Jungleideas welcomes you to the Nameri National Park, Assam. The Nameri National Park is located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, straddles the border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Located at a distance of 181 kilometers from Guwahati, it is just the place for wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers with its breathtaking natural beauty and diverse flora and fauna. The Nameri National Park is one of the National Parks in Assam that provide tourists the option of trekking into the Wilds (accompanied by forest guards) to spot the majestic tiger species at the Nameri Tiger Reserve view point. It is also less frequented by tourists thereby avoiding the hustle bustle at other National Parks of importance in the State.
The Nameri National Park was declared a reserve forest on 17 October 1978. Priorly it was set up as a Nameri Sanctuary on 18 September 1985 as a part of Naduar Forest Reserve. Until then, the Nameri National Park was heaving used for logging. It was officially established as a National Park in 15 November 1998. The Jia Bhoroli river of Assam was famous since, the time of British for the Golden Mahseer Angling.
The Nameri National Park boasts of a wide variety of Flora, Fauna and Avifauna. The wildlife of the Nameri National Park include the likes of tiger, leopard, sambar, dhole (the Asiatic wild dog), pygmy hog, muntjac, wild boar, sloth bear, Himalayan black bear,capped langur, Indian giant squirrel, etc.
Nameri National Park is a bird watcher’s paradise with over 300 species of birds. The white winged wood duck, great pied hornbill, wreathed hornbill, rufous necked hornbill, black stork, ibis bill, blue-bearded bee-eaters, babblers, plovers and many other birds make Nameri National Park its home.
Click here to see the list of Birds at Nameri
During your stay at the Nameri National Park enjoy:
- Angling At Nameri: Fishing is the famous activity which is held by forest department.Golden Masheer Fish is the famous in these region, it is also known as “Tiger of the Himalayan rivers”
- Nameri River Rafting: The river rafting is held at the park on river ~ Jia Bhoroli. The rafting is up to 13 km around 3 hours
- Nameri Wildlife Trekking: Wild life trekking is amazing experience at the Nameri National Park
- Be a part of the Wildlife Wilderness at the Nameri National Park powered by Jungleideas
Jungleideas welcomes you to India’s North East to travel with us on an exotic wildlife journey and experience Birdwatching, Tiger Sighting, River Rafting & Wildlife Trekking ~ the Nameri National Park, the State of Assam, Incredible India!
Welcome to the Nameri National Park and Project Tiger Reserve in Assam
Sample Itinerary for your visit to Nameri National Park in Assam ~
Day 1: Guwahati – Kaziranga National Park
Arrive at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport at Guwahati in the morning. Upon arrival you will be welcomed by our representative offering you a warm welcome in traditional Assamese style and we board our vehicles to travel tot eh Nilachal Hills in Guwahati city where the holy Maa Kamakhya temple shrine is situated. The Kamakhya temple is the most revered temple shrine in Assam and North East India and it is customary to begin our tour by paying our respects at the temple shrine at the beginning of our tour. We reach the Jalukbari area in Guwahati and take the route under the flyover to reach Adabari and Maligaon and travel further to the Kamakhya gate and begin our ascent to the Nilachal hills and we soon approach the Kamakhya temple premises. One among the 51 Shakti Peethas, the Kamakhya temple shrine is where it is said that Goddess Parvati’s (who fell into the fire after her father had rebuked her husband Lord Shiva womb fell on top the Nilachal Hills. After Lord Shiva heard about the news that Goddess Parvati had jumped into the fire performing Sati to honour the respect of her husband he became extremely furious and started performing the Tandava Nritya carrying Goddess Sati’s body in his arms and the entire universe felt the effects of the Tandava Nritya with the reverberations.
The various Gods and Goddesses got together to tried to pacify Lord Shiva and stop him from performing the Tandava Nritya and Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra and chopped Goddess Satis’s corpse into 51 pieces. Lord Shiva was infuriated even more and now he started travelling around the World carrying Goddess Sati’s mutilated body in his hands. As the body had been chopped into pieces the parts of the body started falling to the ground and they fell on top of the mountain and each site where one of the 51 pieces of the body fell became a holy site and a temple shrine was later built on these and these 51 shrines came to be known as the Shakti Peethas. The womb part of the Goddess fell atop the Nilachal hills in Guwahati and later a temple shrine was built here to be called as the Kamakhya temple. As the womb of the Goddess fell here the temple celebrates the spirit of womanhood and the ability of a mother to give birth to a new life.
Every year in the month of Asad (June) it is said that the Goddess menstruates and the waters of the river Brahmaputra turns red and the temple doors are closed for three days to the devotees. On the fourth day a huge celebration called as the Ambubachi Mela is organized and this festival is often referred to as the Eastern Mahakumbh where the devotees and holy Sadhus from across India and abroad gather at the Kamakhya temple and they celebrate this festival of womanhood. Kamakhya temple is also known for its cult of Shakti and Tantra and in the olden time black magic was practiced in Assam and the sorcerers were devout ‘Bhakts’ of Goddess Kamakhya and to appease the Goddess in order to achieve supernatural powers the sorcerers used ot offer animal and human sacrifices. The practices of human sacrifice have been abolished but the practice of animal sacrifice (goats) is still practiced here at the Kamakhya temple. We will be greeted and welcomed to the temple shrine by a temple priest (panda) who will lead us to the top of the Nilachal hills where the main temple shrine and the inner sanctum is present.
We remove our slippers and footwear and head into the Kamakhya temple shrine where we will at first head to the temple pond to clean our hands and feet before we start our Darshan of the Kamakhya temple. You will be stunned with the remarkable architecture of the Kamakhya temple and the stone craftsmanship on the walls of the temple is simply a work of great art. The present temple shrine follows the Ahom architecture as the Kings of Assam started taking deep interest in the practices of Shakti and Tantra prevalent at the temple and it was then they had converted to Hinduism and started patronizing the temple. The temple has come under attack by the Muslim invaders and the Ahom kings took the task of restoring this temple shrine calling in artisans from West Bengal and the temple was restored to its present glory. We will head on our visit to the inner sanctum of the temple on a VIP ticket and we bypass the long queue of devotees and reach the temple doors where the queues merge and it will take us sometime to reach the inner sanctum where there is a holy stone that is fed continuously by a stream of underground water and devotees touch this water and sprinkle it on their heads as a token of their blessings. Also the priests offer a red cloth as a blessing that is said to be soaked in the blood of the Goddess and we finish the rituals and head on out of the inner sanctum to meet our Panda who will solemnize the final rituals of our blessings.
