Mystic Tawang

Tawang or "the one by the horse" is certainly one of the most beautiful places in whole of north east.It's a small town with a strong buddhist connection.Overseeing the valley is the imposing Tawang Monastery, The second largest in Asia.The people are very simple and it's not a rare sight to see shops left unattended for hours. Clean air and breathtaking sceneries will sweep you off your feet.There are a couple of good hotels in Tawang which also offer decent food.Be prepared to eat lots of momos and noodles.While you are in Tawang, do Visit the Bhumla border post and Shungetsar lake.Plan to eat lunch at Shungetsar lake(packed lunch).Do invest in a good transport (4wd) while foraying ahead of Tawang as roads are usually in a very bad state.I do not recommend buying souvenirs from there as nothing is made locally but procured from Bagdogra and Darjeeling. Do ask for "Sonam" to any localite and he would direct you to the the most popular "TANKHA" maker of Tawang. His paintings are very beautiful but equally expensive.There are a few night clubs in Tawang that play decent music. You can expect some local crowd after 2100hrs.While visiting the monastery, request any senior monk to bless the prayer flags that you may want to carry back home with you.You can also visit the manjushree home for kids and the Tawang War Memorial.Spend little time to learn how the indo- chinese war was fought at the memorial.On your way out of tawang stop at Jang Falls.

Road Trips to North East

As a preview to the series that will follow i will be talking about road trips to 5 out 7 north eastern states.Spanning almost two years, i was very fortunate to travel extensively through Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh,Assam,Manipur and Nagaland.I'm thankful to everyone who assisted me in these trips.I will be talking about places in no particular order or format. These places left an impression in my heart and i would like to share it with you all.