Aalo, October 25

I have almost reached the easternmost point of India now, the place where the country has a border with Tibet and Burma. These countries must be utter mysteries to the people here, even if they are not far. Both borders have been closed since more than half a century. Some traders have special permission to enter into Burma from Imphal, but that is rare. With the political situation inside Burma rapidly changing there is a good chance that the isolation of northeast India will be something of the past, but so far nothing is happening.

Traveling is hard here anyway, because there are few roads. Most of Arunachal Pradesh is mountain or jungle, or both. Sumos leave every morning, but only at 5 AM. Considering that people here eat as late as 9 PM, even short journeys can mean little sleep. There is more that makes eating difficult here. I will upload a picture of the local market in Hapoli, the biggest town in the Ziro Valley. Mildly interesting is that people sell rats there. Some of the rodents are sauteed together, it is certainly for human consumption. Rat meat has a pungent, strong smell that fills the market. It almost made me retch.

More interesting were the local people. The local animistic religion "donyi-polo" (sun and moon worship) is well visible in the streets. I saw many flags with a red sun symbol, and totems in the villages I visited. The totems are small constructions of bamboo and wood in front of houses, that seem to have no appearant function.
"This is where we sacrifice dog or cat", a local young man told me, who stuck to me out of curiousity and to practise his English.
The older people in the villages also have tatoos in their faces. Many women have the strange nose plugs that I was told about. It was one reason to come here. Sadly their culture is under attack, both from Indian mainstream culture and the west.

Here in Aalo, the locals belong to yet another tribe, the Adi (or Abor). I had some "tribal food" yesterday (restaurants all over Arunachal claim to have it). To be true, my boiled vegetables with bamboo shoots were nice, but boiled in water with a strong taste. It was almost like a bouillon. Only halfway through my meal did I realise what it reminded me of. It was the same taste as the smell in the market in Hapoli. I do not intend to take any more tribal food.