy and excited. But another set of small kids looked confused at the camera and wondered how to react.
Some Children playing in the village…
..and some more looking at us confused
Apparently a Hindi movie named Koyla, starring Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit was shot here. There is a waterfall nearby which is now called Madhuri falls! We drove past the village and crossed the valley over a bridge. My friend wanted to take a picture of the pretty bridge, but was chased away by an army man. It seems they had four of them guarding that bridge!
On our way further, we noticed a few monasteries high on the hills and away from the motor road. Long and winding steps descended from these monasteries to the motor road, and it was easy to say that reaching there is not all that easy. Equally hard would be carrying supplies to the place. I guess they are deliberately kept farther away in a difficult to access place, which would ensure some quietness to the monks and also provide them with some physical activity.
As we drove up towards Tawang, we went past a few more villages. Many villagers were breaking stones and working on the road. It was nearly evening and some were packing off from work. A bunch of young girls flagged our Sumo, and we packed them along in our vehicle. They were high-school going girls who were using their vacation days to make some money by working on road construction. They were bubbly and enthusiastic lot – the typical feature you see with people in the Buddhist regions. Once in the vehicle, they started chattering and set our vehicle in a very enjoyable mood for the next fifteen minutes.
she was full of smiles.. and full of joy..
It was already dark when we reached Tawang. We drove around the town looking for hotels and a good number of them were fully occupied. After looking around in 3-4 places, we finally found a place to settle down. It was a long journey from dawn to dusk, and an eventful one indeed.