How many days to visit Assam and Arunachal

Jorge Reverter

I want to visit next July 2008 Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and would like to know how many days I need to visit this two areas:

1 - Bhalukpong - Bomdila - Sela Pass - Tawang - Dirang - Rupa

2 - Sibsagar - Dibrugarh - Pasighat - Along - Daporijo - Ziro - North Lakhimpur - Majuli - Jorhat - Kaziranga

I must add a couple of days for traveling from and to Guwahati.

Another question: Do you think Sibsagar is enough interesting to make a detour ?????????

All the best


Jorge

beesakopie

Jorge :

1. Sibsagar : They have some ruins there from the Ahom dynasty which was the oldest organised form of administration to have ruled the area. Today you will find mostly tea gardens around that area. Lately, it has also become a hotbed for insurgents so do be careful if you go.

2. Travel to NE India : Is a little difficult if you are not an Indian passport holder. Suggest that you contact the nearest Indian Embassy for most up-to-date information. Please read my "Entry Formalities" post under Other Areas before making an itenary.

On the whole travel in Assam is relatively easy (I am speaking only in terms of administration) because you will not require a permit so Sibsagar / Dibrugarh / N. Lakhimpur / Majuli / Jorhat / Kaziranga are easy to access. However Arunachal is a little tricky. The Indian Mission is BEST placed to provide you info on which places can be visited and which cannot. I believe Tawang cannot be visited by foreigners currently. I could be wrong, though. Do check up with the embassy.

Rupa : could you give me a little more info on this place? Haven't heard of it.

To answer your question directly : Considering the places you have mentioned (in Assam) : One week is more than enough. In Arunachal, depends on where you can go. If you do manage to get permission, I should say 2 weeks do the entire stretch. (Rough Estimate). We could work on this as and when you have some more info from the Embassy.

Cheers.

machadinha

Hm yes. Interesting thread; I've planned trips there before, which never materialized.

A note on embassies' or international tourist bureaus' or whoever's info: My strong impression at the time at least was they can tell you all they like and give you all the permits required, but it will still be up to the officers in charge on the spot to let you pass or not. By the same token, info between the lot of them may be quite conflicting as well.

This may have improved, and by all accounts travel to several states has become better (you'll be restricted to group travel in several of them though); Assam by all accounts is fully open to travel now. Last report I read on it here featured army machine gun nests in Guwahati though; that poster didn't seem too troubled by it, but I guess it remains a touchy area.

Now I know Jorge isn't one to be put off by tricky areas and I'm not at all advising against it; I just thought I'd drop these observations from previous research on the matter. (Knowing time involved and best times to visit will certainly be a question of mine when I do go btw.) From the good news department, I've met a number of people who absolutely loved it there and traveled extensively and found it no trouble at all.

BK's excellent thread that he mentioned is here btw, he seems quite knowledgeable on the area anyway: Entry Permits into North East Bloc States

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Jorge Reverter

I was thinking to migrate to the "Torn Tree" because no answers at all.... , now, thanks a lot

About the permission, for an Indian everythings is quite easy but for the foreigners they are not giving the permissions in the indian embassies abroad (at least the indian embassy in Spain)

As far as you need a car with driver etc., etc. the best way in my opinion is to get the permission through a travel agent (the permission are for 4 persons and in case you are only two you must pay the complete group: 200 Us$). I have already contacted several travel agencies specialized in the area and it takes 15 days and they only need a copy of the passport and the visa and four photos.

Is not the cheapest journey in India to travel with driver and/or guide, but few years ago was almost impossible to travel around Arunachal Pradesh and the tribes are not always close to the roads..., in my case it will be a part of a much longer journey from Kaniakumari to Cherrapunjee, finishing in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

About the terrorist problems...., in muy last trip to Chhattisgarh/Khamman district in Andhra Pradesh was the same with the naxalites and if I must follow the advices of the locals about "sensitive places" probably is better to stay at home.

