|
TREK A |
ALONG THE BHUTAN BORDER |

Western
Arunachal Pradesh |
The western Arunachal Pradesh trek was to fill time in as
our permits for the Lohit region would not be ready until the 15th of
November and we were committed to arrive on the 5th. We were met by our guide Komkar Rida as soon
as we arrived at Guwahati after frantic phone calls from Delhi. We immediately set off on a six hour drive up the
trail heading towards Bomdila. The next day
we dropped in at the Orchid Sanctuary and it was pleasing to see so much good work
being done. From there it was around another 6 hours on to Bomdila. At some
8,000 feet, we met large convoys of Indian Army trucks coming down the
single track road and about another two hours to our hotel. |
01a |
Our view up the valley from our hotel. It was very clear that the area had been populated in
order to lay claim to it after the incursion by China in 1963. |
02a |
We started with a long climb up from the road
from about 5,000 feet to over 9,000 feet but it was quite easy going. As we passed
through the village we were asked to the Gompa and after making the
customary donations, I asked the Head Man if he had seen any other westerners.
"Yes," he replied, "in October." I immediately thought of the Coxes but they went much further east. |
03a |
We could make out some of the higher peaks in the
distance. No snow on them, we were pleased to see, as we were very late in
the season for trekking. |
04a |
I was surprised to find Rhododendron arboreum flowering but couldn't make out if this was normal or an exceptionally good year. |
05a |
Another R. arboreum; a nice form but I was getting disenchanted. I had only seen two Rhododendron species and
thought it was going to be a disappointing trek. |
06a |
Some little distance from camp all of a sudden
there were prolific quantities of Rhododendrons, many I had never seen before
in the wild such as R. falconeri ssp eximium and many others I could not
immediately put a name to. |
07a |
R. falconeri and R. falconeri ssp eximium were growing in great
quantities. It was a delight to see many Rhododendron species, some 14 in all in an area
of just a few miles. |
08a |
It was disappointing to be the only person
interested in the Rhododendrons on the trek. I am purely an amateur compared
to the experts who have done many pioneering treks with extensive contact with
Rhododendron species in the wild so I had many problems putting
names to some of the species I found. |
09a |
The porters were doing very well, we had been
expecting problems but we found them very helpful and able to handle their loads
limited to 20 kilos by the government. |
10a |
An absolutely stunning Rhododendron
falconeri ssp eximium, even Magnus and Michael were impressed. |
11a |
A flowering plant of R. thompsonii alongside it was R. meddianum. |
12a |
We walked on up through the forest and along a
road under construction with the braziers of the Nepali workers heating the
tarmac. It looked like a scene from some sort of disaster movie where much of the forest was burnt out and they were logging
the remainder. Camp that night was in one of the bleakest camp sites I have ever stayed at but the next morning as soon as we
entered the unspoilt forest again Rhododendron flinckii appeared until it was the dominant
species. |
13a |
Rhododendron flinckii is an outstanding species but with very variable foliage and
pale yellow flowers. |
14a |
I grow R. flinckii at home but give it a height of just 3 feet in our
catalogue. This specimen was about 12 feet. I also found R. cinnabarinum, R. fulgens, R. hodgsonii
and much else besides. |
15a |
As we climbed I found R. bhutanense; another very nice species, again
there was a lot of variation as we gained altitude. |
16a |
A Rhododendron intermediate between the two; a possible hybrid? |
17a |
We crossed a pass at 13,200 feet, then a high alpine meadow. We were coming down the trail here between huge thickets of R.
flinckii and R. bhutanense; these formed the main under understory in the forest. |
18a |
A wonderful days walking and camp is just a few
minutes away. |
19a |
Our porters with Bhutan in the distance. |
20a |
We were told there was an old hunter's trail we
could use to exit, just a short distance down the trail. We had yet another of
those horrible drop offs through thick forest down an old trail that slowly disappeared leaving us
with a steep and dangerous climb down to a small river as it was getting dark. The next morning
we sent the porters out to find the trail but they reported back that it was
just too dangerous so it was back to the top again. |
21a |
I set off at great speed in order to make up time as
the porters had been dawdling up until then. I knew it was going to be a long day. This is
lunch stop although Nerunda, our Nepalese cook, had packed lunch I
couldn't help looking at the rather appetizing curry the porters were
cooking. They served me a bowl full; it was very good but had far too much Chilly for me.
