Bhalukpong to Dirang

Wild
KF red at Tenga
Fikar Not
Maneaters
two arunachali women in alto
dhaba rum - Mota bhai
17 April 2011
In the far east, you tend to wake up early. We were all ready and got down to haul the bikes up the stairs. My partners had failed to get pork for dinner this time. So, we made it sure it was available when we reach back to this place during the return trip. We had puri-sabzi as breakfast. Keeping the stops to minimum, we packed our stomachs and we were off. Our destination was 160 kms away.
Immediately, we encountered mud and slush. It continued this way for 25 kms. We would be in for a rough time during the return leg, and we sure were. For the time being, we were enjoying the wild roads. PayengDa was the busiest man as he took the lead and then took photographs of the riders in action.
After 25 kms, though we touched tarmac, we also got slopes. Arunachal roads are steep, very steep. The trucks we saw were having a tough time climbing the roads. We were able to cover only 25 kms an hour. Nilu stopped us seeing that one of my jerrycans was leaking. We emptied its contents into Doley's Bullet. The Classic was a real beast. It was pulling ahead effortlessly. After the ascent, came the descent. This was also a steep one. And then we saw military signs everywhere. BRO's Project Vartak. Amusing signboards of "Be Gentle on my Curves" were displayed here too. And then a haunting board, "You are entering Maneaters Zone". It turned out to be the Kumaon Maneaters Regiment. It was followed by the Fikar Not Regiment. There is high military presence in this state. Nilu and PayengDa were enjoying extended spells of photography. That left Gyan and me again in the lead. And then the inevitable happened. When we reached the Tenga town, we stopped for others to regroup. We had intended to stop at a tea stall. But right on the spot, was a wine shop. It was unintentional. Honest.
I'm always interested in tasting some new brand of beer. In small towns, light beer is rare. But the wine shop did offer KF Red. I hadn't seen this brand up north. Strangely, this was also sweet in taste. It must be due to the water being used in the breweries. We both waited to catch Nilu's expression. Its hilarious to see the "WTF" expression on his face.
As we finished our refreshers, others shopped for military goods in the neighbouring shop. Doley even bought jungle boots. These came out to be much helpful later on. Nilu needed more engine oil. A local biker took him to a shop where he could get one to match his specifications. Most of the bikes were R15s.
At one of the turns, PayengDa slipped and his bike fell to the ground. No damage to either man or machine as we carried on. Now, we were getting close to BomdiLa. It has been one of my long sought targets to reach that place. But when we reached there, all my perceptions about the place were washed off. I had imagined it be a mountain pass. It turned out to be a city. I had imagined it to have sub zero temperatures. It turned out to be a hotbed. It was also lunch time now. One of the locals suggested a place 5 kms after crossing the city. It was the best suggestion. The nameless dhaba turned out the most delicious meal that we would have in that state. Well cooked chicken and pork. The lady owner was very joyful herself. When we saw one of the other guests having a peg of rum, we also immediately a bottle for ourselves. It had to be mixed with water from a kettle. If ever someone is passing through that road, make sure you stop there for a meal. There's only this dhaba, 5 kms after crossing Bomdila. The server had high praise for us. He kept on repeating the words, "maan gaye aapko". He also spoke of the tremendous beauty of Tawang.
Dirang was only 35 kms away now. But 5 kms later, the road conditions again deteriorated. It was again slow pace till we reached our guest house, oddly named Awoo Resort. Yet again, our rooms were on the 2nd floor. Nilu had been in contact with his boss in Guwahati and we met him and another colleague here. Nilu frequently has drinks with him and he turned out to be a jovial person. The trouble was he was often called back by his family who disproved of his drinking habit.
The following day we would be reaching our destination, Tawang.