Where Eagles Dare

We’re leaving our luxury hotel in Assam and heading into the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh.  We’ve been told that the amenities are basic – how basic we’ll shortly find out.

The journey to Tenga is about 130km and takes about 5 hours. We cross a state border that requires a special pass, climb to 5,600 feet amongst the mountains and travel on a narrow road that scare the life out of you.

On the Assam side of the border we stop to take photos of the weekly market at Bhalukpong.  The stall holders are a friendly bunch and happily pose for photos.

Your local family grocers

I feel like chicken tonight.........

........... I clucking don't

A rose in the dried fish alley

Milk and aubergine shop

This is a local store for local people

Spicy

We stop to register with the authorities and complete the border formalities and cross into The Land of the Dawn Lit Mountains, the largest of the seven sisters and bordered in the North by Bhutan, Tibet and China.

Immediately, we begin to leave the flat plains behind and start the steep climb into the mountains.  The narrow road clings to the side of the mountains combining hairpin bends, bridges spanning deep gorges, gushing waterfalls and sheer drops of hundreds of feet to the valleys below.

Wait until you see the roads - then you'll know why

The easy part of the trip

This would be tough going on a well-maintained road – and this road isn’t well maintained.  For most of the way the road is under serious reconstruction with scores of labourers breaking stone by hand for the road surface and building culverts to divert the waterfalls.  There’s dust, mud, landslides, ruts and very little tarmac – we’re usually no more than a couple of feet from the edge of the road and there are no barriers ….. and there are the trucks who make no concession for the conditions although they do stop on the way at a small roadside temple to pray for a safe journey

The road is being built by hand

and it's hard labour for men and women alike

Truck driver stops to pray for a safe journey - if only we'd known we would have joined him

That's the road below

Imagine works like this going ahead on the A38

Waterfalls - another destroyer of roads

We survive the journey and at Tenga stop to catch our breath and watch a Christmas March from the villages going by.

Tenga procession - check out the Madness impersonator in bottom right - one step beyond!

Super cool Santa - not convinced that the beard is real

Good - one truck less to worry about

….and then the fun starts as we leave the main road and climb on a 25km, two-hour journey up a mountain track to almost 8,000 feet and Lama Camp.  This makes the previous part of the journey seem like a doddle.  The track is narrow and consists of piles of rocks haphazardly dumped at regular intervals and mud – at some point it looks like a road will be build but for now we share the muddy track with lorries that deliver the stones.

On the way to Lama Camp - who would of thought that the road could get worse

The 'road' winds on up 

Mr Kamal, our driver is by disposition a calm man of few words.  The piles of stones form natural obstacles that we have to crawl around to prevent them damaging the underneath of the car.  Mr Kamal begins to swear at the lorries who churn up the track into deep ruts

DIY road making kit - just add pot holes and ruts

These photos don't really portray how bad this is

Eventually, we arrive at Lama Camp in the Eagle Nest Sanctuary.  It’s comprises a dining hut, some staff quarters, six tents and some outside toilets.  We are shown to our tent to dump the bags and then we’re off in search of the Bugun, a warbler so rare that it was only identified in the last 20 years and is seldom seen.  We don’t see it – we never see it!

Our tent and en-suite toilet

Lama Camp and the road on to Bompu through the middle

It’s sunny but cold up here and we have our winter gear on.  The views of the Himalayan mountains are stunning and the forests and valleys stretch out before us.

Some view - Mist rolls in over the mountains

Even at this height the jungle is thick

It gets dark quickly hear and we retreat to the dining hut.  It’s now pitch black and in the corner of the hut there’s an ancient wood burner fighting a losing battle to provide any heat.  Through the smoke we can make out the dim figures of some fellow guests shivering around the heater.  They make room for us and share a tot of medicinal rum.  For a couple of hours we even have the luxury of electricity powering a dim bulb.

Day 1 - the old heater throws out a bit of heat

Day 1 - You're smiling now

Analysis of photographers - John is defo Type 1

After dinner, we turn in as we have an early start in the morning.  It’s cold in the tent – actually it is freezing and we rapidly get on our long-johns and thermal vests.  The single beds have sheets, blankets and a duvet-like cotton bag which feels like it is filled with sand. A welcome addition is a hot-water bottle but it provides only temporary relief and we spend a restless night fighting the bed clothes that have a habit of shifting to leave your bits exposed to the cold.

We’re up about 6 am and fortified by a cup of tea we spend the morning birdwatching without any great success.  Surprisingly, as we move along the path we pass signs of elephants and after hearing ‘trumpeting’ we decided to return to the hut.

Olive-breasted Pipit

Yellow-beaked Blue Magpie

The trucks continue to plough up and down the road all day to dump their stones – unfortunately, the noise they make scares the birds away from the road and into the deeper and less accessible undergrowth.

The hut is a large draughty shed which provides some shelter from the elements outside when people remember to close the doors.  As we breakfast the mist begins to roll in and bird watching is curtailed.  

View from the track - that is some drop!

Somewhere in the mist is a fantastic view

We pass the time in the hut playing cards and drinking tea.  We make regular trips to forage (nick) wood to keep our wood burner going.

Day 2 - Not laughing now!

Our guide and driver are equally miserable as it is bitterly cold and there is nothing much to do.  We agree to make an early dash for civilisation tomorrow.  We’ve sorted out the bedclothes now and spend a reasonably comfortable second night in our tent.  Then at 4am there is a cloudburst and the rain pours down which only intensifies our anxiety about the journey back.

Although it has stopped raining when we set off our journey is slow and difficult but we eventually make it safely back.

The road home 

I just close my eyes when we overtake

Traffic jam

Road works ahead - no need for cones or lane closures here

The road workers knock off for the weekend

That truck has just overtaken us

Kids of the road workers

Convoy coming our way - they are on this road for 250km to Tawang - good luck

Mr Kamal's view of the road

Oh goody - a slippy bit!

Somebody told us that the journey was ‘character building’ which we now know meant stomach churning.  And why is it called Lama Camp?  Well apparently the Dali Lama spent a night here – lightweight, we at least lasted two nights.