An enormous area
of the Himalaya to the east of Bhutan is yet to be
explored! Arunachal Pradesh and other areas of the
North East Frontier Province have been closed to outsiders
since the beginning of the century. This is because
the Chinese refused to ratify the border with Tibet
(called the McMohan Line), set in 1914. However at
the end of 1996 parts of this sensitive border area
were released and opened to tourism .
We begin with a steamer ride 8 hours up the mighty
Brahmaputra from Dibrugarh to Pasighat. We will then
trek on good paths through jungle and forested hills
to Komsing and beyond. After this we will relax with
some game viewing at Kaziranga wildlife National park.
Best Time: Mid October to Mid March
Style of Trek: Camping
Duration: 18 Days
Trekking Days: 7 days
Grade: Moderate
INTRODUCTION
A land that time has forgotten. It is a place that
has a tiny population in relation to its size, that
contains vast unexplored areas, colourful friendly
tribes, pristine jungle-covered foothills, forested
mountain ranges and unclimbed Himalayan giants. It
is still administered by a rather quaint system, similar
to that set up under colonial rule.
Arunachal Pradesh, once known as the 'Hidden Land',
is the only state in India which has been completely
closed to all outsiders since the latter days of the
British in India.
One of the last great geographical puzzles that fascinated
Victorian explorers was whether the Tsang Po River
in Tibet swung around the eastern end of the Himalaya
to become the Brahmaputra. Most famously one of the
pundit explorers was sent on a mission to drop logs
into the Tsang Po while Political Officers in India
waited to see if they came out on the Indian side.
Naturally, many explorers tried to follow the Brahmaputra
through the system of gigantic gorges which do indeed
bring the Tsang Po around the Himalaya and down into
Arunachal Pradesh. Some of those early explorers were
massacred by the fierce tribes who lived in the foothills
on the approach to the Tsang Po gorges. This trek
has, as one of its main objectives, a visit to the
village of Komsing where there is the grave of Capt.
Noel Williamson, just one of the explorers who met
an untimely end. To this very day no westerner has
travelled the entire length of the gorges from Tibet
through into Arunachal Pradesh. It remains a fascinating
objective for future explorers when political constraints
allow. Apparently in the 'old days' villagers traded
with Tibetans for metal using a route up the gorges
but this no longer happens.
It was partly because the tribes were regarded as
extremely dangerous, and partly because this area
of land has, since the beginning of the last century,
been claimed by China as part of its own territory,
that Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring states were
strictly off limits. It is only now that this vast
area of the Eastern Himalaya is slowly opening up.
Of passing interest is the fact that the sixth Dalai
Lama was born on the soil of Arunachal Pradesh and
the present fourteenth Dalai Lama found safety and
refuge here when he fled the cultural revolution in
Tibet.
LOCATION: Arunachal
Pradesh is situated on the north eastern tip of India,
bordering Bhutan on the west, Tibet/China on the north,
Burma (Myanmar) on the east and the Indian state of
Assam to the south. It covers 84,000 sq. km, its climate
varying from sub-tropical to alpine. Some 80% of the
state is covered by natural forest, with numerous
turbulent streams, roaring rivers, deep gorges, lofty
Himalayan mountains and hundreds of species of flora
and fauna.
TERRAIN: It is made up
of mostly Himalayan foothills. These are jungle covered
or forested, culminating in high snow capped peaks
on the Tibetan border. The heights of the mountain
peaks range from 11,000ft/3,353m to 21,000ft/6,400m,
with the highest peak at 23,255ft/7,088m in Tawang
District. There are five major rivers - Kameng, Subansiri,
Siang, Lohit and Tirap which drain into the Brahmaputra
river, but it is the Siang which is the Tsang Po coming
from Tibet.
VEGETATION: There
is a great variety of vegetation, ranging from climbers
to an abundance of cane, bamboo and orchids. Arunachal
Pradesh is known for a rich occurrence of orchids
at varying latitudinal zones - from the foothills
to the snow-clad peaks. There are about 450 species
of orchids reported from this state and many more
may yet be discovered. The government of Arunachal
Pradesh has banned full-scale logging, hence pristine
forests abound.
CLIMATE: The climate
during the summer is hot and humid at the lower altitudes
and in the valleys covered by dense tropical forests,
particularly in the far eastern section. The rainfall
is amongst the heaviest in India, with the annual
average being more than 300cm! Therefore, as can be
expected, the vegetation varies greatly in relation
to the elevation, ranging from a wide belt of tropical
rain forest along the foothills and the low-lying
areas, to tropical and subtropical at higher altitudes.
Our trek is timed to take place during the 'dry season'
when the weather should be warm and sunny and the
forests leech free.
PEOPLE: Although
a number of tribal groups constitute the total population,
the density of the population is only 8 per sq. km.
There are as many as 25 tribal groups that form the
population in the state.
All the individual tribes have a rich cultural heritage
and have been unspoilt due to the remoteness of this
area. During the 200 years of British rule in India
the British Government itself closed the borders to
its own kind in 1873. Arunachal Pradesh is one of
the few states in British India which Christian missionaries
were not allowed to enter, unlike Nagaland and Mizoram.
Headhunting has long since ceased in the state (unlike
Nagaland where this practice petered out relatively
recently) and the Arunachalis are generally known
to be a peace-loving people. However, one famous tribe
in particular (the Wanchos of the south-eastern Tirap
district of Arunachal Pradesh, who saw action against
the British in the mid 19th century), used to infiltrate
and attack the ferocious Konyak tribes of north-eastern
Nagaland until quite recently.
Throughout the trip, one comes into contact with a
number of different tribes. The Adi, meaning 'hill
man', is the most prominent, forward-looking and independent-minded
of all the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring
areas. Both men and women wear their hair close cropped.
Polygamy is widely practised. The Adis have two main
divisions - Bogum and Onai - and under each there
are number of sub-tribes - the Gallong being the most
prominent. Adi villages are well organised, as is
the council called Kibong and are generally situated
on the spurs of hills. The main feature of the Adi
villages is the dormitory club for boys and men called
Moshup. Some villages also have a separate club for
girls called Rishong. The main deity is Donyi Polo
(Sun Moon God), a compound deity regarded as the eye
of the world.
RELIGION: The
religion of the bulk of the population consists of
belief in the existence of a High God or Supernatural
Being and a host of other spirits and deities. The
High God is called differently by different groups
of people. Many however, believe in the dual existence
of the High God, one in the sky and the other on earth.
While the High God is always believed to be benevolent,
the spirits and deities are grouped under two classes
- benevolent and malevolent.
TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL GUIDE:
Climate: Summer :Max. 40°C, Min. 18°C;
Winter:
Max. 12°C, Min. 5°C
Best Season: Mid October to Mid March.
Rainfall :266 cms annually, most of it falling
between May and September.
