Dirang to Tawang

18 April 2011
In the morning, we woke up to load our bikes again. Nilu's colleagues were going to stay for another day at Dirang. They suggested us to visit PTSO lake at Tawang. We had 140 kms to cover today. As we were packing our luggage, PayengDa happened to cut his finger. He was applied first aid. Luckily, it was not serious enough to limit his riding capabilities.
The road was smooth for some distance. Then the ascent to Sela Pass, alt. 13700ft, started. This was the first and only pass we would be traversing on our trip. Mountain passes have a different thrill. It gives a sense of accompalishment as you cross one threshold and enter another. It was on the foothills, that we stopped for our first break. Suddenly, we saw PayengDa on the ground. He must have tripped or something and we burst out laughing. We were also regretting that Gyan, our main fall guy, hadn't fallen yet. This was all the more amusing to Gyan.
As we climbed higher, temperature began to drop. We stopped at an Army canteen 22 kms before the pass for breakfast. It also had an interesting tagline:

The canteen served us with dosas and veg biryani. The jawan serving us also refered to us as Sir. This was embarassing for us and we requested him not to. These are the soldiers guarding the extremities of our country in the extremes of climate against our toughest enemy. And yet, he was humble enough to call us as Sir. It was ovewhelming.
We saw more tourists heading towards Tawang. Mostly are government employess from Bengal and Assam. As we climbed higher, we also found snow. And then we were on top. Snow and mist surrounded us. A large lake was located nearby. It looked like a scene from heaven. We had our group photograph here. John chose to be aloof and waited for us some distance ahead.
The road downhill was superb. We passed through yet another military area where photography was prohibited. But the scenery around us was fantastic. Picture a stream running downhill through snow-clad mountains with yaks grazing around it. Some distance ahead, we stopped at Jaswantgarh. This is a war memorial dedicated to Rifleman Jaswant Singh. It is in memory of three soldiers who fought against the Chinese Army in the 1962 war. Lesser armed they managed to seize an MMG reigning hell over the Indian Army after a 72 hour battle. Their action broke the invincible image of the Chinese. Even today, his bed is arranged and a meal is placed in the memorial. Stories of valour where soldiers sacrifice their lives while we measly people squabble about insignificant things like parking space in our cities.
Another officer posted on the eastern front of Arunachal met us here. He was visiting Tawang on some work. It is a routine for Army personnel to pay homage here whenever they pass. Maj. Arjun admired our enthusiasm to ride to Tawang all the way from Guwahati. He also told us about his younger brother who also trips frequently but not on motorcycle.
Our next stop was Jung. Just before the city limits started, we stopped at a dhaba for lunch. Right next door was a wine shop. There was only one thing to do. The wine shop was being managed by a mother with her child sitting right next to her. Women's Liberation. The variety of beer it offered was tremendous. Even pints were available. We chose Carlsbergs and Tuborgs. Then had a hefty lunch of chicken and rice. Needless to say, it was delicious. Some schoolkids got attracted to the seven bikes parked outside. We also had some fun with them putting our helmets and gloves on them. I hope some of them grow up to be riders.Before leaving the dhaba, we asked for directions to Jung Falls. It was just 7 kms away. The Falls are not visible until you make the final turn. And then, you are dwarfed by the sheer size of the Falls. This place came highly recommended. As is our affinity, whenever we see water, we get the tendency to take a dip in it. The weather was turning cloudy and it was getting cold. What better way to shoo it away than to take a dip in the chilling water.
So, Doley, PayengDa, Nilu and I stripped down and ran towards the Falls. But as closer we got to the foot of the falls, the scarier it sounded. The force of the water sounded enormous. To build up our bravery we took a swig of the Blender's with us and moved forwards. It took a good 5-6 swigs to get us as close to the foot as possible. But there was no more courage to gather. We were already being blinded by the spray. The cold water stung at each part of the body. Icicles like spray was applying acupressure. So we chose the smaller fall just near the main one to shower ourselves. Even here the pressure was great. Gyan chose a longer route to get close to us to click some priceless photographs.
We must have showered for 20 minutes. It is a good therapy to stay warm. Little did we know what was in store for us. Near the Falls, Nilu and I had made the mistake of shouting out aloud, "C'mon, Is that all you got?". Someone above did not like that humour. The punishment came later on.
As we reached back to our motorcycles, a large number of vehicles started arriving. Some delegates were visiting Tawang. What was unusual was that they made way for the motorcycles to pass through. In the north, if such a case happens, you are yelled at to make way for the VIP, even pushed and shoved. Just as we were leaving a lady, most probably from Arunachal only, stopped me and asked,
"Are you Riders from outside Arunachal?"
Me - "Yes. from Assam. We are coming from Guwahati"
Ma'am - "You're riding all the way to Tawang from Guwahati?"
Me - "Yes Ma'am"
Ma'am - "Ride Safe"
Me - "Thank You"
Now, friends and family will vouch that I'm not a frequent user of that phrase, but it was the words that Ma'am used that were striking. First of all, she used the word "Rider" and not "Biker". Then the parting words that are used by each and everyone of us, "Ride Safe".
Tawang was only 30 kms away. But the sun had set and clouds were hovering above us. Only a short distance later, it started to drizzle. We stopped and put on our rain suits. Nilu was little skeptical about this given the distance left, but he also put it on. It was a damn good thing that he did because 5 kms later, the drizzle turned into a downpour. PayengDa did not have one. And then it grew worse.
20 kms separated us from our destination. It had gotten dark now and the rain was getting heavier. Until this point, Gyan was leading. But he is handicapped at night. So, he asked me to take the lead. I did and then hailstorm started. I could imagine how the bass drum of SLAYER must feel like in concerts because the hail was beating us relentlessly. So much for "Is that all you got?". The roads were all slushed as mud and stones were rolling on it. It felt as if we were riding on a river, a 20 km long river. Second gear was rarely engaged. Tarmac was hard to locate. With Nilu guiding his headlight behind me, we were able to add more light on the view ahead and navigate. But many a times, it was just feet-down-high-throttle-drag-through. Lightning did help us. Later, Nilu pointed out how he could see lightning below our eye level, but I was just too scared to look sideways. As we got closer to the town, along with stones and mud, came filth. There is too much garbage in the city. It took us 2 hours to cover 30 kms and finally we were in the city.
When we reached our hotel, there was no parking space. So, the attendant suggested the branch 1.5 kms ahead. It was still raining heavily. He got on the back of PayengDa's bike and we followed him to the second hotel. The roads of this town are steep, very steep, highly steep. The weather made sure that our engines did not overheat. We parked our motorcycles on reaching the second hotel and just stood there under the shelter for 10 minutes. It was exhausting. The last 20 kms had drained us. Unloading was a huge task. It must have been mind over matter that we got our things to our rooms, again on the second floor.
All the rooms had heaters. Soon, we were out of our wets and into dries. We absorbed all the heat from the heaters. Dinner was vegetarian. We were all disappointed on having vegetables after such a prolonged spell of meat. A few pegs of rum also helped in getting warm. Sleep came easily.