East Arunachal Cycling Tour

We begin our adventure with a transfer from the Dibrugarh airport to Inthong, a village close to the Assam –Arunachal Pradesh border. Inthong is a tea-growing region, and our stay for the night, the Singpho Eco Lodge is situated among lush green tea gardens. The Singphos are a tribe found across Myanmar, China, and North-east India, known for their fighting skills, herbal healing, craftsmanship, and hospitality. The Singpho eco-lodge is a spacious property with rooms built in the traditional style on stilts, using locally available material such as bamboo and timber. While at the lodge, don’t miss traditional Singpho cuisine. We especially recommend a local tea known as Phalap that is grown by the Singpho people in their own gardens without the use of any chemical fertilizer or pesticide. The tea leaves are processed by frying them and stuffing them in bamboo hollows, and allowing them to dry slowly in wood-fired kitchen ovens over a period of three months. Because of the long processing time, the Phalap is rarely sold in commercial quantities and is considered more of an emotional artifact close to Singpho culture than a commercial enterprise. We raise a cup of the finest Phalap tea as a befitting toast to the beginning of an exciting journey of adventure and discovery.

Meals: D

Today we enter Arunachal Pradesh and begin cycling due east. We cross the Dihing river and cycle through the historical town of Ledo, the easternmost railway station in India and the starting point of the historical Ledo road – a 1726 km road built by the Allies during the Second World War to connect Ledo in Assam to China. Constructed under the supervision of General Joseph Stilwell of the US Army, the Ledo road was the lifeline that allowed the Allies to send supplies to China as it was being overrun by Japan. Today, much of the road has been reclaimed by the jungle, and it is through this jungle that we ride onwards to our destination, the town of Miao. We stay tonight at the Namdapha Jungle Camp, a delightful property on the banks of the Noa-Dihing river made entirely from bamboo, timber, and thatched roofs.

Meals: B, D

Distance Cycled: 70km

This is an exciting day as we cross the Noa-Dihing river to head further east towards our eventual destination, the Namdapha Tiger Reserve. The flora consists of sub-tropical vegetation such as bamboo forests and betel nut trees. The Noa-Dihing river flowing through the dense forests with the Mishmi hills in the backdrop presenting a picture postcard setting to the day’s ride. We stay for the night at the Deban Forest Camp, a colonial-era forest guest house run by the government. It is a simple and pleasing property that serves good food with comfortable beds and great views of the forests.

Meals: B, D

Distance Cycled: 35km

Today we give our bikes a rest and exchange our riding gear for hiking boots as we go hiking in the Namdapha Tiger Reserve. Spread over an area of 1985 square km, the reserve is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot on account of the extremely rich flora and fauna it supports. It is home to some critically endangered mammals such as the tiger, the snow leopard, the Malayan sun bear, and the Indian wolf. However, the mammal most associated with the park is the elusive Red Panda that is native to the region, although highly endangered. We spend 3-4 hours in the park guided by a naturalist to explore its amazing wildlife.

Meals: B, L, D

A great day of cycling awaits as we head northwards across the Mishmi Hills, a mountain range that acts as a transition between the Himalayas and the Indo-Burma mountains. The fauna and the geography alter drastically through the ride today – from tea estates around the town of Medo to the orange orchards of Wakro from where oranges have exported the world over for their unique flavor. We experience the colorful lives and livelihoods of the Mishmi people who inhabit this region. We stop for lunch at Wakro before resuming the day’s ride. The terrain consists of a short uphill at the start of the day’s ride followed by a long descent. We stay tonight at the Golden Pagoda eco-resort, which has charming wooden cottages spread atop a hillock overlooking the Tenga Pani river and surrounded by pristine forests. Looming large over the resort is the awe-inspiring Kongmu Kham or the Golden Pagoda, a Buddhist temple built in the Myanmarese style. In the evening, we pay a visit to the temple.

Meals: B, D

Distance Cycled: 80km

Today we ride due north across the mighty Lohit, a powerful, swift-flowing river originating in Tibet that is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra river. The Lohit is also known as the river of blood because of the high levels of lateritic soil that it brings down from the Mishmi hills. Wild orchids and rhododendrons bloom along its fertile banks. Once across the Lohit, we enter the Himalayan foothills and ride past low rising mountains and fields of wild orchids to reach Roing, the last major township along India’s north-eastern frontier. Roing is located on a watershed where the Brahmaputra, entering India from Tibet, takes a south-westerly bend, offering great views of the Himalayas on one side and the mighty Brahmaputra on the other. We stay tonight at the Mishmi Hills Camp, a quaint resort nestled among low hills and overlooking the Eze river, a frolicking, dancing stream that joyously goes on to meet the Brahmaputra a few km downstream. The cheerful energy of the gushing Eze river will wash over you as you look back on a wonderful adventure that comes to an end over a traditional Mishmi dinner, and under a starlit north-eastern sky.

Meals: B, D

Distance Cycled: 70km

We head towards Dibrugarh in Assam and proceed from there in accordance with our onwards travel plans.