Key Stats for the day
Before we start with the blog, here are some of the key statistics for the day:
Tawang to Panga Teng Tso: 16 Km
Panga Teng Tso to Y Junction (more on this later): 7 Km
Y Junction to Bumla: 12 Km
Y Junction to Sangetsar Lake: 14 Km
Total Km to be covered for the day: 100 Km (approx.)
Bumla Altitude: 4600 m or 15,200 ft
Sangetsar Lake Altitude: 3708 m or 12,165 ft
Important: Due to its proximity to an international border, there is a heavy presence of defence personnel all along the way. We were responsible enough to not click pictures of installations and would recommend you do the same if you plan to visit this place.
An early-ish start
All the advice and logic suggested that we start as early as 6 AM but the reality becomes something else. Riding a bike takes a toll on the body and waking up early keeps getting tough as the days progress on a tour. Add to that the old RE which is basically a vibrator on wheels, and it becomes that much tougher.
We still managed to be on the bike at around 7.30 AM and headed straight to the Tawang war memorial where our permit was waiting. The permit was ready and stamped, so we picked it up and started our journey. The time was roughly 8.30 AM when we started from the memorial. We knew we were quite late, but nothing could be done for the lost time.
The only way is UP!
Tawang is roughly at 3,000 m and Bumla is at 4,600 m which is a significant gain, and the distance is only 35 odd km. So, you can imagine the kind of ascent that needs to be made to reach that place.
We started our journey by climbing up the Tawang hillside. In the morning going up Tawang hill was a unique experience. The view was kind of surreal with mountains, valleys and movement of clouds and the town nestled high up. We were above Tawang town and could spot the Buddha statue and Tawang monastery looking down.
The road was getting steeper with each roll of the wheel, it was quite some effort before reaching the first checkpoint where the Bumla permit was checked. As is customary at places where Buddhism is predominant, we saw the roads dotted with prayer flags. It was a way of keeping the travellers safe and reassuring for us.
Lakes and more Lakes
We had read and watched videos about the presence of a large number of lakes en route to the pass and now it was our turn to witness them. According to locals, there are close to 100 lakes in this region, big and small.
Most of them do not have any names except for two famous ones i.e., Sangetsar Lake and the Panga Teng Tso (P.T Tso). The first big lake on the way up was the P.T Tso (Tso means river/lake so not repeating it). When we first approached, it seemed like a small one but when we moved ahead, we realised there was nothing small about it. There are proper stairs leading to the lake and a well-built perimeter to walk around. Many of the lakes are considered sacred and a walk along the perimeter is considered auspicious.
As we were already late, we decided to skip going near the lake and would try to visit on the return journey (time and weather permitting).
There were lakes literally at every turn. We did not click a lot of pictures due to the sensitive nature of the place.
The Y-Junction
We moved ahead of the P.T Tso and in another 7 km reached the famous Y junction. It is a place where it forks out either to Bumla (to the right) or to Sangetsar Lake (to the left).
It had turned bitterly cold as we moved ahead on this road and the slight drizzle did not help the matter. As we approached the junction, the drizzle had gotten slightly heavy and we were desperately in need of a shelter.
There is a post for checking permits and the army personnel were kind enough to let us in and offer us some tea. Interestingly, they had mistaken us for air force personnel due to the RE signals edition we were riding and accorded us more respect (though not indicating in any way that they would not have done so if they had known us as plain civilians).
It was a much-needed break and after warming ourselves, it was time to move on.
The Bumla Pass
The road kept climbing higher and suddenly we were above the treeline. The terrain was rocky, and the weather was cloudy. It was a perfect scenery of doom and gloom, but the ride was thrilling. The going was tough for two people on a single bike. Finally, we could see some private vehicles parked alongside a few military buildings. It undoubtedly was Bumla.
After parking the bike, we headed straight to the army reception counter where we signed up for the free guided tour of the pass. But as luck would have it, some VIPs and family from Delhi decided to crash our party and so our visit got delayed by about two hours. It was an excruciating wait and our bodies had begun showing signs of altitude sickness. To add to the misery, the waiting place being run on diesel generators had the fumes coming in making the whole experience unpleasant. We had to step out on multiple occasions in the biting cold to escape from the poisonous fumes (had to choose between cold and clean air vs. warm and polluted air).
Our bodies felt extremely tired after the ride and more so because we skipped breakfast that day. At that height, it is not advisable to stay for long but we had no other option. Finally, our patience paid off and we were escorted along with a few other tourists to the zero line. This thin line is what separates India from China. It was our first international border experience and words fall short of describing our happiness of being able to reach such a remote location.
Gurudwara Saheb Teesri Udaasi
The time was almost 2 PM and we were the last of the tourists at the pass. So, we quickly retreated to the Y junction and took that left fork towards the famous lake. We had the constant drizzle by our side making the 14 km ride difficult. The experience over broken roads on this route was pathetic but could not blame anyone as having any road on this difficult terrain itself is an achievement.
The iconic gurudwara perched on top of a cliff emerged out of the thick fog. This Gurudwara is the place where Guru Nanak Ji stayed during his journey to Tibet. Our schedule for the day being disrupted by the wait at Bum La now emerged as a real problem as there was not enough time available to visit the other attractions at ease. This meant that the climb up the gurdwara had to be skipped as it would have taken about an hour and a half but we took the blessings by offering our obeisance from below near the langar house. A thing to note is that the langar is open all around the clock at that height (a salute to the Indian Army for that).
Sangetsar Lake
To make up for some lost time, headed swiftly towards the famous Sangetsar Lake. Wonder why this lake is famous? It featured in a Hindi movie (Koyla), where Madhuri Dixit did a dance scene for a song against the backdrop of the lake. This is why the lake also goes by the name of Madhuri Lake.
Honestly, it makes for an eerie scene suitable for horror films. It was extremely cold and windy forcing us to take shelter in one of the canteens there, run by armed forces, where a treat of Maggi and coffee waited for us. It was breakfast at 4 pm.
The lake has an interesting history. It is a natural lake in the sense that it came into being as a result of an earthquake that caused a landslide, which in turn created a basin into which streams and water from surrounding mountains flowed. This is also why dead tree stumps stand in the middle of its waters as the place used to be a forest.
Wrapping up the day
Remember, it gets dark by 5 pm in the northeast. It was raining on our way back and got dark by the time we returned to our hotel in Tawang. All in all, it was a very eventful day and Bumla was part of the reason we visited Arunachal in the first place. Our curious souls were thoroughly satisfied, we retired to bed after a simple meal. The next day we were to begin the long and boring journey back to our base camp i.e., Guwahati.
