Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
With several snoozes on the 4.30 am alarm, i got a delayed start of 7 am. Should still be ok with a lil push i thought. Ride down to cross over to the other side of Tawang valley. Ride so far so good. After some 3 hours for 60 kms took a break in the valley to have the Frozen veg Mommos saved from yesterday's dinner. It was just great having it in the valley looking at the hills around. But i see weather not so good towards south. As i approach the Sela pass i see rain droplets! Ohh man guess my good weather luck has ran out in Arunachal. I say again, Cold ok Rain ok but both not together please. But will have to face the music today. Climbing up get encroached with Mist as well. The weather being pretty cold my visor was getting fogged up from the inside and if i open the visor, face was getting chill numbed. And yes there was this road widening work going on so have to ride through the slush. Just kept on riding as i knew on the other side of the pass the weather would be very good or very bad compared to now.
My fears came true. Once i crossed sela pass, the mist got thicker and the droplets heavier. More road work and it was becoming a pain of a ride. Was feeling a bit nauseating and disoriented prolly due to the mist. Thought once i climb down a bit from the pass things would get bettor. But the mist was just not letting up. Once down from the high altitude it started raining. Never seen mist when it rains and it was getting towards torcher. Also now that the whole stretch till Bomdila is under widening process got quite some tough time. Ride continuously and now i started cursing for who ever was responsible for the roads. Mean what is the point of scraping of KMs of road and relay is in couple of years. Why cant they do it in small stretches instead of pliable single lane road that existed. As i approach the section where people were hurtling down rocks, this section was also misty. The Guys above cant see if the vehicles are there below on the road and have to relay on the guys shouting on the road. I was stopped by a worker. Then comes this impatient sumo and the guy took off even though he was stopped. Once he stopped in the middle rocks came tumbling down as big in diameters of 3-5 feet! missing the sumo by a few feet. Once the worker said its clear to go, was pretty concerned about a loose boulder coming down. And make it any quicker with all the slush and the rear Dunlap more than happy to move side ways than ahead.
Cross it and the rain gets to pouring and no let off in mist. Only when i reached Dirang when the mist let off but rain got more heavier and the roads more worse. Really that was one terrible ride with cold, rain, mist, bad roads all put together. cant really ride ahead of the rain as in hilly areas one would be riding up and down for quite some time in the same area! As i approach Bomdila stopped a couple of Sumos asking about weather and i was told it was raining till Tezpur.
By 2PM i make it to Bomdila. It was misty and raining alright. Now got to thinking whether to go ahead or not thinking about pros and cons. Going to Tezpur will endup at and unknown city after dark and what if i dont get room. And if i stay and rains gets heavier, what if the road gets closed due to some landslide and even locals said anything can happen.
After some 20 mins of thinking, decided to hop on bike and ride out of Arunachal. Skipped the lunch to save time and road briskly towards Tezpur. Weather got bettor but was still blessed with intermittent rains. All the roads were wet and had to ride careful. But have like 3.5 hours of day light left. Ride non stop but for a couple of click and relieving myself. All the while calculating averages speeds and estimated time at the Tezpur. When every minute was impt, i get stopped for making entry at a check post and the cop taking all the time in the world and of all the times int he trip, this cop decided to check my bike documents in detail. He could gauge my frastration and apologized for the delay but he had to do it. Dunno how i got into the situation as there is no need for such a push with time in hand. But was in a strange situation. Reached the border 5.30pm and Tezpur still 60 kms away and light already fading. As i was hearing a lot of should from the rear wheel, thought that the chain got real loose and hitting the chain cover, so stopped for getting it adjusted. But realized that the chain cover and the front mud guard have cracked up and making a lot of noise on the small bumps. Kinda felt like bike is breaking apart and the panniers are giving way.
Now this was flat narrow road with no traffic and i gunned the throttle. Had to be careful ans some section as slush washed on to the road due to the rain. Reached Tezpur by like 7. Against the fear, the city was not crowded as it was closing time. But the opposite with less people on the road and no power was thinking how to find an acco. Asked my way to Tourist lodge who inturn guided me to a hotel with safe parking for my bike. Hotel Parijath. Breathed a sigh relief booking the room.
Went to a nearby expensive restaurant to have some proper food. Was tired of having not so good food in Tawang. Sweet corn soup it is, i was so hungry and exited that i had a gulp too quick and burnt my tongue!! Any way now that my fone's Airtel connection is back online spend some time in calls and retire for the day.