|
22a |
This was wonderful trekking, contouring between 12,500 feet and 13,240 feet. |
23a |
Looking back the way we had come. |
24a |
I was worried, there was talk of camp
being somewhere near but we were much too high, over 13,000 feet, to camp
without feeling the ill affects of altitude. |
25a |
A very beautiful sacred lake. I was
really pushing on, giving myself very little time to look at the plants. |
26a |
I arrived in camp with the porters as it was
going dark, the mess tent was a priority, then brewing some tea. Michael and
Magnus were late in so I instructed the porters to take my flask up the
trail with some torches but they met only about a mile from the camp. It
snowed in the night and we were told it was a long way down to the road head
where we had arranged to be
picked up by Komkar. |
27a |
On our way down we could see across to the route where
we had trekked some days before. |
28a |
I caught this glimpse of the big
mountains off to the north-east, possibly Gorichen. |
29a |
We dropped
steeply down through the forest coming out on a steep grassy bank covered
with many good perennials. It must have been a beautiful sight when in full flower in the Spring. |
30a |
Lunch stop; we had dropped down from
around 12,500 feet to 8,000 feet and it was really warm. I remember being
very thirsty. We descended to a small river and walked briskly until dusk where our guide, Komkar met us on the road and took us back to our hotel. |
31a |
So we completed the shortest trek I have
ever done. It was all the more remarkable as I had seen over 27 different
Rhododendron species, more than ever before. |
| OUR TREKS IN EASTERN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
B Middle C Lower
|
 |
|
TREK B |
THE DAU RIVER TO THE HALAI
RIVER VIA LAKE ANGLAP |
01b |
We set off with Komkar and his driver
for the Lohit region knowing we had a long way to go and a day late. After
crossing the Brahmaputra river we
stayed at a very nice hotel on a wildlife reserve, this was a huge beetle the
size of my hand on the floor. I mentioned my love of Nan Bread to Komkar and he
arranged for us to drop into a Hotel in Dibrugarh where at lunch we
had a memorable meal of Chicken Tikka Massala and Butter Nan. It was just superb. |
02b |
After our lunch in Dibrugarh we still had a long way to go to meet
Jon at Tezu so we set off again crossing into the restricted area. We came
to the massive estuary of the Brahmaputra just as it was going dark, this is
our Indian Landrover. |
03b |
This is our ferry. I was quite worried. They were building a new bridge upstream to be opened in 2004 so I had my
doubts on the servicing and repair of the ferries. We crossed two main
channels safely in the dark then we had a long drive weaving around over small bridges
and sandbanks until we reached Tezu at about 6.30pm meeting Jon and his friend
Daniel. |
04b |
This is the huge delta as all
the rivers join to form the beginning of the Brahmaputra. |
05b |
Jon also informed us that he had
organised another trek to the south as we would possibly finish this one
early as the trek was now limited in its scope. |
06b |
We travelled for some time along a tarmac
road, then turned off and had a long drive up a track to Cambling village.