With this we will be offered the Prasad and later we will move to a nearby restaurant outside the temple shrine to have tea. Post our tea we will board our vehicles to travel to Kaziranga National Park – the UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its population of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros. We take the National Highway and we cross Guwahati to reach Jorabat to head on our drive across the four lane highway to reach Sonapur to drive further to Jagiroad, Raha and we reach the Nagaon Bypass and we stop here for our lunch at the Anuraag Dhaba that serves some fresh and delicious food of Assam. This will allow us to freshen up as the place has clean and neat bathrooms as well. We enjoy a sumptuous Assamese thali here at the Anuraag Dhaba and later start on our drive again to Kaziranga National Park crossing Kaliabor and Jakhalabandha and we will be welcomed to Kaziranga National Park with huge signages and the beautiful hills of Karbi Anglong.
Also the beautiful cover of tea garden of Kaziranga welcomes us as well. We admire the beautiful landscapes around Kaziranga National Park and we might be greeted by the Indian Elephant along the roads. We will reach the Burapahar range of Kaziranga and the drive across the beautiful mountain with lush green forest cover all around us. We will reach a view point area where we will get to catch a glimpse of the famed One Horned Rhinoceros of Kaziranga National Park. At the viewpoint we will get to see various fauna species of Kaziranga National Park including hog deers, Asiatic wild water buffaloes, swamp deers and various bird species at this view point. After this we head to the Bagori area of Kaziranga National Park where the Elephant and Jeep safari rides are conducted for Indian Nationals and further we reach Kohora area there the main market of Kaziranga National Park is present and at the Kohora range Elephant rides are conducted for Foreign Nationals and the jeep rides for both Indian and Foreign Nationals. At Kohora we will head to visit the Largest Orchid Park in India at the Kaziranga Orchid and Biodiversity park.
The beautiful flowering orchid flowers of the State flower of Assam – the ‘Kopou Ful’ will greet us at the Kaziranga Orchid Park and we will proceed to witness the various indigenous orchid species of Assam and North East India here at the Park/ The vast floral diversity of the North Eastern region due to its topography and pleasant climate has about 1200 species of these orchids from the total 1800 species found across India and this park strives to preserve and promote these orchid species of North East India to the World. The green house here has numerous species of orchids all aligned in a beautiful way and most of the species have their local and scientific names mentioned alongside. We will be joined by a local guide who will explain to us about the various orchid species here and how they have been sourced from the various forest reserves here at the Kaziranga Orchid Park. This Park at Kaziranga is an initiative of the KMSS (Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti) that is a peasant organization in Assam and this organization opportunity to the local people to generate employment opportunities here. Today hundreds of visitors come here to witness the park and thereby this helps in generating revenue for the local people. The park provides direct and indirect employment to many local people of Kaziranga and today we get to be a part of this excellent initiative.
After exploring the orchid garden we head to explore the handicraft and handloom section that speaks highly about the specialized art of the artisans of Assam. The artisans of Assam know the use of bamboo and cane to craft out some of the very exclusive items of furniture, cane seats, bamboo chairs, sofa sets, wall hangings, binds, cradle, baskets, fish traps, musical instrument and various other items of daily use. Bamboo is a very versatile grass and the artisans of the villages of Assam use bamboo as a source of timber to build houses, fencing, furniture’s and even bridges over streams. Bamboo is also used in culinary treats as the bamboo shoot is an ingredient that is used to cook meat and is very rich in nutrients. The women folks of these villages are known to be adept weavers and they use the traditional looms to weave out various forms of clothing. They start from scratch from collecting the cotton or gathering the silk from silk worms and they continue up to the final process of weaving these fabrics. At this section we will witness these beautiful handicrafts and handlooms of Assam and there are looms here as well and we can witness how the local ladies weave out exquisite handmade fabrics of Assam.
Next up we explore the rice museum that houses the various rice varieties of Assam, the orchid display gallery that has pictures of many orchid species, the monument display gallery of Assam and North East India that shows the various ancient monuments, forts and temple shrine of the region, the cactus garden that houses various cactus species, the bamboo garden and finally we take our seats at the open stage area of the Kaziranga Orchid Park where we will get to witness the traditional folk dance performances of Assam. The artists here enact and perform two of the important folk dance performance of the Bihu dance and the bamboo dance. The Bihu dance of Assam is a vibrant and colourful dance performed by young boys and girls during the festival of Rongali Bihu in the month of April that celebrates the Assamese New Year. Introduced by the Ahom kings of Assam who used to watch the performance of this grand dance form from the open air stage of the Rang Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam, today the Bihu dance has become a very popular folk dance in India with the dancers taking their performance to a next level on the National and International stages. At the Kaziranga Orchid park, these dance performances are held at regular intervals across the day and the final performance happens at 5.30 PM during the closure of the park and we will take our places to witness the Bihu dance and the Bamboo dance.
In the bamboo dance performance, the young boys hold the bamboo poles at the ends and they create a mesh like structure and keep moving the bamboo in a rhythmic manner and the girls hop in and out of this bamboo mesh to the rhythmic beats of the drum and the entire performance looks grand. We spend time admiring this performance and later bid farewell to the Kaziranga Orchid Park to head on our drive to our place of stay at Kaziranga. We will be staying at the Kaziranga Holidays hotel at Kaziranga that is a fairly new property at Kohora area of Kaziranga and this would mean we are staying close to the Kohora safari range of Kaziranga and so we can go for our jeep safari rides tomorrow at the Agoratoli and Bagori safari ranges of Kaziranga National Park. We will go for two jeep safari rides tomorrow inside the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park and the day after we will go for an elephant back ride before going on our drive to Nameri National Park. We will retire for the day after an early dinner.
Night Halt: Kaziranga Holidays Hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 2: Kaziranga National Park
Today is our jungle safari experience at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park and we will have two jeep safari rides today where we will visit two of the Safari ranges of Kaziranga National Park at Agoratoli (Eastern) and Bagori (Western). Kaziranga National Park divided into five zones for Safari viz. at Kohora (Central), Bagori (Western), Agoratoli (Eastern), Burapahar and Panbari zones. The most frequented ones are the Central and Western as many tourists stay at the Kohora area and so many tourists stay at the Kohora area and so they prefer to go for safari ride at the easily accessible range of Kohora and Bagori are most of the tourists come with the intent of spots the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros species of Kaziranga National Park so they are content to view many of these species at Kohora and Bagori itself. But the Eastern (Agoratoli) and the Burapahar ranges are the most spread out ranges and due to less vehicular movement in these safari zones owing to the lesser number of tourists there are chances of sighting many other species of fauna of Kaziranga National Park as well. The Eastern range has reported the lot of sightings of the Royal Bengal Tigers of Kaziranga as well and so if we are lucky we might get an opportunity to sight the Tigers as well along with various bird species that come to Kaziranga National Park during the migratory winter season.
