Editorial

This month it will be all about my trip to Arunachal Pradesh and back. I haven't read much or worked out much. I did start my workouts once I came back, but I have had a case of spondylitis due to bad posture while sitting at work (from home) so I am taking physiotherapy sessions and taking it easy.

I haven't caught up on my books that much either. So won't be writing about that.

I hope you enjoy reading about Arunachal because I have enjoyed the trip tremendously.

Why do I go to these far off places on a motorcycle? Going by airplane and then hiring a car is more comfortable. A little more expensive, but I surely can afford it. And not really more expensive if you count the cost of the motorcycle itself, the gear I have to invest in. Riding on a motorcycle is absolute torture for my back and my bum. So why do I travel by motorcycle?

One is the freedom I have. I can literally go anywhere with a twist of my wrist, but more importantly I can stop anywhere and enjoy the view, the cuisine and most importantly the people.
 

We had already ridden two days from Guwahati to Biswanath Chariali near Tezpur, Assam and then from there till Tinsukia. Niroj, my riding partner, and I entered Arunachal Pradesh from Roing, which is the main town in that area, on the third day late morning. We wanted to go to Anini. Google Maps showed that we will reach Anini in 4 hours. We had our breakfast at the entry point at Roing and we started our ride. After riding for more than 3 hours we saw a small cottage on the left side of the road. There was a beautiful lady everyone affectionately called "Maggie Didi" there. That was the cottage where you get the best Maggie on that route. Because that's the only place you get Maggie on that route. ;-) We took a short stop there, had tea and Maggie and asked how much more time for us to reach Anini. They said about 4 more hours. After riding for more than 3 more hours we reached a place called Mayudiya. Roads were horrible and life threateningly dangerous as there was a deep chasm on one side of the road entire way. So we were riding really slowly and carefully. We had our late lunch there at a hotel called "Hotel 65". It was 65 kilometers from the center point of Roing and hence the name. We asked how much more to go before we reach Anini? We had 6 more hours to go and the roads were going to get worse. It was impossible for us to reach Anini on the same day before nightfall and we didn't want to ride in the dark on such roads. So we decided to take a stop somewhere midway.

There was a small village called Hunli on the way. It was a 2 hour ride from there so we decided we will go find a place to stay for the night there. We reached Hunli and went straight to the circuit house. Beautifully located with a view of the mountains and valleys, we were told we will not be allowed to stay for the night as they were expecting the SDO (some VIP) the same day. They suggested we go and stay at the Inspection Bungalow (IB). There is always a circuit house and an IB everywhere you go in the northeast. No matter how remote the village.

So we rode to the IB and found us a place to stay. The landlady of the IB had gone down to the village center to celebrate what you call the Reh Festival. This is a festival celebrated in Arunachal once a year where they invite all their relatives and believe that their ancestors visit them on that day. So they celebrate, sing, dance, eat and drink. The daughter of the landlady set us up in the room and asked us to go down the village center to celebrate the Reh Festival.

This village, Hunli, is a small village that has about 25 or so families living there and a military camp. There is electricity in this village for only two hours and that's the time they get to charge their phones and do whatever they need to. There are no switches to lightbulbs. Everything goes on directly when there is electricity and off when there is no power. And no  mobile signal in the entire area except a few patches where there was BSNL signal. We were completely disconnected from the rest of the world.

We went to the town center, but we were late. The festival was almost over. It must have been around 6.00 pm or so and now the youngsters were singing Bollywood songs. There were two men, Chughume (pronounced Chuhume) and Richie (not a western name, it means the protector) sitting near a fire. We went and started talking to them. It so happens that they believed that we (two strangers from a strange town) were possibly their ancestors visiting. We were given a royal welcome. Bison is their religious animal and surprisingly they slaughter a bison or two at important events like marriages, child births and the Reh Festival and they are very aware about the Bison population and the overall ecological balance and even though hunting and animal slaughter is a common practice in the region, they make sure they don't over slaughter. They do this by creating religious taboos around animal slaughter and allow it only by the permission of an Igu (the priest of the tribe) . We had the chance to have some. The tribes in the lower Dibang Valley are Idu-Mishmi tribes. We talked a lot about the Idu-Mishmi religion and culture while having beers. After a while Chughume took out a smoke and asked permission from me to smoke. I took out my pipe (I smoke a long pipe once in a while when I go on a ride). He was absolutely fascinated with the pipe. So I offered to gift him the pipe as a token of gratitude and he was elated.