The next day as the porters were being organised the children were
entranced. |
07b |
Daniel was doing his party piece. It
certainly worked, the children would normally be very shy and impossible to
photograph. |
08b |
A grain store built entirely out of
bamboo. It is a an essential building material and performed a multitude of
tasks such as carrying harnesses for our loads. |
09b |
This is the basic structure of a long house some
50 to 60 feet long. It takes about six months to complete and
it can house up to five families. |
10b |
Jon our trekking agent. We never really
got to know him as after two days he and Daniel fell ill and left us, Daniel with a stomach complaint, Jon a chest infection, a left over from an earlier trip
to Burma now Myanmar. |
11b |
We were following an old hunter's trail,
it was difficult going often steep with big drop offs. There were many
Rhododendrons some just in a small areas, others quite prolific along the
trail. I had a
really hard time trying to put names to them not having seen them anywhere
before. |
12b |
This one I could name Rhododendron
glaucophyllum with pink flowers in the spring. |
13b |
Kingdom Ward's description of the local
tribes, the Mishmies was not very good, he described them as
unreliable, hard to work with and many other derogatory comments but we
found them absolutely fine in all respects. Lunch stop, we are following the
side of a river here, it was really hard walking, clambering over large
slippery boulders. |
14b |
Problems with my camera, I thought the
memory stick I had just purchase from dabs.com had 256mb when in fact it was
only 128mb. Never again, also I just couldn't get good close up shots many
coming out blurred meant many photographs are missing. I take a video camera but was determined not to see the trek just through a camera lens. |
15b |
We climbed up past a huge waterfall onto a valley looking up to a pass to
high ground. Immediately I asked if we could camp in the valley, it looked
very promising. This is a photograph taken the day after, camp is just at
the edge of the Rhododendrons at about 10,260 feet. We are high up looking at plants and getting
some great views. |
16b |
I found a very dwarf Ilex pernyi, I believe. A holly with small red berries hidden in the
foliage. |
17b |
It was a real
joy to be amongst so many fine plants, these valleys and mountains must be a
wonderful sight in the spring and summer in full flower.
There was a mass of Rhododendrons I was climbing around for some hours
checking them out. |
18b |
Looking back down the valley to where we had walked in the day before. |
19b |
A view across to the plateau where we would be going the next day, we
were really looking forward to getting up high. |
20b |
The next day we took the route round to the right for an easy climb up. |
21b |
A few of the Rhododendrons I found on the hillside, this is Rhododendron crinigerum. |
22b |
I thought this was Rhododendron rex but have been reliably told it does not
occur in this area. |
23b |
Rhododendron tephropeplum deleiense. |
24b |
The very scaly reverse of the leaf; a good identifying factor. |
25b |
Rhododendron tephropeplum. |
26b |
Rhododendron rex ssp Nova again. |
27b |
Rhododendron fulvum, usually with pink
flowers. |
28b |
Rhododendron sanguineum, it should have dark
red flowers quite late in the season |
29b |
Our camp site, the weather started off
clear in the mornings then slowly clouded over, raining in the night but we
never had to use our wet gear for the whole of the trip. |
30b |
Rhododendron forrestii repens a choice species with large red flowers
growing on the north side of steeply sloping hillocks amongst a mass of
other creeping ericaceous plants. |
31b |
At the
top of the pass a perfect day. The weather was fantastic with clear blue sky
and no wind. |
32b |
There was some discussion as to where to camp but there was a good site just
to the left of the "Anglap" lake. Bajai, our guide had bad news, only food for 15 men
had been sent on the trek, we had twenty and only had enough food left now for two days. We just had no option, we just had to go
down the next day instead of spending some days exploring the high area as planned, it really ruined what should have been the
highlight of our time in Arunachal Pradesh. |
33b |
We had
lunch and as it was still quite early 12.00 noon I decided to climb up high
as we had to go down the next day. |
34b |
We found this bright red resting bud of a Primula at 11,260 feet. |
35b |
Our guide and interpreter Bajai Pud was a good companion and considering
no one locally had trekked before he did a fantastic job keeping things
together. I wanted to go high as fast as possible and told Bajai that I
would pay 100 Rupees for someone to go with me and carry my camera gear, he
immediately volunteered but insisted on no payment, so we set off together
climbing up steeply straight from camp. We got to about 12,500 feet and he
told me he had never seen views like this of his own country before but
would stay there, I decided to continue climbing. |
36b |
This was the small
mountain I had my eyes on, it looked OK to get up from here. |
37b |
After about an hour's climbing I was on top, and the views were superb. I could see right across to Namche Barwa on the Tibetan border ? |