Kaziranga National Park has recorded around 495 species of both resident and migratory birds during the winter season and our jeep safari rides to the forest interiors will provide us this opportunity to sight them. The Burapahar range on the other hand is the largest range and so travelling deeper into the range increases our animal sighting options. But owing to the time it takes to reach and cover these safari ranges from the place of stay at Kohora it can be recommended to select only one of the two ranges to be visited during the day and so we will go for our safari rides at the Eastern range and the Bagori range. Our Jeep safari rides will be scheduled one in the morning and the second in the afternoon session. In the morning session we will go to the Agoratoli range to go for a two hour long safari ride that will take us deeper into the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park. The drive to the entrance of the Agoratoli range will takes us about 45 minutes from our place of stay and we will travel on open hooded gypsy vehicles to go there and after our entry at to forest office at Agoratoli we start on our safari ride and our adventure at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park begins.
The jeep drive will take us deeper into the forest reserves and we will be halting at interval to allow us to view the various bird and animal species of the Agoratoli range of Kaziranga National Park. Our birding guide will help us identify the various bird species along with the distant animals that can be viewed by a pair of binoculars being carried by him. We will surely sight One Horned Rhinos, Wild water buffaloes, wild elephants, Hog deers, Sambar deers, Wild boars, jungle fowls, Assamese Macaques, Capped Langurs, etc. along with various bird species of the Great Indian Hornbill, Eagle, Kite, Drongo, Egrets, Lesser Adjutants, Black necked stork, etc. The jeep ride will take us deeper into the forest reserves of Agoratoli and the ride will lead us to the river banks where we break to admire the rich forest covers of Kaziranga National Park. After this we will ride back towards the exit of the Agoratoli range still keeping our vigil to spot more animal and birds of Kaziranga here. Our two hour long safari ride inside the forest reserves of Agoratoli at Kaziranga ends and we will head back to our place of stay to freshen up and have our lunch and relax for some time and in the afternoon we will drive to the Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park that is where the Elephant Safari ride are conducted for Indian Nationals at Kaziranga and the jeep rides for both the Indian and Foreign nationals. The Bagori range is best to be visited in the afternoon session on the jeep safari ride as this range offers grand views of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros from close distances from the jeep. In certain safari rides here at Bagori we have experienced the thrill of a rhino chasing a vehicle, two adult male rhinos fighting for territory and an adult male elephant come charging at our jeep trying to protect its family. These are the experiences of jungle you can witness here at Bagori in Kaziranga National Park. The jeep drivers are well trained to face situation like these and they will avoid any conflict by just turning off the engines and lying still on their vehicles. The animals feel threatened when intruders come into their territory especially on motor vehicles and the only intention they have it to protect their territory here in Kaziranga National Park and they take an aggressive stance to scare off the intruders. And in case it feels that there is not threat from the intruder it simple takes it way and walks away.
Our ride at Bagori begins and upon entrance we will be greeted by a Rhinoceros from up close (based on our luck for the day but this generally happened as this is the grazing territory for this rhino) and he is often spotted here feeding on the grass cover here and even crossing the jeep track to reach the other side. One unique thing about this rhino of Kaziranga National Park is tis actions of what appears like posing for the camera. When visitors get excited and start clicking pictures of this majestic beast it simple allows visitors to click pictures buy look around in the direction that is very interesting. Next up the drive takes us to the Sildubi Beel area that is a large lake in the wild of the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park that has various fish species. The watch tower here provides a beautiful aerial view of the forest reserves of the Western range of Kaziranga National Park and the sight of the rhinos grazing around in a treat to the eyes along with hog deers, Asiatic wild water buffaloes and even elephants and the various bird species. This is the grazing grounds of another adult make rhinoceros and this is the perfect opportunity and chance you can get to be close to the rhino in the wild because the animal stands right in front of us with the only thing separating it from us is the strong bamboo fence.
With this we continue of our jeep ride inside the forest reserves of Bagori getting the opportunity to sight many more fauna species. The birds are a thing to watch out for here again and our birding guide will assist you to spot and identify the bird species in the wild here at Kaziranga National Park. Our jeep ride at Bagori will last for about an hour and half and we will encounter the Assamese macaques, wild boars, jungle fowls, hog deers, wild elephant, etc. and by late afternoon we will come out of the Bagori safari range to head back to the Kohora area in Kaziranga National Park. At Kohora we will stop at the market area at the Hatikhuli retail outlet of the Amalgamated tea plantation (a Tata Tea Enterprise) that operates several tea gardens around Kaziranga National Park. Here we will buy our souvenirs of our visit to Assam of the Assam tea and the fresh pepper corns that are grown along the trees of the tea garden and with this we will end out day of jungle safari at Kaziranga National Park and head back to our place of stay to prepare for our elephant safari ride the next morning and our drive further to Nameri National Park in Assam.
Night Halt: Kaziranga Holidays Hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 3: Kaziranga National Park – Nameri National Park
Today is our day of travelling to Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve from Kaziranga National Park after we complete our early morning Elephant Safari ride at Kaziranga National Park and post that we will drive to Nameri National Park via Tezpur where we will stop at the Agnigarh Fort to witness this unique ‘Fortress of Fire’ that has a rich history to it and once at Nameri we will go for a river rafting experience on the waters of the Jia Bhoreli river. Our elephant safari will be scheduled in the morning slot at 6.30 AM because the elephant safari rides at Kaziranga National Park are conducted only in the morning at two slots of 5 AM and 6.30 AM. The elephant safari rides for Foreign Nationals are conducted at the Kohora safari range of Kaziranga while for Indian Nationals it is conducted at the Bagori Safari range of Kaziranga. We will pack our luggage and also carry packed breakfast to be had on our way to Tezpur after our elephant safari ride depending on the range we visit here at Kaziranga. In case we are having the elephant safari ride at Kohora then we can come back to our place of stay to freshen up and collect our luggage but in case our elephant safari ride in at Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park then we will proceed with our belongings and travel directly to Bagori and commence on our elephant back ride.
