Eastern Arunachal Pradesh with Namdapha Tiger Reserve

When we curated this tour we thought of all the  elements that can blow  your mind.

We kept in our itinerary, the ethereally beautiful   Golden Pagoda or the Khongmu Kham of Namsai, built in the Thai/Burmese style, sitting majestically  amidst a beautiful landscaped garden surrounded by lush greenery. The Pagoda with four entrances, each guarded by a pair of mythical lions, houses a huge meditating Buddha Statue. The statue was a gift from Ven Prakhu Pabhavana, the chief monk of the Wat Aranjikavas of Thailand. The pagoda  is beautiful in the daylight and  out of the  world after sun down. A place of tranquility and spirituality, this place will fill your mind with  peace and happiness. We will also go and see the largest Buddha statue in Namsai, in Laalpahar. It is still  being made but visitors can go  and have a glimpse of this gigantic statue.

We will  visit the Pangsau  pass which lies on the crest of the Patkai hills in the Indo-Myanmar border. Pangsau  pass is heavily guarded by the Indian army and  we will hear the  stories of the Pangsau Pass from them as we look at the Lake of No Return or the Nawang Yawang lake at the  distance. The pass offers one of the easiest routes into Burma from the Assam plains. It is named after the closest Burmese village, Pangsau, that lies 2 km beyond the pass to the east. It is the reputed route of the 13th century invasion of Assam in India by the Ahoms, a Shan tribe. The Pangsau Pass became relevant again, in the 19th Century when the British considered the pass as possible railroute between North Burma and India . The rail route did not happen but in it’s place a  road was made. This road named the Stilwell road/Ledo Road gained quite a lot of importance during World War II.  It connected  British India to Nationalist Chinese forces fighting the Japanese in China. This route became  infamous and started getting called as Hell Pass,  for  the deaths of thousands of workers and  soldiers who were working on this route . Their deaths were  due  to malaria  infested forests, fierce gradients and  mud which made  climbing the pass extremely difficult and  sudden enemy attacks.

We will also see the abandoned shops  of the Pangsau border market. The market was closed after a heavy gunning that happened one night in November 2022, from the Myanmar side. You can still see the holes the bullets made on the walls . You can hear the  stories from the officers of the Indian army outpost at the  pass as you look on  at the mysterious  Nawang Yawang lake where  planes and pilots and  people were lost forever, from time to time.

And of course how can we not  mention the two days that we will be spending at Deban, inside the Namdapha Forest, just beside the gorgeous river Noa-Dehing? Keep your cameras ready for  some wildlife  photography here. Our wildlife guide will help you to spot them and  know  more about them.

And finally we will visit  The Choephelling Tibetan Refugee settlement camp in Miao, one  of the oldest settlements of the Tibetan refugees, exiled from their homeland. The camp is famous  for the carpets they make. Each carpet is  hand woven and  sold globally. Raw materials come from Panipat and New Zealand. You can see the carpets as they are  woven by the residents of the settlement and  you can buy them or other artefacts from their co-operative.