Jorge

machadinha

Wow. Looking forward to the pics

Thanks for the info on travel agents btw. Might be the easiest way in some areas, indeed. Is it accepted then (by others than those agents) to form a 2- or even 1-person quasi 4-person group?

Jorge Reverter

The problem seems to be to get the permit. Through an authorised
travel agent, no problem for the ten days permit, even if you are traveling alone. In this case you should pay 200 UsDoll. instead of 50 Usdol.

I would like to know if is possible to get the same permit in the airports of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata even if you are not a group of 4 persons ( and obviously, how long it takes)

Jorge

machadinha

Hm. I wonder if the local authorities might not bother with you traveling alone though, whether through an agent or not. I've read here in restricted areas in Sikkim for instance this is just impossible, that is if you can't find some people on the spot to hook up with.

Purely from memory this won't be a problem in Assam and possibly AP though, but I can't be sure. There's an older thread addressing group travel arrangements in the region in detail, I just can't find it.

[Edit: Maybe I meant this, from 2005: i wanna some info regarding ARUNACHAL PRADESH ]

Those permits (when much of the region was still closed) used to be available at the Indian embassy in NL -- provided you were granted them at all --, but this is quite some time ago. I don't think the airports in India will deal with this, you'd need to look up the appropriate ministries or departments or whatever those are called in one of the main cities I believe. It seems Delhi or Kolkata are preferred for this, but probably just because of proximity. I guess you can count on some days for processing (may well be faster), but I'm really just guessing.

http://www.goidirectory.nic.in/tourism.htm Carries regional tourist boards that might help you further. I think http://www.incredibleindia.org/ does too, with some frustrating searching. Bear in mind that any stipulations you find may not be up-to-date, so it will still just give you an indication.

Do you have any specialized travel bookshops in your wider vicinity? That's where I would head, staff may be incredibly helpful or they may arrange traveler's meetups or may likely stock some specific background material.

Jorge Reverter

I'll be talking with the different travel agents about a group of two persons because my son probably will also come. In all the answers the permit was not a problem, they just point out that I must pay the total amount of the group in Usdol (200). Tomorrow I'll ask these people just for in case I travel alone.

Jorge

machadinha

Yes... just bear in mind those group stipulations typically specify a minimum of four persons, not two.

Anyway, let us know what you find. It may very well be possible, I just don't know.

beesakopie

Simply amazing to see people getting interested in the NorthEast. Please do go and visit...its a beautiful place. I simply refuse to get involved in a political discussion so I will leave you to appreciate how "dangerous" the place it. Suffice it to say that I've mentioned it before and other people have mentioned it too : so do look into the newspapers before planning a trip. Also take enough steps to guarantee a safe stay.

A. Travelling with a Tourist Agency.

I think Jorge is going the correct way. Its WAY better for someone holding a non-Indian passport to go through the channels with a Tourist Agency...going thru the embassy channels may simply mean delay. Also with a travel agency, you can be assured that they have the most up-to-date info regarding which tourist routes are open.

This would probably mean that the trip is expensive (I don't know - I've never used an agency to go to the NorthEast !!!)

B. Travelling Alone.

I wouldn't be too sure about being allowed to travel alone : In a state like Nagaland, or in Manipur the insurgency movements are really something. So I would really doubt that the local authorities would turn a blind eye as they do in parts of Sikkim. (Sikkim is very peaceful - the Chinese simply have a claim there but are not engaging in a bloody fist fight. Manipur and Nagaland are different problems : there IS a lot of bloodshed)

With the same line of reasoning, I'd say that Arunachal is largely peaceful too - and that the only reason a restricted permit is in place is because of a Chinese claim to a certain portion of the state. Does this mean they will let you travel single? Then again : No concrete info.

C. Availability of permits in Airports:

A DEFINITE No-No as far as foreigner passport holders are concerned. You won't be allowed to take the flight unless you can show the permit.

