From across the blazing plains of Assam,
Along the mighty Brahmaputra we rode.
Soon climbing through the winding roads,
To the gateway of Arunachal….Tezpur.
At times in the pouring rain,
At times through the white darkness of mist,
We rode into valley of Dirang,
Guiding us into the cold bosom of Arunachal Pradesh.
Up ahead the freezing accent into the legendary Sela pass awaited.
As we twisted and climbed,
Grass and pine gave way to snow and rock on either side of the roads,
Colourful prayer flags fluttered in the freezing wind,
Carrying our prayers across to the mountain Gods,
Who carried us on their wings to the magical Sela Top.
Chill to the bone, a little lightheaded and breathless,
By both the beauty and the altitude.
Descending down the slopes endlessly,
We were finally welcomed by the warmth of Tawang.
Beggars for punishment,
Once again we were up and down the BumLa pass,
Lost in a a world of white slopes, black ice and swirling snowflakes.
The new dawn saw us drop through the pine clad slopes,
Into the wet rain swept paddies of Ziro,
Where the people of the mystic Apatani tribe welcomed us.
Another rainy morning ride sent us across the Brahmaputra by ferry via the beautiful Majuli Island on to Kaziranga-home of the rhino.
So racing back on our last day to Guwahati across the pencil straight highways,
Visions of snowclad peaks,winding roads, clouds floating across green mountains and misty paddy fields,
All bounties of Mother Nature,
Competed with man’s near impossible achievements,
The Border Roads Organisation’s superb roads and tunnels,
All marvels of engineering.
Our journey of 1700 kilometres impossible ,
Without the efforts of the brave and brilliant troops ,
Of the formidable BRO whose motto said at all,
“If there is a path, we shall find it,
If there isn’t one we shall make it.”
Over ten days we found ‘the path’,
That took us from a 150 feet above mean sea level,
To 15,000 feet above and down again.
Truly this has been a fascinating journey ,
Filled with energy and fatigue,
Elation and elevation,
Wonder and amazement,
Caffeine and nicotine,
All with a good peg of fellowship and brotherhood.
A journey to the Northern most tip of India,
A land of diverse topography, tradition, and tribes,
Our magic journey to the land of the rising sun.
Dr. Ravin Chengappa, April 2026.
Dr Ravin Chengappa what a soulful piece of writing, Tawang is in my wish list for biking, your writing is forcing me to twist the throttle to Tawang,
After covering part of Himalayas like Khardungla, Bhutan, Spiti Valley, Zanskar Valley, Umlingla Demchok now its time to hit the eastern border of China Tawang
Scaling from 150 feet to 15000 feet is amazing, I have started picturising Arunachals beauty
The CLN team deserves high praise for publishing this biking experience ..
This prose, which at times sounds like poetry (or the other way around?!), is an excellent writeup of his journey which also appears to take us along!
The sense of movement is very strong. The poet carries the reader frim Assam to Arunachal seamlessly. Very well articulated.
Nicely done !!!🙏🏽