My fears came true. Once i crossed sela pass, the mist got thicker and the droplets heavier. More road work and it was becoming a pain of a ride. Was feeling a bit nauseating and disoriented prolly due to the mist. Thought once i climb down a bit from the pass things would get bettor. But the mist was just not letting up. Once down from the high altitude it started raining. Never seen mist when it rains and it was getting towards torcher. Also now that the whole stretch till Bomdila is under widening process got quite some tough time. Ride continuously and now i started cursing for who ever was responsible for the roads. Mean what is the point of scraping of KMs of road and relay is in couple of years. Why cant they do it in small stretches instead of pliable single lane road that existed. As i approach the section where people were hurtling down rocks, this section was also misty. The Guys above cant see if the vehicles are there below on the road and have to relay on the guys shouting on the road. I was stopped by a worker. Then comes this impatient sumo and the guy took off even though he was stopped. Once he stopped in the middle rocks came tumbling down as big in diameters of 3-5 feet! missing the sumo by a few feet. Once the worker said its clear to go, was pretty concerned about a loose boulder coming down. And make it any quicker with all the slush and the rear Dunlap more than happy to move side ways than ahead.
Cross it and the rain gets to pouring and no let off in mist. Only when i reached Dirang when the mist let off but rain got more heavier and the roads more worse. Really that was one terrible ride with cold, rain, mist, bad roads all put together. cant really ride ahead of the rain as in hilly areas one would be riding up and down for quite some time in the same area! As i approach Bomdila stopped a couple of Sumos asking about weather and i was told it was raining till Tezpur.
By 2PM i make it to Bomdila. It was misty and raining alright. Now got to thinking whether to go ahead or not thinking about pros and cons. Going to Tezpur will endup at and unknown city after dark and what if i dont get room. And if i stay and rains gets heavier, what if the road gets closed due to some landslide and even locals said anything can happen.
After some 20 mins of thinking, decided to hop on bike and ride out of Arunachal. Skipped the lunch to save time and road briskly towards Tezpur. Weather got bettor but was still blessed with intermittent rains. All the roads were wet and had to ride careful. But have like 3.5 hours of day light left. Ride non stop but for a couple of click and relieving myself. All the while calculating averages speeds and estimated time at the Tezpur. When every minute was impt, i get stopped for making entry at a check post and the cop taking all the time in the world and of all the times int he trip, this cop decided to check my bike documents in detail. He could gauge my frastration and apologized for the delay but he had to do it. Dunno how i got into the situation as there is no need for such a push with time in hand. But was in a strange situation. Reached the border 5.30pm and Tezpur still 60 kms away and light already fading. As i was hearing a lot of should from the rear wheel, thought that the chain got real loose and hitting the chain cover, so stopped for getting it adjusted. But realized that the chain cover and the front mud guard have cracked up and making a lot of noise on the small bumps. Kinda felt like bike is breaking apart and the panniers are giving way.
Now this was flat narrow road with no traffic and i gunned the throttle. Had to be careful ans some section as slush washed on to the road due to the rain. Reached Tezpur by like 7. Against the fear, the city was not crowded as it was closing time. But the opposite with less people on the road and no power was thinking how to find an acco. Asked my way to Tourist lodge who inturn guided me to a hotel with safe parking for my bike. Hotel Parijath. Breathed a sigh relief booking the room.
Went to a nearby expensive restaurant to have some proper food. Was tired of having not so good food in Tawang. Sweet corn soup it is, i was so hungry and exited that i had a gulp too quick and burnt my tongue!! Any way now that my fone's Airtel connection is back online spend some time in calls and retire for the day.
Some interesting House on the way down...
Road carved out of the rock...
Pretty houses in the towns which go the colorful flower pots on the balconies..
A traditional house...
She was not actually angry at me, but rather concentrating hard on being clicked... Nice cheer full lady who wanted to tell something but i could not understand the language. Later came to know that i was on the wrong road....
The area i have been riding all morning...
These bulls get intimidated when i stop for the pic
Mist climbing up the Sela pass...
This was scary as the people working above could not see the vehicle down and they had to relay on the voices of these people...
I get a view of the Sela lake this time...
And even the Sela pass Gate...
Nice stop for grub break...
Green misty mountains and Frozen Veg Mommos, great combination...
The bottle i had opened at the top of Sela Pass now compressed at lower altitude...
Never ending rain and mist even as low as 5000 feet!
3 comments:
those houses look interesting..especially that nice looking fence!
There were more but time was running out :)
Even if the road is bad, the place is very good. Sela lake pic looks like a heaven..
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