I'd love to hear how a foreign passport holder gets around the various hurdles. I'm myself off to Mizoram shortly (Jan 2008). Will be putting a travelog here. Lets get some good info on the NE bloc for public view and appreciation.

machadinha

Yes... for anyone interested in the backgrounds, this is generally a fine link for online papers all over India (or anywhere else in the world for that matter): http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/india.htm

Reuters offers this very decent portal on humanitarian crises all over the world. It can be a little heavy on the danger side of it all, yet it offers good backgrounds stuff: http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/IN_CLA.htm . Note the different tabs there that you can scroll around.

Jorge Reverter

beesakopie,

Great info.Thanks.

Official information about permits in A.P. says:" Permits (restricted area permits) for foreign tourists can be obtained from:

Ministry of Home Affaairs.
Foreigner's Regional Registration Offices.
Inmigration Offices at airports of New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Chief Inmigration Office in Chennai.
...

In any case I would arrange with a travel agent/guide even if is much more expensice, what can I do!! because I want to reach hidden tribal villages and traveling at my own is very exciting but sometimes you don't find the right places.

My plan "B" if everything goes badly is to travel largely in Assam and Meghalaya and swimming in the Bhamaputra

Jorge

beesakopie

Yes, it does look like a bit of a grey area (intentional? I don't know, cannot tell). I am now convinced that going through a Tourist Agency is the best way. I think this would apply to other permit governed NE states too because I was looking into www.mizotourism.nic.in and that says something totally different: for a group of 4 people, one can contact the state's representation in any metro. - and get a load of this : for a group of less than 4 people, one needs to contact the Home Ministry !!!

Ideally, I should have thought that the Indian Embassy in country of residence could provide you a list of travel agents to contact, and thus give the permit while making the visa. Perhaps this is not the case. I am a little surprised with the reaction of the Indian Embassy in Spain though...If they can't give a permit, surely they KNOW who can?

I suggest you ask a travel agency to get your job done or you will be going around in circles for a long time!!! Good luck.

On the other hand, do travel Assam - Meghalaya - Tripura to your hearts content. Hell, if you are lucky, you may even get sometone to take you across - just don't mention you were advised here !!! There seems to be quite an interesting itenary for travelling into Bangladesh from Tripura, BTW

And do keep us updated on what you finally do.

Cheers.

PS: If you'd like more info on Arunachal, here's a blogsite that I look into every once in a while: http://arunachaldiary.blogspot.com
Its maintained by a local guy and does give you a certain insight.

machadinha

Just for general interest: BK, from past reading I seem to remember AP was one of the more accessible states there now, on a par with Assam say. But I can't be sure and I may well have my states mixed up, and all those group travel concerns seem to indicate differently. Do you know any more of this? And bearing in mind many people looking for it here will be foreigners?

ps Following up on some recent question I got the impression border crossing from there into Bangladesh (again, for foreigners, i.e., non-Indians) has much improved yes. A Bangladeshi member here has confirmed the same. I also read this may not be what you're told on the ground though. So I guess it remains tricky and a matter of luck, perhaps; on the other hand it does sound promising.

Jorge Reverter

bk & machadinha,

Indian Embassy in Madrid is not very kind giving information, normally they don't even take the telephone...., I live in a town 400 km far from Madrid and I go personally to the embassy to get the visa because sometimes by mail it takes terribly long.

To travel with a professional guide to hidden places/villages, sometimes far away from the roads is possible. I did it in Orissa few years ago and I'm aware that for a solo traveler should have been impossible to reach this places because they were lost in the hills or in the middle of nowhere. I want to do something like that in A.P.

About the permits, from the information I've got from the travel agencies I'm not moving in circles as everything was enough clear (copy of the passport and visa and four photos, and the quantity of 200 Us$ for the group, even if the group is reduced to a single or two persons, for a ten days permit. Possible to extend to ten more days with a new payment)) it sems the authorities want the money and in the other hand you are controlled through the travel agent.

About the journey to Bangladesh through Tripura is a good idea, in this case it depends if have still time to do it.

Jorge