The Last Chicken in Tawang

The sign on the Chinese restaurant read "Duck, whole"; "Chicken, whole"; "momos"; "thukpa". So we eagerly entered to enquire about the possibility of sampling some duck. But the reply was "Sorry, no duck". We asked again for chicken. "Sorry, no chicken". Anticipating that it would be once again momos or thukpa for dinner, we asked whether there might possibly be any chicken later. "Let's see if we get any" was the answer.

This was no ordinary journey and if sometimes we were eating unidentifiable fried objects no matter. The remoteness of Arunachal Pradesh and its indescribable beauty more than make up for a few hardships such as thirteen-hour bone-crunching jeep rides and monotonous food, enlivened by counting the number of inedibly hot chillis.

We contemplated kidnapping (hennapping?) a bird from Tawang Monastery then resigned ourselves to fried squirrel/cat/bat/rat again. Any bananas? Sorry, not today. Beer? Afraid not. Reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch was the scene in the restaurant. So it would be another night of early to bed by candle-light during the obligatory 12-hour power cut.

In the darkness, thinking back over the past 3 weeks of travelling, I was at a loss how to begin to describe the journey which had brought us here, to a site of immense importance for Buddhists and nature lovers, in a tiny corner of North East India, sandwiched between Tibet (China) and Bhutan.

(The description can be found in my travellogue "Mechuka Madness".)

http://www.indiamike.com/india/other...adness-t78512/

Tawang Valley is isolated even from the rest of Arunachal Pradesh. It is closer in its topography to Bhutan, which it much resembles. The Buddhist faith is omnipresent and colours the landscape - literally - with thousands of brightly waving prayer flags. Chortens or prayer stones (stupas if you like) are scattered gaily around amidst drifts of wild flowers.

Mindfulness is a Buddhist notion. You need plenty of it here. Our tolerance for long jeep rides had worn thin and we only wanted to appreciate the grandeur of the Golden Buddha, the gaiety of the child monks, to savour the feeling of being - almost - on top of the world.

It had been a misty, muddy, somewhat alarming journey to reach the 3000 m of Tawang, via the heights (invisible on the day we passed by) of the Sela Pass at more than 4000 m. Visibility was only a few metres and crawling through the fog at a much-reduced speed made this torturous journey even more of a long-drawn-out meditation. You know that the view is there and the frozen lakes but you just cannot witness them. Relief at the trusty chai dhaba was palbable. Complete strangers chatted over hot maggi instant noodles and ginger tea.

Once we entered the compound of the Tawang Monastery and feasted our eyes on the astounding treasures of the llamaserie we soon forgot our weary aching bones.

The library of the Tawang Monastery, full of encased manuscripts that noone reads, was shown to us by a very small monk. He was enthusiastic in his playing of the musical instrument kept there. The downstairs part of that building was being renovated but we were able to find the footprints in the wall of the "monk who carried water".

Later on the same day we came back once more to sit in meditation with around five hundred monks. I prayed (selfishly) for a break in the fog so that our helicopter would fly the next day. It worked! The incredible energy in the immense room was very positive.

The absolute highlight of Tawang was the visit just before sunset to the Urgelling Gompa, birthplace of the Sixth Dalai Lama. It was very hard to find, although ironically not terribly far away. A new road is being built. It is situated slightly to the south of Tawang and not far from the heliport.

At the gateway we were discouraged from entering "Oh, there's nothing to see there..." How wrong can you be? Some delightful ladies found the key and - as the only visitors - accompanied us in our investigations. As well as exquisite Buddhist relics we then uncovered the Legend of Urgelling Gompa.

There is a copse of trees ornamented with Buddhist prayer flags and this is the tale....

The temple was built around 1487 by Ugyen ZANGPO, the youngest brother of Terton PEMALINGPA, the Great Treasure Revealer. In addition to Ugyenling, he is credited with founding two other NYINGMAPA temples - SANGYELING and TSOGYELING - in its vicinity. About two centuries later, i.e. in the year 1683, Tsanyang GYATSO, the Sixth Dalai Lama, was born here to Tashi TENZIN, a direct descendant of Ugyen ZANGPO and Tsewang LHAMO, of the Royal Family of BERKHAR.

Evidence of miraculous deeds and performances attributed to Tsanyang GYATSO, the Sixth Dalai Lama, can be seen even today.

Of exceptional interest is the tale of the Plantation of Walking Stick by Tsanyang Gyatso.

Legend has it... at the time of leaving for Tibet, Tsanyang Gyatso planted his walking stick and prophesized that he would visit Tawang once again...when all three tree trunks that would grow out of it had attained equal heights.