Then he said that the tobacco was very hard and that he has something smoother and asked us if we would like to smoke some opium. It was naturally homemade. They grind the opium flower petals and grind banana leaf and mix it and make a powder out of it. I agreed and then we went to a small hut. The door of the hut was short so we had to bend down low to enter. There was a fire in the middle of the hut with a kettle on top of it and then a chimney above it. We sat around the fire. There were round bolster pillows given to everyone and then a small pouch was passed to everyone with opium in it. Richie (the talkative one) asked for the bong. I don't remember what they called it in their language there but it was a bamboo pipe with another smaller bamboo jutting out of its side. He filled some water into the bong and put some opium on the top of the smaller bamboo and with a pair of tongs, picked up a red hot coal from the fire in the middle and lit up the opium and pulled hard. I did the same. We sat there for about an hour smoking opium and talking about politics, economy, religion and what not. The stuff doesn't give you a high in your head. It just relaxes your muscles and you feel extremely lazy as if you don't want to get up at all.

Around 10.00 (which is almost like midnight there as the sun sets around 4.00) we decided to go back to the guest house. The landlady had cooked some Iliso or pork for us. Niroj couldn't eat it because it was one of his days when he doesn't eat meat, but I ate it. It was a bit rubbery and was cooked with some flavoury green leafy vegetable. I enjoyed the vegetables, I endured the pork.

Then we went into our dark room with no light changed, went into our bed, tucked the mosquito net (not that there were any mosquitos there) and called it a day…

What a day…!

Next morning, elated and everything, we decided that we are not going to Anini. What we had come to experience, we had experienced more than that already and that we would now go towards Roing and see what our next destination would be. We had Hayuliang in mind. Hayuliang when translated literally means "The place of my liquor". It is in the far east of Arunachal Pradesh. Close to Hayuliang is a place call Walong. There is a war memorial there from the 1962 war with China and then there is Dong. The eastern most part of India. The first place where the sun rises in India, at 3.00 am. 

We woke up early in the morning, packed our bags and started our ride. We already knew the terrain so while it wasn't unknown it wasn't that easy either. The temperature must be around 9 degrees centigrade. Pleasant inside our gear and helmets. After a few hours of riding we reached the same Hotel 65 where we had decided to stop at Hunli for the night. We had our breakfast there and tea and we started off for Roing. We must have gone about 100 meters from Hotel 65 when I saw to my left the view. We didn't see this yesterday because we were in a hurry to get to Anini. It was absolutely mesmerizing. I was connected with Niroj in through our radio helmets. I asked him to stop for a quick photo session.

This entire region is called "The No Man's Land" because of its extremely low population density. If I were to stop there for more than an hour, I wouldn't hear or see a single car go by or even a single human being around. Complete silence. Not even the voices of the jungle. At that height, there are no birds or even crickets. I asked Niroj, "Do you hear that?" and he winced and tried really hard to listen and looked at me puzzled… "What?" he asked? And I said "Exactly"…! When have you been anywhere where there is absolutely no sound whatsoever. It is an extremely eerie experience. We took photos, I setup my phone on a tripod and took a video log just so I don't forget my experience. We got back on the bikes, I checked everything and just when we were about to start, I realized I had to pee. So I told Niroj to just hold on for a bit. I got back down, took off my leg holster, put it on my luggage, went back towards the cliff, and watered some of the trees there, came back, mounted on the bike and off we went. We must have gone some 100 meters when we saw a van go by in the opposite direction. We talked about it saying that's quite a while since we saw another car in this region. Just then I instinctively checked all my bags and realized to my horror that my leg holster was missing. Had kept it on my luggage and had forgotten to wear it when I mounted the motorcycle. It must have fallen off. We immediately turned back and went to the spot. It wasn't there. The van that had crossed us must have picked it up. 

This leg holster had the most important things. My phone, my wallet, my driving license and Aadhaar card and most importantly, my inner line permit to roam in Arunachal Pradesh. I couldn't call my phone hoping that someone would pick it up because I had kept it in flight mode to save battery. There was no mobile signal anyways, so what's the point in keeping it on…! And nobody can switch off the flight mode unless they know my pin to unlock the phone.

