Itanagar, October 16

Last week I made the journey over the pass of Se La (4167 m) to Tawang, a very memorable excursion. Tawang is situated in the far northwestern corner of Arunachal Pradesh, stuck between the Bhutanese and Tibetan borders. Like most of Arunachal, it is claimed by the communist party of China. In 1962, China and India fought a war in which it was one of the main battlegrounds. The region is dotted with memorials to honor the dead.

It takes at least a day from Bomdila to Tawang. Se La is the only way to reach Tawang, since the Bhutanese border (downstream) is off-limits to foreigners and the Tibetan border is of course also closed. The road is a dirt track, so traffic is limited to trucks and sumos (a sumo is a sort of spacious jeep, built by Tata, the Indian car manufacturer). The road is lined with military convoys. It feels like a trip to the end of the world. Especially since it takes 4 hours alone to climb up to Se La. The pass consists of around 60 hairpins on both sides, built more or less on the same slope. You rise from subtropical vegetation and temperatures to temperate evergreen cedar and fir forests, through the clouds into the alpine meadows. A panorama of rocky peaks and crystal clear mountain lakes awaits you when you reach the ceremonial gate, with dragons and lotus flowers painted on it. And then you descend into the Tawang valley deep, deep below. The depth of it is breath-taking. The valley is flanked by mountain walls, on which patchworks of fields and small settlements make way to pine forests and sheer rock cliffs. Waterfalls plunge down into the valley.

If the hidden valley of Shangri La exists, it must look similar. High above the gorge of the river, the town of Tawang is situated close to the sky. Its enormous monastery is a citadel in itself. Luckily, the Chinese lost Arunachal Pradesh to the Indians in 1962, so this remarkable monastery with its age old library was saved the fate of so many of its kind in Tibet.

Although the monastery is remarkable (and having seen many by now, I deem myself able to make a fair judgement as far as lamaist monasteries go), it is the people of Tawang that formed its main attraction. There are several Tibetan groups here, but the most important are the Monpa. The man wear woollen jackets that close with a single button, the women wear pink dresses and shawls. On the head some wear a traditional cap made of yak wool, that resembles a giant black spider. And they are all very friendly. Even though I cannot speak Tibetan and they were often unable to speak English, we exchanged smiles a lot. A smile can make you feel happy for a day. Unfortunately, that was all the time I had in Tawang, because the following day I took a sumo back all the way to Bomdila. But I will never forget the place!