Truly it happened, but unfortunately, one of the trunks broke in 1959 due to a strong wind, an ominous sign.

Soon afterwards, the people of Tawang saw the Dalai Lama coming to Tawang once again, this time as the great Fourteenth, on his way to India in exile.

A fascinating, passionate report from a magical road less travelled.

Such a beautiful read! Thanks for the report. Reminds me my visit to Tawang, and makes me wish to go back. Did you go to PTSO?

I see the hospitality scene has not changed much in last three years. Wherever we go to eat, we were told to take something available rather than order what we want. Sometimes they would just refuse to prepare something on the menu simply because they were not too keen to make it.

Us: "1 sandwich and 2 Aloo Paratha"
Restaurateur: "All of you order the one thing. Can't make both!"

This, when we were the only customers! Too much contentment also can have problems

Wonderful travelogue. I need to plan for it soon......

Thanks, Peak, Arunchs and Kausiks, for your encouragement!

Arunchs, no we did not get up to the lake district because the weather was too misty. Our time was running short so we plumped for a quick exit - the helicopter from Tawang to Guwahati had not been able to take off for several days and there was a waiting list - but due to the fact that we had booked tickets and ... my histrionics ... "aah, my arthritic dancer's hips... I will be going straight for a double hip replacement now... etc etc etc" we managed to squeeze onto an extra flight. (Which gave us more time in Kolkata, but that is a whole other story. )

The fact remains that another visit is required to do justice to the rest of the Tawang Valley.

I still have not reported on the delights of Bhalukpong, Bomdila and Dirang, but will do so over the next few days.

The Lake District is meant to be the jewel of the natural wonders of Tawang. So the fact that fog prevented us from seeing it is really a blessing in disguise - we simply will have to go back again...

Amazing; the current Dalai Lama is from Tawang?

No, the Sixth Dalai Lama is from Tawang. The current Dalai Lama, the Fourteenth, is from Tibet. But he escaped via Tawang in 1959.

You can read about the Sixth Dalai Lama here:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsangya...6th_Dalai_Lama

Wonderful piece dear dancer, pray continue......

Thanks, Jyotida, too busy organizing photos (!) but I will do so, rest assured. There is too much to say about this region and I still haven't recovered from the journey - I mean that in the best possible sense.

Theyyam,
fatafati - chaliye jao

translation - its too good - please continue.

Onek dhonoyobad, Nayan, don't worry I will....

Most interesting TheyyamD, looking forward to the rest of it.

Hey Theyyam: You are so right! I need to recover too from all that driving on hilly roads ... and oh there is so much to say (I have to cover Bhutan & Sikkim as well ).

But I don't have the words and the wonderful language of your narrative! Cant believe we saw the same Arunachal .

I will have to rely on the pictures to tell the Story .... So started with the pictures first
.
- KS

Can I enquire how many days you allowed for this trip.

It is so encouraging to see how many of our native Indian members have such positive input, as it is their country which we foreigners love.

Plan to get there feb/march 2010, from Calcutta, another wonderful City. So benign

Synonymous and KS Bluechip, thank you.

Fsg: The whole trip from Dibrugarh to Pasighat, Pasighat to Mechuka, down through Daporizo to Ziro, Itanagar, crossing into Assam for a visit to Kaziranga, up into Arunachal again and all the way via Bhalukpong and Bomdila to Dhirang then Sela Pass and finally Tawang took us just over three weeks. My itinerary has been posted here on IM before but I can post it again. I had been planning to do so, along with the hotels used, so I might as well write it here and now.

Day 1: Dibrugarh to Pasighat by ferry on the Brahmaputra
Day 2: Pasighat
Day 3: Pasighat
Day 4: Pasighat-Along-Mechuka by jeep
Day 5: Mechuka
Day 6: Mechuka
Day 7: Mechuka to Daporizo by jeep
Day 8: Daporizo to Ziro by jeep
Day 9: Ziro
Day 10: Ziro to Itanagar by jeep
Day 11: Itanagar
Day 12: Itanagar to Kaziranga by jeep
Day 13: Kaziranga
Day 14: Kaziranga to Bhalukpong (Elephanta village) by jeep
Day 15: Elephanta
Day 16: Elephanta to Bomdila by jeep
Day 17: Bomdila
Day 18: Bomdila to Dhirang by jeep
Day 19: Dhirang
Day 20: Dhirang to Tawang by jeep
Day 21: Tawang
Day 22: Tawang to Guwahati by helicopter



The hotels I will write about later after finishing my travellogue.