Tawang Monastery Circuit

Highlights

• Sela Pass (13,700 ft)
• Tawang Monastery - largest in India
• Madhuri Lake (Shonga-tser)
• Bumla Pass (Indo-China border, permit dependent)
• Bomdila & Dirang en route

Day by day

1. Day 1Guwahati - Bhalukpong/Bomdila

   North out of Guwahati and across into Arunachal Pradesh, Inner Line Permit in hand and the plains flattening out behind you. A night on the road at Bhalukpong or Bomdila, already well into the hills.

2. Day 2Bomdila - Dirang

   Bomdila Monastery in the morning, prayer flags over a valley that runs for miles, then on to Dirang — an old stone dzong above the river, timber and slate houses, apple orchards along the road in. Overnight in Dirang.

3. Day 3Dirang - Tawang via Sela Pass

   The day the road earns its reputation. Sela Pass sits high and bare with snow at the edges much of the year and prayer flags going hard in the wind, and there is a stop at Jaswant Garh on the way down. Then Tawang. Overnight in Tawang.

4. Day 4Tawang Monastery & Local Sightseeing

   Tawang Monastery — one of the largest anywhere, and the courtyard opens straight onto a valley that falls away for miles. The War Memorial below it, and the local market at whatever pace suits. Overnight in Tawang.

5. Day 5Madhuri Lake - Bumla Pass Excursion

   A full day out to Shonga-tser, better known as Madhuri Lake, still and cold with dead trees standing in the shallows. Then up to Bumla on the Indo-China border, where the road tops out and soldiers face each other across a line of stones. Permit and weather willing. Overnight in Tawang.

6. Day 6Tawang - Dirang/Bomdila

   Back over Sela towards Bomdila. The same road and not the same road at all — everything you drove past in cloud on the way up is suddenly there. Overnight in Bomdila.

7. Day 7Departure to Guwahati

   The long descent to Guwahati for onward travel.

Gallery