Tough Ride to Hayuliang, Arunachal

Day 31 of our Pedal the Himalaya tour. The road from Tiding Bridge to Hayuliang, 35 kms away was brutal in most parts. We struggled to even push the bikes up steep rocky hills inclines, cycling through roads that resembled trails rather than a highway, with civilian and army vehicles groaning. But the mountains are fragile and crumble easily and the BRO is really working hard to cut and widen the roads to the border. We had to constantly be on the lookout for shooting rocks and stones falling off the mountain face. The condition of the road, the heat unleashed by the sun was only made worse by the maddening itching and the swollen skin on my legs as the 20 plus bee stings from the previous night stung more from the sweat and attracted more bees during the day.

We cycled past villages that could be a few hundred years old, rode along the mesmerising Lohit river and the forested mountains. That made us forget our tiredness and we joked a lot on the way with each other.

We reached Hayuliang at dusk and found the town to be not such a safe place. Groups of men hung around, a bit high on beer and a bit aggressive. It was odd to witness such general animosity and to make it worse the homestay we had asked to keep a room for us backed out at the last minute. Just when we were about to think of camping by the river again, we came across a young man who seemed to be from the North. He was from the State Intelligence Bureau and I suspect he was tracking us. He was quick to come to our help and called the owner of the Dalai Eco camp by the river Dalai a km away. We were glad to meet Baling the owner, on the way, a tough looking well built young positive man riding a Royal Enfield. He was still building his camp but let us have a finished room. We badly needed rest for a day and needed a hot bath and to do laundry after the hot sweaty rides of the day and the cold nights.