The Mis-adventurous trip to Haflong

As I had mentioned in one of my previous stories about my first solo trip, I had tagged along with two Bengaluru boys whom I met at Shillong. After covering Meghalaya, we took delivery of a brand new ‘Maruti Swift’ from a showroom in Guwahati and set out on a random road trip across the North-east. (click here to read the complete story). We finished exploring the Ziro valley and were left with 4 more days before our return flight to Bangalore. We worked out many options to best utilize the available time (4 days were too little to go ahead to Mechuka and return to Guwahati, we would be on a tight time if we did Tawang and had no backup in the eventuality of a car breakdown on those bad roads, Sandakphu was doable but we weren’t equipped with sufficient gears).

The National Highway at Ziro

That’s when I popped the option of visiting Jatinga. An unheard place for the other two with me, I explained: “It is a place where mass suicide of migratory birds takes place due to an unknown phenomenon. And this is THE season to witness it!”. There was enough curiosity inside the car but no clue on how to get there. We browsed quite a bit, scrolled through several web pages of the forest department and landed on a random contact list of IFS officers in Assam. We picked a random name (it sounded very South Indian, hence we wanted to try our luck). We got lucky and the call got through. A little perplexed at why random tourists may be interested in visiting this place, the IFS officer asked us to call him a day later as he was travelling. We were ok to wait for confirmation, as we were anyway going to reach Itanagar only on the following noon. That’s where we had to pick our route, whichever worked out- Guwahati or Jatinga.

On the following day, we called on the same number again when we had reached a good network zone. The IFS officer got us connected to another forest officer, posted in Haflong. We got in touch with that officer, who then guided us to reach his office in Haflong. He warned us against stopping ANYWHERE along our way and keep updating him every now and then about our location. We relied heavily on Google maps and were driving through Asian Highway no.1. PS: We would be heading towards Dima Hasao district and the entire route was notoriously infested with anti-social elements.

We commenced our drive on a road that would lead us to Thailand (only if we extended our holidays by a fortnight more), guided by Google maps. But for now, it was destination: Haflong, the only hill station in Assam. The under-construction road was patchy every few kilometers, alternating with smooth asphalt and bumpy gravel. At one point, the road with endless stretch of forest cover was so beautiful and intimidating for a photo stop but we were scared for even a pee-stop. We were however, at the mercy of google-Mata’s directions!

The Asian Highway through Dima Hasao

So, the scene what happened after we passed the Mahur cross is documented in another post for you to read. Long story short: we missed a diversion in the under-construction road, continued on AH1 as per google maps and our car got stuck in a deep ditch, in the middle of a forest reserve. We were stranded without help almost until sunset. Finally help and the forest officer’s army, all arrived together to get us out to safe haven. We waited at the officer’s makeshift container workspace until he finished his day’s work and took us to Nothao lodge, a place where our stay in Haflong was arranged at. It was a nice resort (good for a less touristy place like Haflong) but most of all, the owner was a resourceful person who was going to take care of our travel activities for the next couple of days.

Our car being towed by RSA

“Not all who plan and come here get lucky, as the weather plays a crucial role in being able to see it, even after reaching here. The wind direction tonight is very favorable. You are here at the RIGHT time to witness the mass-suicide of the birds. Be ready by around 12.00.a.m., the jeep will come here to pick you all. The officer and I will join you at my house and then we shall proceed to Jatinga.” The Hotelier said before leaving us. We were all excited! After freshening up, we placed an order for a hearty Dimasa meal for supper. ‘Try Local cuisines, wherever you are’ was a mantra all three of us religiously followed. The must try-dishes were recommended by the friendly chef at the lodge.

The poor car had gone through so much abuse on its very first road trip that it deserved a good shower. While the boys drove out to the town to find a good spa for the car, I decided to stay back at the lodge. The wooden furniture in an open dining space with mellow music playing in the background and cold misty breeze from the green trees around, blowing on my face was enough reason for me soak up some inspiration to write my next story. As a couple of hours passed, the boys returned. I don’t know if the car found a spa, but the boys for sure found a bar 😛 They returned with a few liters of judima, the local brew of rice beer.

