It's always been a dream of mine to explore Northeast India. Comprising of "seven sisters" (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura) and a "brother" (Sikkim) the Northeast holds intrigue and beauty, a little explored corner of the world filled with stories. When the opportunity to travel to Arunachal Pradesh for an assignment arose in October 2019, I pounced on it.
Arunachal Pradesh (sometimes referred to as Land of Dawn-Lit Mountain) is the first Indian state to greet the Sun every morning. At the far north-eastern tip of India, it borders Tibet, Bhutan and Burma (Myanmar) and arguably shares more with them in terms of culture and language, than mainland India. Remote and beautiful, the mountainous state is blessed with lush forests, graceful rivers, deep valleys, and stunning biodiversity. Whilst most tourists to Arunachal Pradesh head to Tawang, our work was in the Lower Dibang Valley, so we flew to Dibrugarh (in Assam) via Kolkata (in West Bengal), and then drove the ~145 km to Roing (in Arunachal Pradesh). Over the next few days we travelled around Dibang Valley (named after the Dibang River), with our hosts from the Idu Mishmi tribe.
The Idu Mismi tribe, and their brethren, the Digaru-Mishmi and Miju-Mishmi, inhabit the Lohit, Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley districts. Centuries ago, they settled in the Lower Dibang Valley from Tibet (their language is Tibeto-Burmese), building their lives anew in alignment with the environment . Traditionally, the Idu believe in animism (i.e., that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence); they are deeply connected to nature and the land created by their Gods, Nani-Intaya and Masello-Zino. Over the next 4 days we learned of their cultures and beliefs. One that stuck with me was with respect to death. An Igu (an Idu priest) told us that following a death, he performs the prayer ceremonies and rites to prepare and assist the departed soul in their onward journey (the Idu believe in the continuation of life after death), following which they are buried with all their possessions. In a recent case, he told us, all the movable possessions of the departed person, including their bed and cupboard, had been buried with them.
At the crack of our first dawn in Arunachal Pradesh, we heard a cacophony of hoots and grunts from the dense forest behind our cottages, close to Arongo village. Hoolock gibbons! There are 19 gibbon species in the world, 2 are found in India: the western and the eastern hoolock gibbon. They inhabit small pockets of forest in eastern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Male and female western hoolock gibbons are similar in size, but dramatically different in colour. Males are black, while females have pale, brown-blonde fur. Both are characterised by distinctive white markings on the face and loud, noisy calls!
It is sacrilege among the hunting Idu Mishmi tribe to kill the gibbons. As we quietly walked through the forest, surrounded by misty mountains and birdsong, following the gibbons' calls, our Idu guide told us of efforts to grow a corridor of trees that will provide canopy for the apes to swing across railway tracks and plantations that have dissected their forest habitat. When we finally reached the gibbons, it was all I could do not to cry, so warmed was my heart at their sight.
The following day we began our drive through the mountains towards our final destination, Anini, in a tatty old jeep. We lost the muffler and the back bumper pretty quickly, neither of which, we were assured, were important to have. Our drive across the lush green of Mayudia Pass delivered us to the stunningly beautiful valley of Hunli, nestled at an altitude of 5,000 feet (Roing, less than 3 hours away, is at 8,800 feet). We had a hot cup of chai at the Circuit House before continuing our drive.
Soon we were meeting large infrastructure development projects everywhere; dams, highways and concrete building blocks. We saw bruised and broken mountainsides, deforestation and JCBs that had fallen to their deaths. We heard stories of lost labourers, broken families and empty villages - the harsh realities of the "development" model in our country. In the late afternoon we came across the beautiful river-side village of Etalin where negotiations would soon be underway to relocate its inhabitants. A mega-dam was being constructed upstream and release of its catchment waters would inundate the village completely. We lunched on Maggie noddles, eggs and a vegetable made from a freshwater fern, trying to commit to memory the beauty and peace of this tiny settlement.
As we trundled along the winding muddy road towards Anini, somethings started to hit the roof of the car. The sounds came slow and gentle at first, but built in crescendo over time - the beginnings of a landslide. Stopping was never an option - on one side was a deep gorge, on the other the cracking mountain, below us muddy ground and above us falling rocks. Our driver confidently navigated the winding and narrow roads at breakneck speed; we lost the drivers side-view mirror. By the time dusk hit we were exhausted from all the terror and adventure. We set up camp in the tree lined garden of a small highway restaurant.
The next morning, after conquering peaks and valleys, crossing babbling brooks and raging rivers, passing through friendly fields and quiet forests, we finally reached Anini. The town is remote and beautiful, nestled amongst the mountains and clouds. We were warmly greeted by our hosts, the local Igu and his wife. Our time with them was amazing! We walked amongst bamboo forests, climbed mountains, learned about local vegetables and fruits and dipped our toes in small icy cold streams. The forests above Anini have long been thought to be home to the elusive Yeti, who is thought to be a protector of the wild, animals, jungles and even the sacred places. It's not hard to believe that a mythical creature might choose to reside there; the quiet and beauty of Anini is soul-stirring.
Our route back to Roing from Anini was similar to that which we had taken from Roing to Anini. Along the way however, we did meet some fierce rain and were forced to seek shelter in the house of a very kind old couple. We slept in our sleeping bag in their living room, around the fire. They woke us up at 5AM with some crazy potent rice wine which our driver wisely declined. Somewhere along the way, the front passenger side window lost its ability to roll back up.
Whilst extremely short, this trip was the most lovely introduction to Arunachal Pradesh and Northeast India. It was a privilege to stay with the Idu Mishmi. I will definitely be going back.