Ride to the Far East - 24 Nov to 16 Dec 2021
The Planning
Me and Ameya starting dreaming of a big ride this year around May 2021, and somehow East Arunachal stuck with us as the to be destination ever since. Maybe we wanted to mark this as a logical completion of our ride to west Arunachal in 2011. But Central Arunachal still remains for some other time.
Both of us were anxious since we would be riding after a long time on such a big multiday ride, and with back overuse injury for both of us and knee surgery in 2018 for me, it was difficult for both of us mentally, but once the prep started, things started getting easy and we knew with some care and precautions we would be able to manage. And after last moment entry of Mahesh, who is always cool and in a relaxed state of mind, this positive state of mind rubbed off on us too, and we were raring to go.
Help started pouring in from Piran for routing, stay options etc (who owns Kipepeo Eco Tourism venture in the North East- https://www.kipepeo.in/ ), and Shyamal, a fellow rider who has ridden extensively in this region, had long chats with him on the route, petrol situation etc, disturbing once in his Old Monk session too J , Saurabh in tips on spares on 390 adv, folks from 60kph for the transport options (finally we decided GATI), tyre choice and for trusting us with dispersal of final remains of the founder and dear friend Gaurav Jani at his favourite place Dembuen, ahead of Anini (Dri Valley). Last but not the least Vidyut Sonowal of KTM Dibrugarh, helped us a lot with receiving the bikes from GATI and basic servicing and spares. Jumu Tayu from DC office Anini helped us with the ILP for Dibang Valley since the online site approval was not working. Though I did manage finally to crack the puzzle of online ILP approval after spending lot of time. J
Bikes reaching Dibrugarh well before time, we were all set to board the flight on 24 Nov. Reaching Dibrugarh at 1 PM, after some rest and quick lunch we went to KTM Dibrugarh and got our bikes ready by removing the packaging, petrol filling etc, again thanks to the super helpful folks at KTM Dibrugarh for helping us out. Next day spent in Dibrugarh to do the packing for the ride and last moment shopping.
Walong Axis
After all the prep done at Dibrugarh, next day 5 AM we start our ride towards Walong. It was exciting to do a long ride after so many years and starting from an altogether new place not knowing how the roads would be.
It was chilling cold early morning but the nice roads through the Tea estates and a nice tea and breakfast breaks at the small cosy road side Dhabas made it an experience to cherish.
The mountains of Arunachal started just before we reached Wakro. Filling petrol, few road side breaks and we were at Parshuram Kund by 12 PM for lunch. This was actually our planned night halt area but reaching here at 12 PM we thought we should move ahead post lunch.
There is a saying that “Arunachal will surprise you every day”. Read on. Right after Parshuram Kund the zigzag endless 200 km almost single lane mountain road starts. With nice jungle and valley views for few km the road turns very bad due to widening work going on and also there are frequent road blocks for blasting. With all these hurdles it easily got dark before we could reach Hayulliang for night halt. With no accommodation or food options in between, we continue and finally super tired reached Hayuliang. Thanks to a car owner who saw us lost on the main road, quickly guided us to a nice Hotel and we crashed for the night.
After a nice scenic morning walk around the beautiful small town of Hayuliang we started for Walong. An eventless ride but rather scenic one we reached Walong had lunch and after a bad experience at the Dong river side resort we stayed at Namti Home stay recommended to us by Saurabh from KTM Dibrugarh.
Next day was a nice short ride to Kibithoo, Kaho and Dong villages near China border and the exciting suspension crossing from Dong to Namti on our bikes. The approach to the bridge was scary and exposed specially with our big bikes but we did it. After a quick dip at the hot spring we called it a day.
We ride to a lesser known town of Hawai on the Walong road the next day on recommendation of Piran, and what a place to spend few days. After some hassle for booking the Govt Guest House (Yatri Niwas) at a nice hilltop plateau location. we got pampered with the amazing views of the Hawai town and an equally scenic sunset.
Finally we head back to the plains of Arunachal to Roing for a rest day, after viewing one of the most scenic sunsets from Hawa Pass looking towards the flood plains of Lohit river, and a super fast night ride (130 -140 kmh) from Tezu to Roing. Thanks to the fast road development in Arunachal that we were able to cover such distances in short time. This would have been impossible if we would be riding few years back in this area.
