North East of India
-West Arunachal-
13 Days Tour & Trek at the foothills of the Himalayas
Starting from € 1, 100
per person
6 people max
14 day
Inclusions: all accommodations, breakfasts, ground transportation, sightseeing, local guides, tour leader…
Assam and West Arunachal Pradesh
‘‘The capital of West Kemang district is a busy, little town filled with tiny cafes serving the most delicious Momo (dumplings) you can dream of, hosting a beautiful Buddhist monastery on top of the hill and one of the most welcoming homestays you can find in the area.
As per the last time, I settled myself in my happy place, next to the mountains, turning prayer wheels and spending time with my ‘local family’ at the Anu homestay. We sat down for a few hours in front of my favorite, comforting local dish. Thentuk is a Tibetan soup made of flat noodles, vegetables, and normally pieces of Yak or lamb meat. We opened maps, talked places, found people, and set up a rough plan. Rough because that’s the way we move around, the way we explore and travel and that’s how we roll in a place where people live slowly, where the food grows next door, where it takes hours to drive a few kilometers, where there are few visitors and ancient traditions still a source of proud and respect. ‘‘
(from my travel journal notes, Feb 2020)
Highlights
Dive deep as much as we can, respectfully as much as we can and with the lowest possible impact we can’. The motto of this trip is simply, it is an anthropological tour into the intimacy of hidden gems away from the tourist routes where you will feel like being on an expedition. Places, traditions, cultures are so different and so diverse that will fascinate you and feed your curiosity.
Some of the included highlights:
Multiple days trek on the foothill of the himalaya
Visit the second biggest Buddhist monastery in the world
Live with local families in their homes
Taste and learn how to make local dishes
drive up to 4170 meters altitude on Sela pass on the way to Tawang
Tour cost and what’s included
The cost of the tour varies depending on the number of participants.
It starts from € 1100 (per person) in a six people group.
The Tour cost includes:
11 Breakfasts, 8 Dinners
public buses and local transport when included
private cars with local drivers (3-4 pp per car)
Local guides
Entrances to monuments/ museums/ activities when included
night accommodations included in homestays/ small guesthouse
Tour leader 24/24 with the group
The following aren’t included:
Flight tickets
Personal travel insurance (required)
Not-included meals
Entrances and activities not mentioned in the itinerary
Souvenirs
Airport transfers
Tipping kitty to collect at the start of the trip
Day by day Itinerary
Day 1
Arrival at the guesthouse and meet with Ali and the rest of the group before going to try some Assamese cuisine
Day 2
First full day with the group in Guwhati. We will explore the city on foot and by local transport with our local guide
Inclusions: B, LG all-day, Entrances to sightseeing places when included, public transport
Day 3
Today in the evening we will catch our night bus to Bomdila, we will travel all night reaching our destination in the morning. Today we will relax, buy some local food, visit markets, and get ready for the next day’s trek
Inclusions: B, public night bus
Day 4
We reach Bomdila in the morning and we will head to our homestay. After a long-awaited homely breakfast, we will settle in our room and walk around the town to get familiar with the locals and place.
Inclusions: B, D, LG half day
Day 5- 6- 7
Time to start trekking! We will pack and take a local bus to the village where we will start walking. We will spend the next two days in the hills, meeting the local people, crossing villages, staying in very local homestays, and enjoying the quiet and remoteness of the land of the local tribes here.
Inclusions: B, L, LG full-day
Day 8
Time to return to Bomdila, unpack, and get some energy back for the next leg of the trip!
Inclusions: B, D, LG half-day
Day 9
The picturesque Monpa village of Dirang is only 40 km away on the way to Tawang. We will rive there in the morning and spend the day wandering around the stoned medieval village and its majestic Buddhist monastery.
Inclusions: B, D, private car, LG full-day
Day 10
Possibly one of the most scenic roads in the entire area, the way to Tawang is simply breathtaking. We will start driving in the morning in order to cover the winding 140 km to the last town before the Chinese border.
Inclusions: B, D, private car
Day 11- 12
Tawang is one of the most sacred places for Buddhists, the birthplace of the 6Th Dalai Lama and home of the second biggest Buddhist monastery (second only to the one in Lhasa, Tibet). A crossroad place for centuries and a conflicted border area, Tawang holds a long, conflicted, interesting history to learn. We will spend the next two full days in this town.
Inclusions: B, D Entrances to the historic sites, LG full-day
Day 13
Time to say Bye to our hosting family and to Tawang, today we will have a full-day drive down to Bomdila.
Inclusions: B D, Private transport
Day 14
Last day of our trip together before jumping on another bus back to Guwhati. On our arrival in the morning, we will head to our next accommodations and have a late lunch together!
Inclusions: B , public bus
Why this Tour
…Or better, why Not??
I have been around very few places in India where you can feel as you do in this region. Life goes on slowly, there is time to breathe, time to think, and time to walk and talk.
A region is still little known besides the locals, a region where traditions and cultural values are still alive, where people still live as centuries ago but embracing with enthusiasm the modernity which is slowly coming. The hills around Bomdilla gift you with hundreds of different trekking paths unfolding through villages, fields, behind monasteries on the foothills of the Himalayas. An anthropological tour through a land hoe of many different tribes. The perfect tour for those who enjoy traveling responsibly, a tour that allows you to reduce to the minimum your impact on local people and the environment. A trip to a land which can gift you with unique, untouched natural beauty and opportunities to get really really close to a way of living far away from the one we are used to.
I designed this tour with responsible tourism in mind. This is why we will…
Stay in family-run guesthouses and homestay
eat at family houses and traditional, local cafes
buy local products and artifacts from local masters after meeting them
use local transports where it is possible in order to reduce our emissions
Spend time with different local guides
Use filtering bottles and reusable dishes in order to reduce our waste