We were the lucky few who were to witness nature’s phenomena, one so rare that it is unexplainable by science. We had braved quite an adventurous drive to make it thus far… But the weather was such, that I can’t blame them. The two drank up the stock ignoring all my alerts, warnings and requests! It was now nearing 9.00.p.m. and so, blame it on the ambience of the dining area. While the meal was being arranged on the table, the two were dozing away. Jatinga and the birds were all flying away from me now, faintly to the elusive distance 😛 I tried to keep the two up, at least to finish up the meal and not waste it. The two walked up to their room and had passed out within the next few moments. “See you Jatinga, next time!”, I silently spoke while breaking the roti in my hand.

It did not feel right for me to drive into a forest alone with someone whom I barely knew. Hence, I decided to make ‘Nothao’ my destination for the night.
I requested the hotel staff to serve the same food on the following morning (there was SO MUCH food, that neither of us would want to throw it off), informed the hotel owner and the forest officer of my situation and silently slid into the comforting warmth of the rugs in my room.

Anyway, the miss was made up for, by the two boys who had been my travel partners for the last 2 weeks (well… partially). We explored a little bit 9f Haflong. The duo spoke to the officer and a hike to the highest peak of Assam- Hapeo peak was organized. That’s yet another story you might want to read here. Thus, happened our misadventure to Jatinga and the last bit on my fortnight in the north-east.

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Hiking up Assam’s highest point- Hapeo peak

This post is part of my fortnight long road trip across North-east India, specifically covering parts of Meghalaya – Assam – Arunachal Pradesh I had tagged along with two other travelers and drove around the places in a self-drive car hired at Guwahati. We had arrived at Haflong, the only hill station in the state of Assam following a mis-adventurous trip. (Click here to know the details)

This trek to the highest point in Assam happened by chance, as a backup after the original plan for the day had failed. We were told that the hill isn’t yet popular in a typical tourist’s circuit. Apart from the local tribal folk who like to party atop the hill, hardly 4 to 5 trekkers come here from outside the district and the state to climb this hill each year. Having said that, we wanted to reach Hapeo peak, the highest point in the state of Assam for sunrise. However, due to the clouds that had hovered that morning, we decided to snooze for a little longer before going ahead with the plan.

There are totally 13 native tribes in Dima Hasao district of Assam state and each tribe has its own village. A local NGO called spectrum is working towards the empowerment of the local tribal communities through promotion of tourism in the district. They helped us in getting this event organized. We were driven in their 4WD vehicle from Haflong to a village called N.Liekung. N.Liekung village belonged to the Kuki tribes and the required permits from the village head was arranged by Spectrum. A local guide was assigned to take us through this off-beat wilderness to scale the highest point in Assam. I would like to present my trek in essentially three parts.

Part 1: The Ascent

After a small stop in front of the holy Cross at the prayer area of the Kukis, we began our ascent towards the peak. For the three of us, all seasoned trekkers doing this trip together, the climb to Hapeo peak wasn’t a very difficult one as compared to what we had done back in the Southern India. But what made it seem difficult was the high grass that had grown tall enough to cover the entire stretch. Since the trek is not frequented with people, the grass on the path is not worn out as much as in the popular trekking trails. Hence, the way up was something through which we had to FIND the trekking trail. Based on the ease of finding the trail, I would split the trail into three portions:

• A well traceable path with steps laid. However, at some places, the stairs have been lost amid the thickets. We had to cut the grass and bushes in order to find our way. The stretch was full of high grass with occasionally placed animal traps which our guide who walked ahead, would carefully move aside and make way for us.
• This was the only flat area with some grassland vegetation for a stretch of around 500mts.This was the only place apart from the highway, from where we could actually see the peak that we were apparently scaling up!
• The last part passes through thick jungle, with a canopy of trees that allowed very less sunlight to penetrate. Varieties of innocent looking wild mushrooms had bloomed at several patches, but we were warned not to pick any of them as they could actually be lethal with allergens or venom. We were accompanied by strange sounds and cries of migratory birds around.