The elephant safari ride at Kaziranga National Park is a once in a lifetime experience because these elephants offers its visitors a unique experience to ride on their backs and go to explore the varied fauna of Kaziranga National Park. The elephants take our on tracks that are closer to the grazing land of the rhinos and one can get to spot the rhinos of Kaziranga National Park from up-close from the elephant back ride. Although we had our experience of two jeep rides into the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park, the elephant safari ride is one that you do not want to miss on your visit to Kaziranga. We will approach the elephant safari counter at the Bagori range of Kaziranga and here we will collect or assigned passes and go to board our elephant backs escorted by brave and hardworking forest guards of Kaziranga. The Elephants along with their mahouts await their visitors and one thing great about these trained elephants at Kaziranga is that they are very well taken care off by their owners and mahouts. They are fed regularly and regular medical examination of these elephants are carried out so that these safari rides do not trouble them and so these elephant rides are conducted only in the 2 slots that too early in the morning so that the elephants have the day off to take rest and feed and just two rides ensure that they are not too worked out.
We board our elephant backs and go for a jungle ride into the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park at Bagori range. We spot the famed one horned rhinoceros from up close and from the elephant backs we get a much better aerial view of the animal and we can examine the massive armour of this beast and a real feel of how strong actually the Indian Rhinoceros at Kaziranga National Park is in real. We head little further into the area of the tall grasslands to sight more fauna species and later return back to the elephant safari start point. We thank the mahout and the elephant for their utmost hospitality and later we go to the public restroom to freshen up and take time to eat our breakfast and savour a cup of black tea at a stall here at the Bagori safari range and later commence on our drive to Tezpur. We cross the Burapahar hills and the Burapahar safari range to reach the end of the Kaziranga National Park at Jakhlabandha and we head towards Koliabor where we take a right diversion to travel to Tezpur and further to Kaziranga National Park.
This road connects Assam with Arunachal Pradesh wherein we can travel to Bomdila, Tawang and the China border at the Bumla Pass on one route while we can access the state capital of Itanagar and Naharlagun continuing up to Ziro Valley via another route. This road even connects the area of Lakhimpur in Assam and further towards the deep fronts of Arunachal Pradesh at Pasighat going up to Mechuka along the China border and connecting Upper Assam and the eastern most fronts of India at Jairampur, Nampong, Anini, Mayodia, Walong and Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh via the Bogibeel Bridge. We soon reach the Brahmaputra River before approaching Tezpur and we will cross this river over the Koliabhumura Bridge that is one of the several bridges in Assam over the mighty Brahmaputra River. We soon approach the Sonitpur Elephant Reserve and head on our drive to Tezpur town at the Agnigarh Fort. Tezpur is a prime town in Assam and is often referred to as the cleanest town in Assam and also the knowledge town of Assam. We will head towards Tezpur town towards the administrative colony area of Tezpur where the Agnigarh Fort is situated.
It is said that at the Agnigarh Fort a King had held his daughter captive to not allow her to marry the man she loved and to ensure that no one could enter this fort, fire was lit all around the fort to keep away intruders hence it is referred to as the Fortress of Fire or ‘Agni’ ‘Garh’ (Fire Fort). Later a war was waged between Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva and their followers because of the King’s adamant attitude and lots of blood flowed in this was and because of this and the town is called as Tezpur viz. ‘Tez’ meaning Blood and ‘Pur’ meaning to pouring down of blood. Later the King had to surrender and agree to marry off his daughter ‘Usha’ to ‘Aniruddha’ who was the grandson of Lord Krishna. This fort is a beautifully constructed fort and once you will reach the top you can see the various sculptures of the battle depicted along with the statues of Chitralekha and Usha. The view of the Brahmaputra river from this fort is also visible. We will explore the Agnigarh Fort and later drive towards Balipara area and further to Nameri National Park where we will check into our place of stay here at the Camp Lalimou. One of the nice stay options near the Nameri National Park, Camp Lalimou is spread across a nice green campus and had accommodations of Assam style cottages and Deluxe Swiss tents for the accommodation of their guests.
We check into Camp Lalimou at Nameri National Park and freshen up and we will have a light lunch here because we would be going for a river rafting session next and so it is not advisable to fill with food and we can always come back and enjoy a delicious evening snack here. We will travel to the river rafting start point a little ahead of Nameri National Park after lunch and our adventure on the waters of the Jia Bhoreli river starts. The Jia Bhoreli river cuts across the area of Nameri National Park and this is a lifeline of this part of Assam that is blessed with vast aquatic life. The Nameri National Park is located at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and the wonderful Biosphere here harbours a great wildlife and along with the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh, Nameri National Park constitutes an area fo around 1000 sq. km. Nameri National Park is also a Tiger Reserve and an Elephant Reserve and a wild haven for Bird watching as well. Nameri National Park was originally created as a protected habitat of the White Winged Wood Duck – the State Bird of Assam and over the years it has transformed from a protected forest to a Wildlife Sanctuary and now a National Park as well.
Our river rafting session starts and we equip ourselves with the life jackets and all other necessary safety measures and we begin on our downhill rafting towards Nameri National Park on the waters of the Jia Bhoreli River. As it is the winter season the waters are calm and so there is not much of rapids in the water which is the opposite in the monsoons when the calm waters of the Jia Bhoreli river get furious and with the rising current and rapids that causes a lot of destruction to human and animal life at Nameri and the surrounding areas as well. The beautiful forest areas of Nameri National Park combined with the view of the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh is a real delight to the eyes and we keep floating down the waters on the level plains towards Nameri National Park. The river rafting experience lasts for about an hour and half and we soon reach the banks of the Jia Bhoreli river near the entrance of the Nameri National Park on the other banks and our vehicle awaits us here and we are picked up and we head to the area near the Nameri Eco Camp that has an area covered with tall canopy of trees that is home to numerous birds species including red breasted parakeets and the Great Indian Hornbill here at Nameri National Park.
We take our places and witness this colourful and grand bird life of Nameri National Park here. We admire the vast stretch of reserve forest of Nameri National Park and later head back to our camp for night halt. At Camp Lalimou we grab a quick snack and go to our rooms to organize our pictures and spend time at leisure before our dinner. The next day again we have an early day of trekking into the forest reserves of Nameri National Park and later in the day after breakfast we head on our drive to Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh to begin our adventure of travelling to Tawang via Sela Pass continuing further to the border of India and Chine at the Bumla Pass. We have our dinner at the dining area of the Camp Lalimou and this place serves fresh fish curry that is cooked with a lot of herbs and this is indeed a delight to be savoured here with rice and other vegetable dishes but in case you are interest in other cuisine you can also try the North Indian and the Chinese dishes in the menu as well. We call it a day after dinner and return to our rooms.
