May 23, 2011
It was another EXTREME today in terms of driving experience!!!!!
I did not sleep too well last night as the circuit house room was not so good but was slightly better than the Teju’s Duda Lodge. We woke up early and it was raining cats and dogs.
We left the Chapakhowa circuit house at 07:00 am. We had to cross the river Brahmaputra twice today, first at Sadia Ghat and then at Bogiwhil ferry near Dibrugadh. The roads were very bad and the pace was slow. As we came close to the place from where we had to cross the river and noticed that the road simply disappeared and all we could see in front of us was a slushy, muddy dirt track. I stopped the car and took a closer look at the track and found the soil here black and sticky and all I could see were tyre marks of vehicles that had passed earlier, some showing signs of vehicles having got stuck in the mud! Ok, so that was that and we had to cross this at least 2 km long patch. I engaged the car is 1st gear, increased the RPM and started driving the car through the slush and mud. The visibility was quite poor because of incessant rain. The car was skidding and rolling in the slush, at times giving way and the wheels just rotating at one place. The nature of the soil was not allowing the tyres to get any grip. On one side there was the fiercely flowing river Bramhaputra. There was no protection of any nature to prevent cars from plunging into the river. At times the car would suddenly skid too close to the bank for comfort. I was trying to maintain one steady motion of the car to avoid getting stuck in the sludge but at one point the width of the sludge was so much that I had to stop to decide which way to go. I decided to move in one direction engaged the 1st gear and accelerated but the car wouldn’t move. The tyres were just rotating in one place and there was no point in trying harder since the more I would try accelerating the deeper the wheels would go in to the mud. Suddenly, two men appeared on my side and said that they would push the car out of this and come with the car till it was at the point of driving in to the ferry. They asked for Rs. 500/- for their services. Phadke Ajoba negotiated and the deal was fixed at Rs. 300/-. They pushed the car and I accelerated. The car came out of the slush where it was stuck. I maintained one speed and since these men were guiding me as to from where I should steer the car, I did not have to stop either. Whenever there was a possibility of the car getting stuck they would give a push to the car. This way we managed to reach the point at which were to drive the car on to the ferry, ‘jetty’ if you want to call it that.
Now this was another big ordeal. There was no proper jetty. It was just the bank of the river reinforced by stones at one point where the so called ferry would come along side. The ferry itself was one big joke. It was a small wooden boat on which three vehicles were loaded and parked at a distance of about six inches from each other. The vehicles were to be driven in to this contraption on two not so thick wooden planks. The width of the boat was such that the front bumper of my car was jutting out of the edge of the boat and the rear bumper was just about at the edge. I slowly and cautiously drove the car on to this boat. Along with the cars about 20/30 passengers also boarded the boat. The travel across the Bramhaputra took about 45 minutes.
The situation on the other bank of the river was no better but I managed to drive our car out of the boat and up to firm road without any help. Also it was not raining here on and the visibility was good.
From here we drove to Tisukia and then to Dibrugarh. The road was fine and we covered the distance quickly. We reached Dibrugarh at about 15:30 hrs. We had something to eat here and reached the Bogivil ferry crossing. En route we made hotel booking with Hotel Subanasri at Itanagar.
The last two kilometer’s drive to reach the ‘jetty’ was no better than the drive to the earlier ferry crossing. But here we followed another vehicle and managed to reach the ‘jetty’. The drive from the other side of the river to the main road was quite long and similar to the earlier drive but the soil on this side was sandy so it was a lot easier. From here we reached a small town called Dhemaji.
The road here after was by and large excellent and I was driving at a very fast pace. We reached North Lakhimpur at about 20:45 hrs and had dinner at Hotel Maple Leaf. We left here at about 22:30 hrs. The road was excellent. We reached Itanagar at about 23:30 hrs and checked in to Hotel Subanasri.
At all the ferry crossings construction of bridges was in progress. It is expected that the bridges will be ready by 2015. Once the work on the bridges is complete then Tisukia will be directly connected to Tezu and Walong
This was some day to remember!
There is another thing worth noting here. As we were travelling in the boat, there was a village marriage party travelling along with us. Some of them started talking to us. When we told them that we were from Mumbai and were planning to do a garland route along the border of India and that we had gone right up to Walong in Arunachal Pradesh they were very happy. One of them said to us that people in other parts of the country feel that there are only Junglees here. He asked now, having seen the place how did we find it? Similar to what we had been told earlier he explained that festivals like Durga Pooja, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali are all celebrated here with great enthusiasm. Then he asked us how different are we from anybody else? I feel I have heard this word Junglee too often from people here. I think this is a common sentiment of people here. There is a distinct feeling of alienation.