38b |
Looking back down the valley we had trekked up that morning, we counted
ourselves very lucky with the weather, it was a wonderful clear day. |
39b |
My guess was that this was the route to the lakes we had planned to
visit some days away. |
40b |
This was the view more or less due east. |
41b |
Looking off far into the distance to the big mountain at the head of Namdapha National Park. |
42b |
We should have been over here if our original plans had gone well. |
43b |
This would have been wonderful trekking but it was not going to be, this year. |
44b |
A big mountain on the border to the east. |
45b |
Rhododendron pumilum |
46b |
I am always pleased to find associated plants that go well with
Rhododendrons. This Sorbus species had good large white tinged pink berries. |
46b |
Early morning and just snatching a few shots of this wonderfully rich area
covered in Lilies, Primulas, Gentians, of course Rhododendrons and a
whole lot more. It must be a stunning picture when in full flower. |
48b |
We set off down about 9.30 am following the stream down, as usual it became
steeper and steeper until we were climbing down but we were all experienced
and expected it to be difficult pioneering new routes. Our hunter guide
looking up quite worried but we all climbed down quite safely. It turned out
he had never been in the area before and was employed under a false
understanding. |
49b |
We arrived down at the camp site at about 12.30pm having
stopped for a packed lunch on the way. |
50b |
We were down to around 8,000 feet in a forest that was very beautiful with huge Rhododendron sinogrande, I think and a beautiful Acer
with glowing yellow autumn colour. The porters were quite worried
they wanted to set off early the next day to make sure we reached a village
by nightfall. We had no real idea how long it would take us. |
51b |
The log in the distance was the bridge across the river. I
was going to take my boots off for extra grip wearing only socks but I found
myself halfway across in no time so committed I just strode out. |
52b |
The porters told us they found this deer dead in the forest but my guess was
that they found it in a trap set by local hunters whose trail we were
following. They burned off the hair then proceeded to butcher it, Nerunda
did not want to know so we set off after our lunch and left them to
it. We waded the river, now quite wide a couple of times and were already
quite tired and wet. |
53b | It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we reached this wire
crossing. I watched the porters going across; it looked quite easy so I
tightened up my fairly heavy rucksack and they proceeded to tie me on. One
slid across on a black wooden block with a rope loop around the neck.
I had not taken note that the far bank was a little higher than the one I
was setting off from. I got just over halfway across and I really began to
struggle. It was one of the hardest things I have done for some time.
Michael was wise just pulling himself across without his pack. Here Magnus is being pulled
across, one of his arms is not much use after a fall on ice some years ago. |
54b |
We arrived at Mankhung village in the dark. We had been walking for about
11 to 12 hours, it was a long way. It was a very idealistic place. We were invited
into the long house and were handed cups of Chang to drink which was very
pleasant. We were in a major opium growing area and about five of the male
occupants of the Long House were smoking it. Here we can see the head man
and his wife who put on this finery just for the camera. |
55b |
On our way out of the village we dropped in to see the
local school. The children were very well behaved and seemed to be doing
well. We asked the school teacher if there was anything we could supply for
the school , we were very surprised when he declined saying, "the government
supplied everything they wanted". In Nepal even basics like books and pens
are much in demand. |
56b |
Walking down to the road took about
four hours as we were tired from the previous days efforts, we were hoping that Bajai
had sorted out some transport to take us up the road to our next trek but it
did not turn up so we camped alongside the road on a wide verge. |
57b | The next day things were looking bleak as there was no transport. I got talking to the two engineers working on a new bridge and road about a kilometre away who spoke good English. They requested to see a USA dollar bill, I showed them a five dollar note. Immediately the engineer wanted me to take some Rupees in exchange which I was very happy to do at a good rate. After I had explained to them our dilemma they instructed us to walk up the road to their camp. A lorry was put to repair whilst we we plied with coffee then a cooked lunch. We discussed the ways of the world and they decided to have us driven right up to Bajai's village, Hawa, the starting point for our next trek. Very simply the hospitality shown and the generosity of these people was surprising to us after what we had read about past travels in the area. |
| Lower Trek C |
 |
|
TREK C |
LAPHRONG
VILLAGE, VIA THE LAPTI RIVER, TO THE MYANMAR (BURMA) BORDER PASS |
01c |
This is the lorry our hosts commandeered for us, we took some two hours to