Night Halt: Camp Lalimou at Nameri National Park
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 4: Nameri National Park – Bomdila
Today in the morning we get up and freshen up to go into the forest reserves of Nameri National Park for a jungle trek to sight the varied species of flora and fauna at the place escorted by an armed forest guards. We will at forest need to go to the forest office at Nameri to pay the entrance fees and get our passes that will allow us to travel into the forest reserves of Nameri National Park. We obtain our passes and proceed to the banks of the Jia Bhoreli River along with the forest guard and we reach the river crossing where we will be ferried by a country boat to cross the river banks to the other side where the actual protected forest reserves of Nameri National Park are located. Once we get down we need to keep strict vigil to catch our eyes on some of the bird species that come to feed near the banks of the Jia Bhoreli river at Nameri National Park. Some of the very rare and endangered bird species can be spotted here and we keep watching trying to catch a glimpse of such species and we will be assisted by our birding guide to identify these species. We will reach the forest office inside of Nameri National Park and the forest guard completes our entry formalities here and we start our jungle trek into the forest reserves of Nameri National Park.
Nameri National Park is among the few forest reserves in India that allows visitors to go for a jungle hike inside the National park accompanied by a forest guard and the other National Park where you can go for a jungle hike in Assam is the Dibru Saikhowa National Park at Tinsukia in Upper Assam. The Nameri National Park is known to have a fair population of the Royal Bengal Tigers, Leopards, Wild Elephants, Hog Deer, Clouded Leopards, Himalayan Black bears, etc. and often there are reports of visitors coming in close encounters with these animal species and therefore visitors cannot at any time travel inside the forest reserves of Nameri National Park on their own and have to be accompanied by an armed forest guard at all times. We start on our hike and check the tall canopy of trees to catch the glimpse of some of the rare bird species of Nameri National Park here. The forest guard takes us deeper into the forest reserves of Nameri National Park and we soon reach a tall watch tower inside the forest reserve that gives us an aerial view of Nameri National Park. We climb the tower and admire the beauty of the vast area of Nameri National Park and further there is a lake that used as a place by the animals to come and quench their thirst and no doubt we are certain to spot the like of Hog Deers, Sambar Deers, herd of wild elephants at this lake.
We observe the animals from a distance and capture our pictures of this amazing moment in the wild inside the forest reserves of Nameri National Park. Next we continue our hike and we get to witness more birds and tall tree canopy and the beauty of the forest cover is indeed a treat to the eyes. There are trees here that have survived for over many hundred years and you can get the idea from the huge tree trunks that are here at Nameri National Park. Soon we trek out of the forest reserves of Nameri National Park along the Jia Bhoreli river and reach the forest office where we rest for a while and later we head to the banks of the Jia Bhoreli river to go to the other side of the river bank and we travel back to Camp Lalimou at Nameri National Park to freshen up and have our breakfast and later we bid farewell to the beautiful forest reserves of Nameri National Park to head on our drive to Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh. We soon reach the border check post at the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and we need to get down to validate our permits. For entry into Arunachal Pradesh as it is a protected area we need to carry valid permits that can be obtained online known as the Inner Line Permit (ILP) for Indian Nationals and Protected Area Permit (PAP) for Foreign Nationals.
Our permit will be validated at the border outpost and we will be allowed to cross the border outpost to travel to Arunachal Pradesh and we soon reach Bhalukpong Township that is a nice town known for its vibrant market and the river banks in the area. At Bhalukpong we make a stop to visit the local market and enjoy the sight of the various produce that they local traders bring in from the villagers and sell their produce here. One thing to watch out for at the Bhalukpong market are the various tools and knives made with iron and steel that the local people make on their own and sell it here. The tribal people of Arunachal Pradesh were basically hunters earlier and they used to go out on expeditions to the forest to gather their food of meat and this hunting required that they carry sharp tools along with them and they perfected the art of tool making and with the curbs on hunting these days they have found a new market to use their art and they make a decent earning with these tools. The other thing to look out for are the traditional handlooms and woollens but these we can check out at the market at Bomdila as well and so we make our move and continue on our drive towards Bomdila and after crossing Bhalukpong we make a stop at the Tippi Orchard garden here.
We reach the Tippi Orchid Garden cum Botanical centre and this is one of the earliest centres of display and preservation in orchid species in North East India. The Tippi Orchid centre is one of the very beautiful places in Arunachal Pradesh and the government centre houses a Green Rooms, Display Room, Administrative Building, Offices, Garden area, etc. The view of the River Kameng flowing down across the valley is breathtaking as well. We walk across the Tippi Orchid Centre and admire the beautiful orchid species here sourced from deep inside the forest reserves of Arunachal Pradesh and some other state of North East India as well. Arunachal Pradesh has a dense forest cover around due to less population and urbanization and few of the rarest and endangered species of flora, fauna and avifauna can be found in the forest reserves of the State. Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh is the third largest National Park in India in terms of area and this park has some of the most diverse and endangered flora, fauna and avifauna species and a visit to Namdapha National Park is of prime importance on your next visit to Arunachal Pradesh. We spend some time observing the orchids at Tippi Orchid Centre and later we have a cup of tea here and continue on our drive to Bomdila from here.
The drive to Bomdila will take us around 3 hours and it is an uphill drive and so we will plan ourselves for a late lunch at around 2 PM once we reach the Bomdila market where we will have lunch and after lunch we will explore the market and later we visit the Bomdila Monastery and end our visit of the day by checking into our place of stay at Bomdila. We will cross the beautiful landscapes of Arunachal Pradesh along our way and the river Kameng will keep flowing along our drive as well and it is wonderful to observe the life of the local people in these areas and how they go about their daily routine. We will soon reach the Tenga Valley area and we stop here to break our journey for a while and visit the Tenga market area to have tea and also witness this local market that will enthral you with the various local and organic produce of vegetables, fruits and bush meat that the locals bring in here to be sold in the market. We have our cup of tea here and admire the cover of the snow clad mountains the towering Eastern Himalayas that are visible to our eyes at a distance. After tea we start our drive and this time we drive straight to Bomdila and at around 2 PM we reach Bomdila town that is located at an altitude of 2415 m from the MSL and Bomdila is the district headquarters of the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Bomdila has over the years gained importance in the tourist circuit of Arunachal Pradesh and although earlier it was just a halt station on the journey to Tawang, but with the infrastructure developed around the Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary, Bomdila today occupies an important place in the tourist circuit of Arunachal Pradesh. The Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary is a very popular birding destination in Arunachal Pradesh and visitors from around the World come here to witness the extraordinary variety of bird species to be found here. The Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary is home to around 450 species of birds and also the cat species of clouded leopards, marbled cat, Asian golden cat, leopard cat. The Red Panda is also to be found here at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh. At Bomdila we head to the local market to have our lunch and explore the beautiful and vibrant market of Bomdila. The food of these parts of Arunachal Pradesh have a Tibetan influence because this area of Arunachal Pradesh is inhabited by the Monpa people who had migrated to Arunachal Pradesh from Tiber long back and since then settled here in the West and East Kameng districts. Also the food is according to the climate and as this area has a temperature to a very cold climate you will find the food to be a bit spicy loaded with chillies as they helps to keep the body warm. We will try the dishes of Monpa cuisine of momos and Thupkas for lunch and savour the butter tea that is one of the specialties of the region.