We also observed issues like alcoholism. At six in the morning one can see people having alcoholic drinks! It’s difficult to get a cup of tea on some way side shop but one will find alcoholic drinks available ever so freely. Another person was saying that there is acute poverty. People just eat rice with water and salt since they don’t have the money to buy Daal or Vegetables or even Fish! He said in the same breath that whatever money they get is not spent on food but is spent on liquor.
See you here tomorrow!
May 24, 2011
Today we all woke up late. We decided to take a day’s rest.
We engaged a Taxi here to do some sightseeing in the city. Phadke Ajoba decided not to come with us but stay back at the Hotel and take rest.
We gave the car for servicing and general check up at Tata Motors Service Station and then started our sightseeing tour.
The taxi first took us to the Ganag Lake. This is a small lake with crystal clear water in thick forest like setting. There is boating facility here.
Then we went to Itafort, after which this place was named as Itanagar. The ancient name of Itanagar was Mayapoor. In the 11th Century this region was ruled by Jigari kings. King Mayamatta of this Jigari clan made Mayapoor as capital and built this fort with 8 million bricks. The total stone required was 4.5 million and it took 45000 man days to build it. The total area of the fort was 10 sq kms! Huge isn’t it? But now practically nothing remains of this structure other than two thick walls!
Next we visited a museum where old weapons, jewelery, old house hold items, and scenes created to show different tribes of Arunachal are displayed.
it was 16:00 hrs and I had to rush to the Tata Motors work shop to collect the car. There the service advisor and others were quite surprised to know that we had travelled all the way from Mumbai in our car till
May 23, 2011
It was another EXTREME today in terms of driving experience!!!!!
I did not sleep too well last night as the circuit house room was not so good but was slightly better than the Teju’s Duda Lodge. We woke up early and it was raining cats and dogs.
We left the Chapakhowa circuit house at 07:00 am. We had to cross the river Brahmaputra twice today, first at Sadia Ghat and then at Bogiwhil ferry near Dibrugadh. The roads were very bad and the pace was slow. As we came close to the place from where we had to cross the river and noticed that the road simply disappeared and all we could see in front of us was a slushy, muddy dirt track. I stopped the car and took a closer look at the track and found the soil here black and sticky and all I could see were tyre marks of vehicles that had passed earlier, some showing signs of vehicles having got stuck in the mud! Ok, so that was that and we had to cross this at least 2 km long patch. I engaged the car is 1st gear, increased the RPM and started driving the car through the slush and mud. The visibility was quite poor because of incessant rain. The car was skidding and rolling in the slush, at times giving way and the wheels just rotating at one place. The nature of the soil was not allowing the tyres to get any grip. On one side there was the fiercely flowing river Bramhaputra. There was no protection of any nature to prevent cars from plunging into the river. At times the car would suddenly skid too close to the bank for comfort. I was trying to maintain one steady motion of the car to avoid getting stuck in the sludge but at one point the width of the sludge was so much that I had to stop to decide which way to go. I decided to move in one direction engaged the 1st gear and accelerated but the car wouldn’t move. The tyres were just rotating in one place and there was no point in trying harder since the more I would try accelerating the deeper the wheels would go in to the mud. Suddenly, two men appeared on my side and said that they would push the car out of this and come with the car till it was at the point of driving in to the ferry. They asked for Rs. 500/- for their services. Phadke Ajoba negotiated and the deal was fixed at Rs. 300/-. They pushed the car and I accelerated. The car came out of the slush where it was stuck. I maintained one speed and since these men were guiding me as to from where I should steer the car, I did not have to stop either. Whenever there was a possibility of the car getting stuck they would give a push to the car. This way we managed to reach the point at which were to drive the car on to the ferry, ‘jetty’ if you want to call it that.
Now this was another big ordeal. There was no proper jetty. It was just the bank of the river reinforced by stones at one point where the so called ferry would come along side. The ferry itself was one big joke. It was a small wooden boat on which three vehicles were loaded and parked at a distance of about six inches from each other. The vehicles were to be driven in to this contraption on two not so thick wooden planks. The width of the boat was such that the front bumper of my car was jutting out of the edge of the boat and the rear bumper was just about at the edge. I slowly and cautiously drove the car on to this boat. Along with the cars about 20/30 passengers also boarded the boat. The travel across the Bramhaputra took about 45 minutes.
The situation on the other bank of the river was no better but I managed to drive our car out of the boat and up to firm road without any help. Also it was not raining here on and the visibility was good.