get up to Bajai's village, Hawa. We were instructed that under no
circumstances should we pay anything. We were very grateful for the kindness
shown. |
02c |
Hawa is the largest village in the
area, the building in the distance is a long house, it was massive; some
100 feet long and built to a high standard out of wood with a tin roof. |
03c | This memorial had been built
for a young girl aged about 12 who had died recently and
was the way the Mishmies had commemorated her. |
04c |
There were a
number of villages in the area adjacent to each other. We were told that
there was an e-mail service at Walla. We were shown into a hut. I expected the
worst but imagine my surprise to see there were some 20 computers and they had
satellite broadband, a really fast connection. We were able to e-mail home and
reassure everyone as to our well-being. |
05c |
We had heard about a variegated bamboo this was it, quite a striking
plant. |
06c |
After a days
rest that allowed us to collect ourselves we set off on our last trek
towards the Burmese border. We dropped down to the Lapti river and then up to
about the same height to the Laphrong village on the other side. It only was about four
hours walking but we were told it was impossible to go further as there was
nowhere to camp. This was a stunning Crawfurdia growing in profusion around
the village. |
07c |
Looking back, the Lapti river is coming in from
the left, it was a long steady climb
up and as we ascended the flora grew richer and richer with many
Rhododendrons I could not recognise. |
08c |
I think this is Rhododendron edgeworthii. |
09c |
This Kenneth Cox tells me is Rhododendron beanianum. I put it down as R. piercei; just shows my lack of field
knowledge seeing these species in the wild for the first time. |
10c |
Many of the large leaved species here left me really wondering, a lack of
experience on my part I'm afraid. |
11c |
I thought this was possibly Rhododendron uvariifolium. R. fulvum was also in the area. |
12c |
It was a long day climbing up from Laphrong
village at 4,500 feet but the going was easy with a good trail to follow up
to camp at 9,500 feet.
The porters were late in so I arranged a flask of tea and sent it with Nerunda, our cook, down the trail with torches for the latecomers. We were on a
good trail it was quite well maintained by the government as it was the main trail over to
Burma, now Myanmar. |
13c |
No, I could not put a name to this. I
guessed at Rhododendron rex but have been told it's not found in this area. |
14c |
We had some great views as we climbed up to high camp the next day. |
15c |
Rhododendron pocophorum or maybe R. fulvum. It had really nice
indumentum. |
16c |
My huge bright orange pack on its way to camp.
I had it specially made by "Buxton Caving Supplies" to combat the wet weather
but we never had rain during the day time. |
17c |
Camp was at around 11,260 feet. The next
day I decided to climb up high. I set off on my own, these places always seem
more special with ones own company. I'm looking out approximately due north
here. |
18c |
These were the hills we had been
trekking on some days before. |
19c |
I was a bit disappointed I had not
brought my crampons as these mountains looked a possibility as I was up to
13,260 feet and down by lunch time 12.30 but the weather did close in
later. |
20c |
It's very difficult to judge these peaks
the small one in front gave me some nice views and was just a short walk
again 13,260 feet. |
21c |
Looking across to the mountain at the
head of the Namdapha National Park I think this could be a good route in to
climb it. |
22c |
Another view of Namche Barwa I think, it was so
clear we could see for over a hundred miles to the distant mountains. |
23c |
We thought the peak to the left was Kato. We wanted to head round the back and south from there in our original planning
following Kingdon Ward's route part way. |
24c |
The peaks off to the east. |
25c |
This was the route and pass over to Burma via
this lake, I avoided it on the way up and down as it was freezing and icy
underfoot. |
26c |
We can see back to Bajai's village, Hawa
from here. It could be done in two long days. |
27c |
Another Rhododendron which I had problems with. It looked like a hairy Rhododendron camplylocarpum including curved seed heads. I
thought it might be R. selense ssp dasycladum ? |
28c |
Rhododendron ???????????? |
29c |
I immediately thought of Rhododendron praestans. |
30c |
At camp that night it was clear Magnus
was not well. I was quite worried and I took him cups of tea and soup in his tent. It was
decided to go down the next day. We had planned another day at high camp but
we had to be sensible. The next day Magnus really was very weak and it was
obvious to Michael and I that it would be dark before we got anywhere near
to the next camp. Everyone had long gone so I plied Magnus with aspirins
gave him my flask of hot drink and set of running to catch up with the
others already at camp. |
31c |
At camp I instructed Bajai to take the porters
back up the trail with a means of carrying Magnus. Luckily he had felt much better a short while after I left him and
they all strode into camp about an hour and a half later, but he did get his tent erected for him.