After lunch we will head out to explore the beautiful market area that displays some of the very elegant woollen fabric that is woven by the local people. The Monpa people around Bomdila rear sheep and the wools are used to prepare these woollen clothes to beat the cold weather of the winters. The colours of these clothing are a real treat to the eyes and also the ones to check out are the handmade handlooms of the Monpa people. The Monpa people prefer to wear the clothing they weave on their own and they use a combination of unique colours to weave these handlooms. We admire the grand weaving skills of the Monpa people and later head to the Bomdila Monastery to spend our time admiring the grandeur of this Monastery. The Bomdila Monastery is a beautiful construction that overlooks the towering Eastern Himalayas and the calm and serene atmosphere of this Monastery fills your mind in calm and peace. We visit the altar at the Bomdila Monastery and offer our prayers in front of the huge statue of Lord Buddha and explore the area around the Monastery and in some time we call it a day and head on our drive to go to our place of night halt at Bomdila at the Hotel Seagull. This hotel is a budget and comfortable hotel in Bomdila and is located near the SBI area of Bomdila and we check in to the place and take time to freshen up.
A halt at Bomdila in necessary to get acclimatized with the climate conditions and elevation of the area as we are moving from the plains to the mountains and Tawang and Sela Pass are at much higher altitudes and so to get used to the altitude we ensure to stop at Bomdila. We take place by the Bonfire as the weather in the evening gets quite cold at the elevated places and we order our dinner and by the time our dinner is ready we acclimatize ourselves tot eh climate of the elevation because tomorrow we have a long drive ahead of us on the mountain terrain where we will drive to Tawang crossing one among the highest motorable roads in India – the Sela Pass that remains covered with snow around the year and we also visit Jaswantgarh that is place named after a brave Indian soldier Jaswanth Singh who single handedly provided resistance to the soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army of China in the war of 1962. We enjoy our dinner of a basic North Indian meal as at these places you various options because the people do not know the mainstream food of India but yet they are good at preparations of roti, rice, dal, chicken curry, vegetable curry, etc. After an early dinner we spend time by the fire and later return to our room for night halt.
Night Halt: Hotel Seagull at Bomdila
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 5: Bomdila – Tawang
We will start our day in the morning as we need to cross the Sela Pass be early afternoon otherwise it gets dark and navigations becomes difficult as it starts to snow. After crossing Sela we can drive at ease to reach Jaswantgarh and further to Tawang. We will have an early light breakfast and carry packed food with us to be had on the drive just to not stuff us with a lot of food on the mountain terrain drive. We soon cross Bomdila and drive towards Thembang village area and further towards Dirang. Dirang is another small township on the Tawang Chariduar highway towards Sela Pass that serves as an alternate point other than Bomdila on the drive from Nameri National Park to Tawang. This too is gradually becoming a popular tourist destination with a new Monastery built in the town that looks breathtakingly beautiful. The Sangti Valley area near Dirang is a wonderful destination in Arunachal Pradesh where you can get to witness rural life at its best by staying with the local Monpa people and understand their way of life along with exploring the traditional ways of farming, sheep rearing, animal husbandry, kiwi cultivation, maize harvesting and much more.
The forest areas across Dirang and Sangti valley have some of the very pristine treks that take you across the temperate forests and further towards the snow covered mountains of Sela Pass. We make a stop at Dirang to admire the township and have a cup of tea and later continue on our drive to Sela Pass from Dirang further towards Jaswantgarh and Tawang. Gradually the snow covered mountain trail welcomes us and the entire stretch of the roads appear white with the stretch of the black tarred road along the way to what appears like a carpet of snow. The drive will take us on an elevation of 4170 m above MSL and we keep driving towards Sela Pass. It is said that the Sela Lake that is present here is very sacred to the Buddhists and there are a total of 101 lakes in the area. The roads here are kept open across the year maintained by the Border Roads Organization but during the winter’s heavy snowfall may occur thereby the roads gets blocked and it take a while to clear the road.
We reach the Sela Pass and we get down to witness the beauty of the snow cover all around us and the frozen Sela Lake as well. We enjoy the view of the towering Eastern Himalayas all around with snow and we click our pictures here and with the light getting less at just around 1 PM we soon continue on our drive further towards Jaswantgarh. Jaswantgarh is where we will eat something at the army operated canteen and relax for a while. We keep driving across the snow covered mountains and soon reach the Jaswantgarh area that is a huge Indian Army base and there is also a War Memorial here. In the Indo-China war of 1962, the Chinese Army had advanced much into the Indian territory across Arunachal Pradesh and they had captured Tawang and were continuing towards Bomdila where they had to face a stiff resistance singe handedly by an Indian Soldier named Jaswanth Singh who used the tactics of warfare to halt their advancement at least for a while. During this time a local Monpa girl named Sela had offered him food and water to keep up with the resilience and push the Chinese troops from not advancing further.
Jaswanth Singh fought bravely for a few days trying to keep the Chinese forces from advancing but eventually had to give up as he ran out of ammo and later capture by the Chinese troops. The girl Sela disappeared and was not heard off as she did not want to fall in the hands of the enemy. The Indian Government realized the valour and bravery of Jaswanth Singh and to honour him they named this place as Jaswantgarh and also built a War Memorial here to commemorate the brave soldiers who laid down their lives fighting for their country and to honour the brave Monpa girl who played a pivotal role in helping prevent her motherland from falling in the hands of the enemy, Sela pass was named after her. We reach the Jaswantgarh military cantonment and we get down from our vehicle to have tea and snacks at the army canteen here that caters to the needs of the tourists who travel to Tawang on this route via Sela Pass, Dirang and Bomdila. The soldiers keep a strict vigil here as well as these areas share a strategic border with China and this base acts as facilities for the army vehicles that keep plying along the borders ferrying soldiers of Indian army.