From here we drove to Tisukia and then to Dibrugarh. The road was fine and we covered the distance quickly. We reached Dibrugarh at about 15:30 hrs. We had something to eat here and reached the Bogivil ferry crossing. En route we made hotel booking with Hotel Subanasri at Itanagar.
The last two kilometer’s drive to reach the ‘jetty’ was no better than the drive to the earlier ferry crossing. But here we followed another vehicle and managed to reach the ‘jetty’. The drive from the other side of the river to the main road was quite long and similar to the earlier drive but the soil on this side was sandy so it was a lot easier. From here we reached a small town called Dhemaji.
The road here after was by and large excellent and I was driving at a very fast pace. We reached North Lakhimpur at about 20:45 hrs and had dinner at Hotel Maple Leaf. We left here at about 22:30 hrs. The road was excellent. We reached Itanagar at about 23:30 hrs and checked in to Hotel Subanasri.
At all the ferry crossings construction of bridges was in progress. It is expected that the bridges will be ready by 2015. Once the work on the bridges is complete then Tisukia will be directly connected to Tezu and Walong
This was some day to remember!
There is another thing worth noting here. As we were travelling in the boat, there was a village marriage party travelling along with us. Some of them started talking to us. When we told them that we were from Mumbai and were planning to do a garland route along the border of India and that we had gone right up to Walong in Arunachal Pradesh they were very happy. One of them said to us that people in other parts of the country feel that there are only Junglees here. He asked now, having seen the place how did we find it? Similar to what we had been told earlier he explained that festivals like Durga Pooja, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali are all celebrated here with great enthusiasm. Then he asked us how different are we from anybody else? I feel I have heard this word Junglee too often from people here. I think this is a common sentiment of people here. There is a distinct feeling of alienation.
We also observed issues like alcoholism. At six in the morning one can see people having alcoholic drinks! It’s difficult to get a cup of tea on some way side shop but one will find alcoholic drinks available ever so freely. Another person was saying that there is acute poverty. People just eat rice with water and salt since they don’t have the money to buy Daal or Vegetables or even Fish! He said in the same breath that whatever money they get is not spent on food but is spent on liquor.
See you here tomorrow!
May 24, 2011
Today we all woke up late. We decided to take a day’s rest.
We engaged a Taxi here to do some sightseeing in the city. Phadke Ajoba decided not to come with us but stay back at the Hotel and take rest.
We gave the car for servicing and general check up at Tata Motors Service Station and then started our sightseeing tour.
The taxi first took us to the Ganag Lake. This is a small lake with crystal clear water in thick forest like setting. There is boating facility here.
Then we went to Itafort, after which this place was named as Itanagar. The ancient name of Itanagar was Mayapoor. In the 11th Century this region was ruled by Jigari kings. King Mayamatta of this Jigari clan made Mayapoor as capital and built this fort with 8 million bricks. The total stone required was 4.5 million and it took 45000 man days to build it. The total area of the fort was 10 sq kms! Huge isn’t it? But now practically nothing remains of this structure other than two thick walls!
Next we visited a museum where old weapons, jewelery, old house hold items, and scenes created to show different tribes of Arunachal are displayed.
By now it was 16:00 hrs and I had to rush to the Tata Motors work shop to collect the car. There the service advisor and others were quite surprised to know that we had travelled all the way from Mumbai in our car till here. They said that we were not their customers but rather their guests. They had attended to our vehicle on priority and out of turn without an appointment.
Now I want to say something about our interaction with people. As we were having our breakfast, one gentle man on another table started talking to us. The first thing he asked us was about Anna Hazare Ji’s agitation – did we support it? Then he spoke about issues like lack of unity among Indians, regionalism, divide on religious and cast lines, and most importantly about corruption. Once again we saw the same sentiment and anguish about alienation from main stream India and deep and serious concern about corruption.
We had our small meeting today and decided to go to Bomdila, Tawang tomorrow. Phadke Ajoba insisted that we should be on the road tomorrow at 08:00 hrs in any case.
Bye for now and meet you here again tomorrow.
Cheers!here. They said that we were not their customers but rather their guests. They had attended to our vehicle on priority and out of turn without an appointment.
Now I want to say something about our interaction with people. As we were having our breakfast, one gentle man on another table started talking to us. The first thing he asked us was about Anna Hazare Ji’s agitation – did we support it? Then he spoke about issues like lack of unity among Indians, regionalism, divide on religious and cast lines, and most importantly about corruption. Once again we saw the same sentiment and anguish about alienation from main stream India and deep and serious concern about corruption.
We had our small meeting today and decided to go to Bomdila, Tawang tomorrow. Phadke Ajoba insisted that we should be on the road tomorrow at 08:00 hrs in any case.
Bye for now and meet you here again tomorrow.
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