Friday 15 November 2013

Journey to Tawang: Spiritual, Beautiful and Adventurous


From the Assam plains, it takes almost two days to reach Tawang, a mountainous town in western Arunachal famous for its monastery, which is the second largest in Asia. It is located at a height of 10,000 ft. and the journey involves meandering one's way through lofty mountains.
 
The mountainous road to Tawang

On the way, a stopover at Dirang,on the foothills of the Himalayas, gives one a chance to experience the beauty of this little valley .
 
The beautiful Dirang valley

The little mountain hamlets on the way

The journey gets only more awe-inspiring and overwhelming at times as one crosses the Sela Pass, one of the highest motorable passes.

 
Sela Lake

Jung Falls


On approaching Tawang, one can see the colourful Buddhist prayer flags.
  
Gateway to Tawang


The monastery towers over the town and is a treasure trove for ancient Buddhist scriptures.

Tawang Monastery
The statue of Buddha inside the monatsery

Little monks


The Sangetsar lake, popularly known as Madhuri lake, after a Bollywood actress shot for a movie here, offers awesome views.
 
Sangetsar Lake

On the return journey, one can spend a day or two in Bhalukpong, a small town on the southern reaches of Himalayas. The town, located along the Kameng river offers fish angling and river rafting as some of the exciting activities while here.
 
Bhalukpong
This journey in itself is an adventurous one and will surely remain a one in a lifetime experience.  




Tawang is located in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, in the North Eastern Region of India.



Sunday 6 October 2013

Hornbill Festival

Hornbill Festival, celebrated in the first week of December each year, is a cultural extravaganza showcasing 16 major tribes and many sub-tribes of Nagaland. This week-long (extended to 10 days this year) festival is organised by the State Tourism and the Art & Culture Departments at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, about 12 km from Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. 


During the vibrant festival each tribe showcases its colourful costumes with beads, jewellery, ivory armlets, headgears (made of bamboo, orchids and decorated with boar's teeth and hornbill's feathers) and weapons (spears and daos) . In the past, only those warriors who proved their gallantry could adorn such an attire.



The festival has dance & musical performances, traditional art & crafts, traditional cuisine, native sports, fashion shows, herbal medicines and so on. A unique highlight of the festival is the exhibition of the customary Naga Morung (youth dormitory), which offers onlookers a rare insight into the way of life of a typical Naga.

A major highlight of this year’s festival is the Hornbill Chef Award for the best Naga cuisine, which is likely to see many hidden talents get recognised and help popularise Naga cuisine internationally.

Besides the chance to witness under one roof the unique and colourful cultures and tradition of the state, the takeaway for any visitor from the festival  is the warmth and hospitality of the people.

 Travel Country Roads has special tour packages for the Hornbill festival and Nagaland with home stay arrangements to give an unparalleled real experience. If you are interested please do get in touch with us! Please feel free to contact us if you have any query relating to Hornbill Festival or North East, and we will be happy to help even if you are not availing our services right now.