The only grassland in Hapeo trek

As we climbed up while chatting up with our Kuki guide, he enlightened us with their tribal customs, culture and showed us a few videos on his phone of their traditional dances, festivals ceremonies and the like. Our guide jokingly told us how his fellow folks are named in the tribe. The names may not mean anything and just anything random that sounds nice goes as a name. He was thus randomly called after a ‘Song that was Sung’ (I’m sorry, I don’t want to give out his name). But the tradition is, that the maternal grandfather selects a name for the granddaughter and the paternal grandmother picks a name for the grandson and vice-versa. It is a patrilineal system of inheritance.

Part 2: Reaching the Top

Suddenly, the darkness of the jungle had turned into snow white of the clouds. Before we could realise, we had reached the top already and we had barely taken us two hours. We were told that one could see the entire district of Dima Hasao from up there. But, we were greeted with thick fog and clouds upon arrival. We spent some time soaking in nature’s beauty and waited for the clouds to clear so that we could catch a glimpse of the beautiful view.

For the benefit of potential trekkers, there is just one small shelter with a bench atop the hill and nothing apart from yourself there! Our guide mentioned to us about a patch of land measuring about 2×2 feet, right behind the bench where a natural and strong magnetic force is believed to exist, due to which none of the mobile phones work in that spot. Yes, we tested the phenomenon too. Although all our phones had FULL network, we were unable to place any calls. But none of us had any scientific reasoning for what he told.

A view of Dima Hasao district from Hapeo peak

In the next fifteen minutes, the clouds had slowly started to clear. We spotted the railway bridge at Lumding onto the right side of the horizon. This rail line is the longest and highest in the Silchar route. Our guide pointed towards another hill onto our left, through which the longest railway tunnel (around 3.5kms long) in the North-east passes. The Silchar-Lumding railway route has been featured in several tourism websites and has been one of the scenic stretches in the country. As the weather slowly worsened and began to drizzle, we decided to start our descent.

Part 3: The Descent

When we had just started to climb down and we received a call from the NGO. We were told to return to the base of the hill ASAP as an alert for a cyclone had been issued by the meterological department and heavy rains were expected in this region in the next few hours. But, it had started to pour cats and dogs within no time. The fastest pace we could catch was by rolling down the hill. With all the rain, thick grass covered path and steep gradient, just a steady walk itself was a struggle as we descended on the slippery trail. There was nothing enroute to take shelter from the rain. But, waiting at any place made no sense because the pounding rains would continue for the entire day or even two. It made more sense to simply continue to walk down as we were already drenched till our bones.

We were back at the base by 11.00.a.m. and thus ended our trek to the highest point in the state of Assam. We were invited over to our guide’s house to dry ourselves up and have a cup of hot tea. We thanked him much and bid adieu with a warm heart to this lesser known corner of the world!

Endurance testing of a car- A road trip across Assam

I have been involved in testing of new cars that belonged to my company. But, all that are with SOPs and defined patterns. This time, it was about driving a competitor in the extreme road conditions just for the joy of driving and fun of travelling. No SOPs and we were our own bosses… The India unique driving conditions… With money spent from our own pockets… So this is what it was all about.

Part 1: We meet our new friend from the showroom- Maruthi Swift Petrol
The car was delivered from the showroom just 30 minutes before our arrival. It had the ribbon on its hood and a TC plate for registration indicating us that we were the first people to drive it. After all the formalities, the experimental trip kicked off in a traditional Indian way- Getting ourselves photographed in front of our brand new car with the self-drive company owner handing over the keys to us. The road ahead is supposedly beautiful with greenery all the way with paddy fields, hills and tea plantations. It was past sunset and hence, it was just a cruise from Guwahati to Kaziranga highway. We checked into the resort by 10.00.p.m which we had booked at Kohra range of Kaziranga National park.

