Journey to The Far-East of India, East Arunachal

Day 25 of our grand Pedal the Himalaya Tour restarted from Pasighat towards Dambuk, one of the easternmost parts of Arunachal Pradesh in East Siang district. We began early morning as the sun is up by 5 am and it was bright sunshine by 6 am. One of the most scenic sections of our morning was crossing the bridge over the mighty Siang river that becomes the Brahmaputra. Soon after we were flanked by a dense reserve forest that stretches for hundreds of sq kms. The sound of the Katydids or Cicada ( not sure) insects resounded through the forest as we cycled to Dambuk 60 kms away. It was a hot sunny day with the road seemingly flat but at the end of the long ride we had gained an elevation of 1300 mts. This region of Arunachal is dramatically different from the West Kameng and Tawang districts 900 kms away. Populated mainly by the animistic and now converted to Christianity tribes like the Adi, the culture, food and the bamboo / straw huts were a reminder that in spite of development with schools and roads, the indigenous people of some parts of our country still hold on beautifully to their past. We met a ‘hunting party’ on the way armed with single bore guns and machetes ( the tribals still hunt for deer, boar and perhaps birds as well ). We stopped at Siluk, the cleanest village of East Siang and ate freshly cut pineapple to alleviate the dehydration and get some sugar.

Sometime in the afternoon my knee ligament got badly strained and I was in considerable pain for the last two hours,my pedalling force mainly with my left leg. We kept stopping to stretch but to no avail. Late in the evening we reached an eco campsite with bamboo huts and we were able to rest. The whole area was covered with tall grass and was not well maintained. I was quite concerned that it was a fertile place for poisonous snakes. It was called the Orange Valley eco resort. The owner was most distant and not really helpful. The room was not clean so we pitched our tent in the room as it was also full of insects.