We savour a cup of black tea that is served free to all tourists to Tawang and we also have samosas, pakoras, veg cutlets, etc. that are prepared at the canteen here and so we will have our mini lunch here at Jaswantgarh War Memorial that is a tribute to the brave soldiers who laid down their life in the service of the country. There is a unique thing about the Jaswantgarh War Memorial is that a memorial has been made here of the brave Sepoy Jaswanth Singh and is consists of the helmet and his gun and regular offerings are provided here at this memorial of food and change of uniforms on a daily basis. The brave Sepoy is also awarded with regular promotions and this has been done because it is believed by the local people here that the spirit of Jaswanth Singh is still alive in the mountains and he keeps a strict vigil on this area and so this is to appease the spirit of Jaswanth Singh. We enjoy the various mysteries surrounding Jaswantgarh and Sela Pass and after shopping at the outlet here that sells warm clothing and other accessories we continue on our drive to Tawang.
Soon we cross Jaswantgarh and drive towards Tawang and the lights get visible again because we now go downhill and we drive down almost 1100m to Tawang that is located at an altitude of 304m. The roads are narrow but motorable and we enjoy our drive admiring the beautiful landscapes of Arunachal Pradesh in the West Kameng hills. We soon approach Tawang and on our way we get to witness the Nuranang falls that is a very pristine and beautiful waterfall in this region and we go to admire the natural beauty around the place. This waterfall is also called as the Jung falls and is a delight to witness this especially in the monsoon season when the rain waters falls over it and the force of the waters is much more. In winter season there is water but it is not in full spate but still it is a great delight to witness. We admire the vast natural beauty around the Nuranang/Jung falls and later continue on our drive to go to Tawang town. The drive gets uphill soon and we are welcomed to Tawang town by a huge gate built in traditional Monpa architecture welcoming us to the West Kameng Hills at it district headquarters at Tawang.
The influence of Buddhism in the area can be seen all around with the customary religious flags hovering all around and once we cross the first fuel station and drive uphill to reach Tawang town we will be greeted with a tall statue of Lord Buddha that is located in the heart of Tawang town and it is said that the Lord Buddha seas to the good and well-being of the area. At Tawang we seen the beautiful stupas and monasteries all around the place and we start our exploration of Tawang by a visit to the emporium of handicrafts and handlooms in Tawang that is a State Government operated retail outlet that displays various traditional handlooms and handicrafts of the Monpa people of the Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The place is a delight to witness as the various crafts built with bamboo and certain metal crafts and the one thing to look out for here are the various handlooms of the Monpa people along with the carpet weaving art. The Monpa people are very good at weaving of carpets hand made with wool all with their hands and there are real exquisite carpets that take many days to weave and these carpets have found a global audience and are exported all around the World.
The finesse of the carpet making with hands is what makes these carpets very popular. We admire the hard work of the Monpa ladies who can be seen working on custom made looms to weave these carpets and we also visit the section where you can buy various items that are made here and alter we head to the New market at Tawang that is another vibrant market of the area that serves some delicious Monpa snack delights of Momos and Thukpa’s. The new market at Tawang has some real good imported goods section and you can visit this section to catch a glimpse at some gate electronic gadgets. We take a walk across the new market area and this would be our last sightseeing place of the day as we head to our Hotel cum Guest house at Tawang. We will explore the Tawang Monastery the day after tomorrow before leaving Tawang to Dirang in the interest of time as we will travel to the Bumla Pass and Madhuri Lake tomorrow.
We will check into our guest house at Tawang that is a nice quaint place located atop a hill area in the Tawang Township and there are small shops near the place that sell a variety of condiments around. The sunset in the4se parts is quite early as it is eastwards and the sunrise on the other hand is quite early as well. These shops close quite early and at around 7 PM people retire back to their homes as the weather gets very dark and it also starts to get quite cold as well. We check into a guest house at Tawang and this place is a fairly new constructed place and it has deluxe rooms with all amenities like double beds, luxurious bathrooms, hot water facilities, Room heater, water kettle, wardrobes, etc. and the place is known to serve decent North Indian and Chinese cuisine as well. A bonfire will be lit for us and we freshen up and take our place buy the bonfire and we prepare our plan to visit the Bumla Pass from Tawang the next day. We have our diner and retire to our rooms early calling it a night.
Night Halt: Tawang Guest House at Tawang
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 6: Tawang – Bumla Pass – Madhuri Lake – Tawang
Today is our day of travelling to the border of India and China at the Bumla Pass and we get to witness some of the very pristine lakes in the region where we will visit the Madhuri Lake and the Pt Tso Lake near Tawang. To travel to the Bumla Pass we cannot take the vehicle we brought along with us and instead we will need to hire local Sumo vehicles at Tawang that are tough SUVs that are built to handle these difficult terrains. We also need to get a special permit from the DC office at Tawang that will allow us to travel to Bumla Pass and without this pass the army check posts do not allow you to cross the area as it is matter of serious security concern for them to allow a person without a permit to enter the border areas that are sensitive. We will need to leave early in the morning because the roads are uphill and windy and therefore it takes a long time even to cover a short distance of just around 37 km to Bumla Pass from Tawang. We have a light breakfast and carry packed food items to be had on our way and soon we start on our drive to the Bumla Pass that is a high altitude pass located at around 4,633 m above the MSL.
The drive begins from Tawang and we reach the spot above Tawang where we get to witness the beautiful snow covered mountain range and the view of the eastern Himalayas from this is absolutely break taking. We keep driving and in some time we reach the Y Junction that is the point where the beautiful Madhuri lake is located. Actually known as the Sangestar TSO, this lake was formed in an earthquake and was created by the accumulation of falling trees and heaps of stones that made it one of the very picturesque lakes in the region and this unique thing is that though temperatures are below freezing here, the lake doesn’t completely freeze and the water is always visible here throughout the year. This lake shot to fame when the famous Bollywood movie Koyla was shot here and the renowned actress Madhuri Dixit had performed a dance number along this lake and the audience loved this lake and over the years the place shot to fame with the visitors from across India and abroad coming to visit the lake and the Sangestar TSO lake started being referred to as the Madhuri Lake.