The National Highway passing through Kazhiranga

The next morning, we drove through the rustic areas of Kohra to reach the elephant Safari area. It was a splendid view with lush green paddy fields hovered over with mist and mud smeared huts dotting the entire stretch which set a positive tone for the day. We even spotted a couple of rhinos by the roadside itself 😀 An elaborate story of Kaziranga is another post altogether and hence, I will drive you across from here to reach Neemati ghat as the last ferry would leave for Majuli by 04.00.p.m. The car too sped similar to the drive you’ve just been through the post from Kohra to Neemati ghat- HIGH SPEED! Majuli is yet another post in my blog and that comes with Diwali lights, fireworks and a lot of pulling and pushing of the car in the dusty terrain of the countryside. A drive to be truly remembered!

The kaccha roads of Majuli

Part 2: Driving on the National Highway no.13- A sneak-peak to Arunachal Pradesh
It was complete off-road driving (Read it flying) all along the banks of Brahmaputra from Dhunaguri Ghat of Assam. We had covered a stretch of 165 kms/4hrs via North-Lakhimpur in merely an hour through a shortcut via Parbatipur. We had met a cop from Arunachal Pradesh who had asked us to follow him and we did that although skeptical about his real motives 😛 We heaved a sigh only when we saw some people around and that’s when we realized we were right in front of Arunachal gate at Banderdewa check post. Having sorted out the issues of inner-line permits for us and our swift car with no number plate (We had a temporary registration), a grueling drive into the state of Arunachal had begun along NH.13. It was pitch dark at 6.p.m. in the evening and not a soul on the road san us. We braved a couple of landslides and waterfalls- both plunging right onto the road that we were driving through. It was 12.00.a.m. when we reached Hapoli market in Ziro town of the lower Subansiri district. The three of us were trying to get in touch with the homestay owner for directions from 5 different mobile network providers and yet unable to make a call. All the mobile phone networks were apparently down since evening and felt like the entire valley was paralyzed without communication. And, we were kind of stranded in the middle of a freaking cold night at nowhere!!

There were no civilians on the road but hundreds of cops walking around with balaclava and guns keeping vigil in the place prone to surprise social turbulence. Meanwhile, we were confronted by a CRPF cop as to what we were doing there at that time and we explained our plight to him and sought help. He offered to help us telling BSNL lines were up and he could call our homestay from his mobile- unfortunately, our homestay guy was still not reachable, thanks to his Airtel connection! By that time, we had decided to spend the night on the road with our shorts and loafers to help us bare the zero temperature at Ziro town. But in a while’s time, a miracle happened. Our homestay owner had realized the issue with the mobile networks and come down to Ziro searching for us. He found us! But rightly then, his Maruthi 800 refused to crank… He pushed it aside until next morning, got into our car and took us to safe harbor- his homestay at Siiro!

The National Highway at Ziro

After all the sightseeing and lifetime experiences at Ziro, we had to now drive back to our next destination- Jatinga. It was the same highway down until Banderdewa, but this time during daytime. So we had ample vistas to soothe our eyes all the way… Deep valley with clear waters and occasional rapids of the Subansiri on one side and thick jungle on the other kept up the motivation for the drive on that Roadless NH road! Occasional Apathani women folk hitch hiking a drop to different villages enroute to Potan and frequent photo stops added to the tempo. Further down, while the sunset added colour, the grazing Mithuns along the valley added charm to the drive. Mithuns are shy animals belonging to the cattle family. They resemble bisons from Nagarhole in their features but are in shades of white colour. They are handsome creatures! In such bad tarmac, we were still able to keep the good condition of our new car with just the rear mudguards hanging down. We crossed the Banderdewa by 06.00.p.m. and thus the next sojourn into Assam happened.

