Pedalling into Walong, Arunachal

Day 35 and 36 of our cycle tour of the Himalaya, we made the 33 km push to Walong, famous for a heroic and victorious counter attack by the Indian army on the invading Chinese in 1962.

We thought the day would end with some history but it was a time for many surprises. It began with us spotting a butterfly we had never seen before but later I got to know it’s our National Butterfly – named the Orange Oakleaf as it’s wings resemble a leaf but it has a brilliant mosaic of colours on its wings when they open. It took us twenty minutes of patience on the road to photograph it in complete stillness.

We cycled past many small quaint villages and the gorge was plunged into a state of dusk light by 2.30 as the sun settled behind the mountain.

In the dimming light as we cycled on, we missed the quiet slither of a cobra from the mountain side who fell onto Ashim’s ankle, and just as her foot rose naturally with the pedal, it slid under her bicycle onto the road. It was one of the most terrifying moments for us both when we realised what a narrow escape she got away with! I went back to photograph it as it reared its head with Ashim bellowing ‘her’ head off saying that I was crazy to cycle back to it! Obviously it was equally frightened by the sudden emergence of strange beings on a silent machine!

We reached Walong after another tough ride around 5 pm as it was getting dark and were fortunate to be accommodated in the Transit Officers Mess of the army for a night. Walong is actually a small village but busy – the impressive and powerful presence is that of the sprawling army structures and the amazing forward base Air Force runway. We were now just 30 kms away from Kaho at the Line of actual control and hoped to be there after spending a day at the village of Dong six kms away.

Our tryst with sacrifice and bravery unfolded at the war memorial at Walong erected to honour the fallen heroes in the famous battle in November 1962 against the invading Chinese army. The only counter attack of the war, ended with the Chinese retreating to the LAC with 4000 dead soldiers, it’s charge led by 6 Bn of Kumaon Regiment. The Indian army smashed the supply chain and mule trains of the Chinese and emerged victorious in this sector. Time magazine wrote ‘ the Indian Army lacked everything but guts’.