We get down from our SUVs here and admire the breathtaking natural beauty around the lake and the majestic snow cover around us. We spend some time by the lake and later we start on our drive to the Bumla Pass again. It is hard to imagine that just to cover a distance of 37 km from Tawang to Bumla Pass it takes us close to 2 hours and it is due to the sharp bends along the mountain road and it takes a lot of concentration to drive on this road and it is always advisable to take and experienced driver along with you and this is also a reason that only local cabs and taxi SUVs are allowed to travel to Bumla Pass from Tawang. We will soon reach an army check post where the officials will verify our permit and we will be allowed to travel to Bumla Pass. A sense of pride reflects in your soul once you reach the Bumla Pass and see the brave soldiers of the Indian army patrolling the area and keeping a vigil on any suspicious activity at possible the harshest climatic conditions imaginable.
It is here you can see that how the human body when trained well can withstand the severe extreme climatic conditions because at 4600m elevation the temperatures remain severe the year around. The Tricolour of the Republic of India fluttering in the wind and standing tall brings a sense of ride in the minds and soul of any Indian here at the Bumla Pass and we take time to pay our respects to the brave soldiers who sacrifice their time with their families so that we can live peacefully with ours. We observe the border of China from the view point and this is one of the designated meeting points where the authorities of the Indian army and the People’s Liberation Army of China meet to discuss the situations along the border. We explore the Bumla Pass that was used by the Dalai Lama to enter India from Tibet and also acts as an important trade route between India and Tiber that was opened in 2006. We spend some time and later we head on our drive back to Tawang where we will make a stop to visit the PT Tso lake where we will have our lunch and later we return back to Tawang by late afternoon.
Night Halt: Tawang Guest House at Tawang
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 7: Tawang Monastery – Dirang
Today we will leave Tawang to start on our return journey to Dirang and further to Guwahati the next day. In the morning we will explore the Tawang Monastery that is the largest Buddhist Monastery in India and the second largest in the World after the Potala Palace in Tibet. We have our breakfast and we proceed on our drive to the Tawang Monastery that is located a little ahead of the main town and whole you are driving from Tawang to the place where the Monastery is located you can get an aerial view of the Tawang Monastery and the place looks absolutely grand. We soon approach the Tawang Monastery and we go in to explore the beauty of the architecture of the place. The Tawang Monastery was built in 1680-81 under the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama and the main Monastery building is three stories high. The Tawang Monastery is known to house several ancient and sacred Buddhist scriptures that are a treasure to the entire Buddhism community. The wall of the Monastery was very sturdy and the inside is painted with various scripture of Buddhism.
At the Tawang Monastery young boys enter the monastery at an early age with a commitment to spend their entire life in the dedication and the service of God and so the Monastery has room built for the stay of these monks or the Buddhist Lamas. The place is also a centre for literature and have many students learning about the scriptures of Buddhism come to the Tawang Monastery to stay here and learn about the Buddhist culture as well and so at any time the Tawang Monastery has provisions for the stay of around 700 guests and at any point of time around 450 people including the monks stay here and it can be said that the grandeur of the Tawang Monastery is no less than a huge mansion. At the entrance of the Tawang Monastery there is a huge courtyard area present where religious dances and ceremonies are held including the two major Monpa festivals of Losar and Torgya. The Losar is the Tibetan New Year and it is celebrated with great pomp and vigour across Tawang and at the Tawang Monastery especially. During the festival a unique dance of the dragons is performed that is a unique sight to view.
We explore the main altar area of the Tawang Monastery that has a huge statue of Lord Buddha at the centre and the place is filled in calm and peace. We explore the Tawang Monastery and later we head out of the place to continue on our drive to Dirang. We cross Tawang and head on our drive to Jaswantgarh where we stop for tea again before continuing on our journey to Sela Pass again. The snow covered mountains of the Sela Pass welcomes us and we witness the white carpet of snow all over again and we pass Sela Pass to drive to Dirang. The drive now will be downhill and we enjoy the view along the way to Dirang. We arrive at Dirang in the afternoon and we head to our place of stay at the Hotel Pemaling at Dirang that is one of the very good stay options around and we have our lunch at the hotel and later we head on to visit the Dirang Monastery that is a newly constructed Monastery that offers amazing view of the Eastern Himalayas and the two tallest mountain peaks of Arunachal Pradesh. We explore this wonderful Monastery and visit the local market at Dirang and later call it a day and later retire to our hotel for night halt and dinner.
Night Halt: Hotel Pemaling at Dirang
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 8: Dirang – Guwahati
Today after breakfast we head from Dirang to Bomdila to cross over to the border of Assam at Bhalukpong. We keep driving from Bhalukpong to Nameri continuing towards Balipara and further to Mission Charali where we will take a route via Mangaldoi to travel to Guwahati instead of Tezpur and we drive via Orang National Park in Assam towards Mangaldoi and further towards the Baihata Charali and further towards Guwahati. We reach the Saraighat bridge and cross over the Brahmaputra and at Guwahati we check into our Hotel and we spend the evening at leisure after a long days drive. After dinner we retire to our rooms.
Night Halt: Hotel Sai Kripa Inn at Guwahati
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 9: Guwahati – Guwahati Airport
Today in the first half of the day we will explore a few places of interest in Guwahati at the Umananda temple, Guwahati World War II Cemetery and the Assam State Museum before we drop you off at the Guwahati airport. After breakfast we proceed to visit the Umananda temple in Guwahati that is located at the Umananda Island – the World’s smallest inhabited river island in the midst of the Brahmaputra River. We will cross the Brahmaputra on board a ferry and reach the Umananda Island that is a temple shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is said that at this Island Lord Shiva has burnt Lord Kamdeva into ashes while Lord Kamdeva was distracting Lord Shiva during the time of meditation. We offer our prayers at the Umananda temple and later return back to the Uzaan bazar area to go to visit the Guwahati World War II cemetery area that has over 500 burials fo the brave soldiers of the Allied Forces who laid down their lives during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The War Cemetery was built and is maintained by the Common Wealth War Graves Mission and we explore the place paying our respects to these soldiers who laid down their lives so that we could have a better tomorrow. Next we head to the Assam State Museum that will help us understand the rural life of Assam and also about the various tribes of Assam and ancient stone sculptures and the civilization of the Aryans. We will enjoy a sumptuous lunch of an elaborate Assam thali after this and we drive to the Guwahati Airport. We drop you at the airport for your flight to the onward destination/home. Tour Ends. Bid Adieu!
Night Halt: NA
Meals Included: Breakfast
At Nameri National Park in Assam