Possibly Rhododendron protistum? |
32c |
The next morning Magnus was very weak again so
it was just a long slow plod down to Laphrong village. After lunch
I went ahead clearing the trail before me. |
33c |
Possibly Rhododendron sidereum ? |
34c |
The autumn colours looking across the
forest were very beautiful with the red of the Enkianthus and the contrasting yellow Acers. |
35c |
Rhododendron taggianum. There was a whole mass of Rhododendrons
I just could not place. I tried taking photographs but the camera kept
playing up again; it just would not focus close. |
36c |
Rhododendron edgeworthii again, I think. |
37c |
Rhododendron stenaulum or R. leptocarpum. |
38c |
Rhododendron mishmiense. |
39c |
The boy in front had a catapult, he was
after small birds, I thought he had no chance but a short while later he
proudly showed me a small bird he had killed. He then started to take aim at
another beautiful bird with dark blue plumage. I shouted at him to stop
and told him I'd far rather see the bird alive and why did he want to kill
it? He looked at me in amazement. I don't think anyone had ever protested
before. |
40c |
The walk back down to the river Lapti and up to
the village of Hawa was very slow. Magnus was having to take his time. Jon Miceler meet us and arranged for our drive to Tezu the next day. At Tezu we
slept at the government rest house again and set out from there at about 8.30pm
the next day to Dibrugarh. The vehicle was really playing up. It would not
start, so we all tried push starting it many yards down the road to no
avail. I flagged down a large lorry, the driver came some distance to give
us a tow which worked! The engine fired up easily. I took a one hundred
Rupee note to give to the driver, more that a days wages for him, he flatly
refuse to take it. The hospitality and sense of helping a fellow
traveller again came up, I was very impressed. All the past stories of the
difficulty in dealing with these people was now absolutely wrong. In our
experiences we found them charming in all respects. This was The Victoria Memorial in
Calcutta. The pollution was dreadful so I remained in the hotel most of the
time. |
|
CONCLUSION |
Pioneering trekking of this type can be very
difficult, so much can go wrong. There is no history of trekking in these
areas with virtually no commerce from the Lohit area to Tibet, so unlike
Nepal, only hunters trial's could be used and these were scant. The only
local member of our group that had actually been in the high areas above the
villages were the hunters and the impression was that they had been no more
than a days walk away. It was very unusual for a trekking crew to want to
climb up high but without exception the porters from Hawa wanted to see for
themselves the countryside and they were impressed. We were disappointed
with the amount of wildlife we saw, possibly as we were so late in the
season but also the pressure from the hunters setting traps and shooting at every
opportunity must take a serious toll. Owing to the difficulty of getting
into the Lohit region in the past it has remained isolated and unspoilt but
things are changing, a new bridge is due to be opened in 2004. This will give
access to the logging industry so the controls will need to be very
stringent to prevent the desecration of this beautiful unspoilt region. The
restrictions to stop this area being flooded by the mass of the lowland
population has worked extremely well. It has retained a greater part of its
ethnic identity. Although things did go wrong we achieved a great deal and I
am keen to repeat the experience. Many thanks to Peter Cox, Kenneth Cox and Jens Nielsen for their help in trying to identify Rhododendrons with very limited information. |