How a Bhutanese Film Took Me Back to My Trip to the Laidback Town of Tawang
I often enjoy watching movies that invariably slip out of the radar of mainstream audiences and ‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’ is one such movie. This Bhutanese film gained prominence after it was nominated for an Academy Award in the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category this year. When I found this movie on Prime, I decided to watch it and somehow it reminded me of my adventurous journey to the northeast, especially to the town of Tawang, which is not too far away from where this film was shot.
The film shows how a young man from Thimphu, with dreams of a life in Australia, is forced to go all the way to Lunana, one of the world’s remotest villages to teach young school kids who have been denied education only because no teacher is willing to move to such an isolated place.
The journey from Thimphu to Lunana is itself quite dizzying as it involves a six-day trek from the nearest town of Gasa. However, thankfully I didn’t have to trek for even a single day to get to Tawang, but the ride all the way from Guwahati was no less astonishing.
Navigating Through Assam and Arunachal’s Rustic Landscape
The 233 km long journey from Guwahati to Bhalukpong (the town at the border of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam) was much like any bus trip as we traversed through rural Assam and several small towns such as Morigaon, Nagaon and Tezpur. We stopped for lunch at Bhalukpong, which is located on the outskirts of the Pakke Tiger Reserve and on the banks of the Kameng river, a tributary of the mighty Brahmaputra.
The terrain completely changed a few minutes after crossing into Arunachal Pradesh. The landscape became hillier with meandering roads that slowed us down drastically. Luckily, a lengthy portion of the ride was along the Tenga river, and the light blue shade of the water was quite soothing to the eye. Just as the sunset, we reached Bomdila.
I came here in the month of November, and it was quite chilly at night. I quickly checked into a small hotel to recover from the tiring journey and regain some energy for another 8 hours of back-breaking voyage to Tawang.
Passing Through the Rugged Terrain of Arunachal’s Hilly Province
The final leg of my trip to Tawang was possible only on a 4X4 vehicle. So, I woke up early the next day and made myself comfortable in the front seat of a rickety Trax Toofan along with a few other locals and we were soon off to Tawang. The ride wasn’t bumpy up until Dirang village. However, soon after we crossed the village, there were sections where the road vanished completely and all I could see was an unending muddy trail. I then realized the treacherous lives that people here lead and what’s a day’s adventurous ride for us is a daily toil for the folks living here.
Soon we entered a heavily militarized area with a heavy presence of the jawans of the Border Roads Organization and the Indo Tibetan Border Police. Many of them were labouring hard to make at least one side of the road serviceable. After a couple of hours from Dirang, we arrived at Sela Pass, a high-altitude region where we stopped to have lunch. This was one of the most picturesque spots on this journey with the gorgeous Sela Lake in the backdrop. I also spotted a few yaks that were grazing lazily.
Experiencing Some of the Most Unforgettable Moments at Tawang
We finally arrived at Tawang by 4 in the afternoon and I checked into a dormitory, overlooking the lovely Tawang Monastery. The next day I went to see the Giant Buddha Statue and the Tawang War Memorial. You will find the names of all the fallen soldiers from various regiments etched on the walls of the memorial. It is a stark reminder of the Sino-India in 1962. In fact, the Chinese troops marched all the way to Tawang from Bumla, the border post along the Line of Actual Control, and captured the town briefly before heading back.
There were many non-locals in the town and everyone I spoke to either understood English or Hindi. In the evening I spent time with some of the other folks staying at the dorm surrounding a cozy bonfire amidst the freezing weather. This was the time when our hon’ble PM announced demonetization, but thankfully the people here accepted the old currency notes. On my final day in Tawang, I spent some time at the Tawang Monastery before heading back to Guwahati.
If you’ve not had the opportunity to visit this awe-inspiring Himalayan region, do watch the film Lunana. It will surely make you pack your bags and take the next flight to the incredible northeast India.
