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The Se La

We visited Arunachal Pradesh in North-East India in November-December 2009, riding first on the road to Tawang and back, and then from Kimin to Pasighat via Ziro and Daporijo. The two parts of the trip were linked by jeep, and the two regions differ in character, so that effectively we were making two successive short tours.

Arunachal Pradesh was formerly the North East Frontier Agency, before that the North East Frontier Tract. Foreign visitors have been deterred for decades by permit regulations. But the State was putting pressure on the central government to ease the restrictions, and by 2008 had made enough progress for a visit to be worth while, so we made our plans for the following year.

Independent travel is still not permitted (although this particular law is much honoured in the breach). We accordingly arranged to travel with a local operator, Jungle Travels, who provided a jeep, a guide, and a driver. We had the pleasure of riding unladen and unworried by logistical hassles, and the option of jumping into the jeep if things didn’t work out. We called on this option more frequently than is compatible with the best touring style; but I suppose all claims to style had been abandoned at the outset.

Information about the area was hard to obtain, and good maps nonexistent. We hope that the notes which follow will be of use to future cycle tourists.

In all our account comprises three pages of route notes, two pages of narrative, a page of general information, and some maps.

The page border comes from a mandala at Tawang.

| photos : route notes : narrative : general info : maps : ride stats