Part 3: Driving on the Asian Highway no.1 to Haflong.
After a short tea break and for dinner, we drove until Tezpur where we decided to stay for the night. After seeing no roads in Arunachal, the new tarmac in Assam seemed more like a speedway in NFS. We were cruising through the NH passes over the 3kms+ long Kolia Bhomora Bridge across the Brahmaputra and cuts through tea plantations and paddy fields in most stretch and was a delight to drive. But, we were watchful at the same time as the beautiful stretch was also known for anti-social elements like militants, Maoists etc. The next morning, we started early towards Dima Hasao district so that we had sufficient time to explore Haflong and make it to Jatinga to watch the famous birds’ mass suicide phenomenon. We were blindly following our dear friend- google maps and cruising on the AH, that is being newly developed in the stretch that we were supposed to drive till Haflong. We were thoroughly enjoying our drive through the newly asphalted 4-lane road passing through the forest reserve area. However, we did not want to risk ourselves by stopping anywhere even for a nature’s call as the entire stretch is known to be socially intolerant and infested with militants. It was only us and no one else amid virgin forests on both sides for as long as our eyes could reach. The map was indicating only ONE road right until Haflong without any crossroads and hence, it was an easy way to go…

We had just passed through the tunnel near Mahur junction and suddenly the road disappeared. The front wheels of our car were stuck inside a deep pool of slush. It was 01.00.p.m. and our enjoyable drive had halted. The map on all our phones continued to indicate the road ahead. We opened the doors to get out and push the car- we were amused by the knee deep water that we had just got ourselves into. There was a huge rock exactly under the front cross-bar which meant we couldn’t push it forward. Meanwhile, we noticed that the water level was rising due to a continuously flowing stream which posed a risk of the water entering the engine. While 2 of us took to task of digging a water-way for the stream to flow out, the other friend walked back until the tunnel where we hoped to find some help. There were a couple of cars who had lost their way too and drove to the place where we were stuck, but they were quick enough to shift to the reverse gear and drive back. Remember… The place is infested with militants?? Our poor friend near the tunnel- was trying to stop every single vehicle that passed by and no one cared! By 03.00.p.m. he somehow managed to walk back with 3 local boys who came down with a couple of posts to lift the car out of the slush. The ground clearance was bad which at the first place had got us down to where we were. The front bumper seemed fragile to come out if we tried to lift up with it. There were no side skirts or reinforcements that could help us to hold the car up. And then there was a huge dent & a bump on the Rear door while my friend was trying to support his shoulder in between. We together tried all possible tricks and ideas to get the car out but all in vain. The sun had begun to set by then which meant we had very little time left with daylight lest spend the night inside the car in the middle of nowhere with highest possibility of getting mugged at gunpoint and worse- become a meal to some hungry wild animal. It was 04.00.p.m. and we were still stranded.

While we had given up and were thinking about the way forward, a Mizoram bound family arrived in a XUV-500. Seeing a girl, they took pity on us and offered to help us by waiting until we arranged for a rope. Fortunately, another truck arrived on a lost route within the next 10 minutes. The truck driver obliged to open a compartment in his truck which was located deep under and was never touched since the time he had owned the truck. He finally pulled out a big chain which was then attached to the XUV and towed the swift out of the ditch. It was a moment of celebration… not only to us, but to so many people who had gathered during the course. With some navigation help from the locals, we took a small deviation to avoid the landslide that had actually caused the entire episode of getting our car towed. The highway ahead right until Jatinga was under construction with just heavy dust all around. There was a spot where our car was in the middle of like ten JCBs around- Like a scene from the transformers. Wow! A wonderful experience in a no-man’s world…

The Asian Highway through Dima Hasao

Part 4: Swift gets a face wash
We found a local garage at Haflong who vacuum cleaned the interiors and did a high pressure wash for the exteriors and underbody. Our car looked as new as it was when we took delivery. Only change point was that it had a big bump on the rear door and functionally, the power steering would suddenly get harder than its manual version due to the leaking power steering oil, the brakes took a longer distance to stop and the entire electrical system would suddenly go off during the drive due to the excessive electrolyte spillage in the battery and of course- the wheel alignment had gone for a complete toss. We drove back to Guwahati braving the deadly combination of multiple malfunction Indication Lamps on and horrible road sense of the people on the newly laid highways. We returned the car at Guwahati and the rest is better left untold…

Summary: Sorry for the poor car on it’s first road-trip.. It was driven in extreme conditions for what it is not designed.. Inspite of all that we put it through, it got us back safe to our harbour:)

What was your most memorable road-trip? Let me know!