I suggested briefly that we go to Hotel 65 and check if anyone has given anything but Niroj suggested that whoever has taken it, if they have the will to give it back, they will. If they don't then I will never find it. And he suggested that we reach Roing at the earliest and lodge a police complaint and get advice from the authorities around what we should do, now that we have lost our inner line permit.

Off we went, sad, angry. I decided, I am going to enjoy this damn trip. Phone or no phone.

We had our radios connected, Niroj and I, but we barely talked for the first 2 hours of the journey. We took short stops to breathe and pee and we reached Maggie Didi's cottage. We had Maggie and tea and we talked to a man there who was drinking some cheap whiskey there. In the mountains you don't "really" need a liquor license to sell liquor. And the natives drink and drive all the time around the cliffs and the chasms without an incident. Well once in a while someone dies, but that happens in the city with people who don't drink and drive too. Statistics statistics…

Anyways, we asked him if he knew Richie and Chughume and he did. Everyone on that mountain more or less knew each other. We told him about our predicament and asked him to inform Chughume and Richie about it and that if they do find the bag, they should call us on Niroj's number. We gave him the number to pass it on to Chughume and Richie. We met another group of Travellers at Maggie Didi's and we talked to them about our onward trip and found out that the road to Hayuliang is going to be "very interesting".

We rode on. Just when we were about to reach Roing, Niroj started getting cell signal. So we decided to take a stop and inform our family that we are still alive after 3 days of being out of coverage. I was talking to my wife and I was telling her that there is this unexplainable feeling that I am getting that I am going to get my bag with all its contents back when a military jeep came to us from behind. They asked us, "Have you lost a bag?" My wife was still on the phone as I said, "Yes" and they said, "A military van found it, they have given it at Hotel 65, it is safe with all its contents, you can take it from there."

My wife was not even surprised. As if she knew that I will find it. Now we are thinking we have ridden 3 hours on a really tough terrain and its getting dark. There is no chance in hell we will make it there on time. So we are standing their like idiots thinking about what to do when we see a rider on a KTM with all gear going in the opposite direction. We wave at him like crazy bastards to stop and he stops. We ask him where he is going and he says "Mayudiya". We tell him what happened and we tell him to go to Hotel 65 and let them know that we have received the message and that we know they have the bag. We will come and get it tomorrow. And he leaves.

We leave for Roing, find a place to stay, shower, change and go back down on the streets to find us something to eat. That's when the rider that we had asked to inform Hotel 65 calls us from his bsnl phone. He has given the message, they have received it. "The military", he says, "took out the Aadhaar card from the bag and showed it to the hotel people and asked if they had seen the photo, when they said they have, they gave the bag to hotel 65 and said let the bag be here for 2 days. If they come and pick it up, good, otherwise they will return from Anini in two days and if the bag is still there, they will bring it with them to Roing and courier it to the address mentioned in the Aadhar card". Can you believe it…!

On the streets in Roing, we see some transport offices where they take people to Mayudiya and Anini in Tata Sumo vans. We talk to them to find out if we can get on a van and go to hotel 65 tomorrow. The challenge is that the entire day gets wasted. We were planning to go to Mayudiya the next day. Suddenly one of the drivers says, "Why don't you hire a van". It would cost you 5500 but we leave right now, and come back by 11.00 pm. I agree but heckle for a discount. He agrees at 5000 and off we go back to hotel 54. We reach there in 3 hours this time (it took us 6 hours… what the hell… they are experienced drivers… God damn it…!) we have dinner at Hotel 65 and leave for Roing and we reach Roing by 11.30 pm with our bag and all its contents.

Who would have thunk we would find a bag full of phones, wallets and what not back…! I slept like a baby…!

What a day…!

There's more... a lot more... But how can I possibly fit in the entire journey into a newsletter. These are just two of the many stories that I have. These are just a few of the many most interesting people that Niroj and I met in this journey... And this is just one of the many motorcycle journeys that I have done.

Maybe I will write a book some day... And maybe I will have beers with both the readers who will buy my book. I know Niroj will buy... at least I hope he does... I don't want to be the only reader of my book... ;-)