Anini Axis
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A well deserved rest day at Roing after a tiring ride to Walong was due, specially since we were going to tackle the Anini axis next which is another tough ride with 230 km long mountain road, with parts of it being single lane, some of it a nice 2 lane highway and some of it under construction with blasting making it a very risky ride, with many people loozing their lives on this road due to rock fall. On top of it in recent past the road was closed for 7 days to 2 weeks due to massive rock falls. We even contemplated skipping Anini this time, but thanks to Jumu Tayu from DC office Anini, encouraging us to come over since it would not be difficult for bikes and he mentioned that all the risk points for major blockage are cleared.
So finally the Anini ride started at 5 AM from Roing, initially it was a constant climb for 80 km till Mayudiya pass with thick jungles and single lane zig zag road, then down to Hunli for a 40 km of most beautiful forested stretch and then starts the hell part, constant dust, road blockages, slush, diversions due to the road work going in full swing. We reached Anini at night but thanks to Jumu Tayu, the room in Circuit House Anini was already booked so we checked in and crashed.
Next day was of course a rest day at Anini, exploring the market, having some traditional food, finding out about Dri Valley and Matho Valley routes.
Next we ride to the beautiful Dri valley on an overcast day, which was a blessing in disguise, the colors of the valley coming in full bloom in the dull lit sky. Exploring a new route to a waterfall and then further to Dambuen and finally camping besides the Dri river shore.
The campsite besides Dri river was very beautiful and the sky lit up next morning with some amazing cloud patterns. Today was the D day of this ride where in we would disperse the ashes of Jhonney ( in Dri river near Dambuen at our campsite), founding member of 60kph and mentor / friend / family to many of us at 60KPH. Next we rode to Matho Valley, a scenic but relatively uneventful ride after which our return journey to Roing would start.
Another rainy rest day at Roing and we were all prepped up for the final leg of the ride to the remote border town of Tuting of which we knew very less and left it to be discovered while on the road J.
Tuting Axis
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This would be our last leg of our ride in East Arunachal and we would venture in an area completely unknown to us. We had not done much groundwork on Tuting side since we did not expect to cover so much distance and have time for this leg of Arunachal. And also not much information available on the internet on Tuting area.
Today would be a day of reverse surprise in Arunachal which is very rare. Usually there is some challenge or adventure on daily basis when you travel in Arunachal on your own, but today the roads from Roing all the way to Yingkiong was a super smooth 2 lane highway and nice sunny weather. The initial stretch of Arunachal plains was very refreshing and scenic with nice green fields and equally beautiful villages passing by.
After the Pasighat bypass we ride parallel to Brahmaputra river and from midway nice views of the thickly forested mountains appear, of course slowing me down to click photographs and just enjoy the view.
We reached Yingkiong by afternoon and after some hassle in DC office we got booking in the Yingkiong circuit house. Yingkiong is a beautiful town admist densly forested mountains but only with basic facililties and accommodation for tourists.
Next day the ride to Tuting from Yingkiong was one of the toughest I have ever done. Except for some stretch of road, most of the 140km was broken tar, slippery slush and off road. It took very tiring 14 hours to ride this distance, of course with all our photography, rest and snacks breaks and 2 hours spent in waiting for roadblock to open. By the time we reached Tuting at 9 PM, our whole body was aching and we were barely able to concentrate while riding.
Next day it was raining in Tuting, apt weather for a rest day. We walked to the DC office for permission for Kepangla which was promptly declined due to the current security situation at China border. We also spent quite some time at the Tuting Monastery .
Even the next day we were in no mood to ride our bikes so we went walking across a very long suspension bridge over Brahmaputra river across the other side to Jido village and further to an Open Prayer place and further a short inviting jungle walk. Jido village can be called the Orange village since in that area lots of Oranges grow. We also had a feast on them.
The next day ride to Gelling was uneventful, except the Norbuling village and the walk to the hidden sacred lake was something to remember with lush forest and very peaceful ambience with a small hut to rest as well.
Our time in Tuting was up and we needed now to ride back to Dibrugarh via Yingkiong to finish our ride. Tuting would surely need more time to explore and we missed the 100 km ride to the remote Senga village, maybe some other time. Going back to Yingkiong was very easy as compared to the ride to Tuting since the road had dried up after few days dry spell and we knew the road block hours so planned accordingly.
Our time in Dibrugarh was well spent at Blossom resort with nicely done up tea garden and small pond, and also was near the KTM showroom and GATI warehouse. Our day at DIbrugarh was spent in meeting with Vidyut and his team at KTM DIbrugarh, thanking them for all the efforts taken to make our ride comfortable and also going for lunch with Vidyut. Rest of the day was spent packing for flight and bikes for truck transport to Mumbai via GATI. It was almost 10 PM when we were back at the hotel tired. Thats all, flight back to Mumbai the next day and back to the grind.
Until next year. Cheerz.
