PLACES IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH I HAVE VISITED FROM TINSUKIA
Arunachal Pradesh is the remotest and perhaps the most beautiful state of India. The Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, viz., Lohit, Siang and Dibang bisect the state and Tinsukia is the gateway to the Southern half ( while Tezpur is the gateway to the northern half. We had also visited Tipi and Bomdila fom Tezpur.) But the places listed here are all accessible from Tinsukia. One needs an Inner Line Permit to visit the state, which can be obtained from the Deputy Resident Commissioner of Arunachal Pradesh at Mohanbari near Dibrugarh. There are a number of beautiful places, some of which are -
India-Burma Border -
About 160 kms. from Tinsukia is Pangsau Pass the border between India and Burma. I visited it in January 1998 ( see photo).
TEZU - Headquarters of Lohit district, which is a beautiful small town.
PARASHURAM KUND - Holy place on lower reaches of Lohit river. It is said that Lord Parasuram could get rid of the axe that killed his mother only after a bath here. This is accessible only in winter. Lots of pilgrims from all over India visit this place on Makara Sankaranthi day ( 15th January ) every year.
CHANGLANG - A district town on the bank of Tirap river located on the lower reaches of Patkai hills is near Burma border and an ideal hill town for a short stay.
ROING - Roing is a small town in Dibang valley with a well-planned garden and a beautiful forest lodge. The journey to this place from Tinsukia involves the crossing of Brahmaputra on a ferry. It is a pleasant experience to load the jeep on the ferry and the crossing is an experience of a lifetime.
MAYADIYA 
- Located at about 7000 feet above sea level , this place has very heavy snow fall in February.For one from Chennai and Mumbai, it was a thrilling experience.
DEOMALI - Lying on the bank of Burri Dehing river, this is an excellent picnic spot. This also has an excellent school run by Ramakrishna Mission serving the local tribal population.
MIAO - A sub-divisional town of Changlang, this is near the Noadehing river and has a Tibetan carpet centre, making beautiful carpets. From here, one can visit the most beautiful place I have seen, viz., Namdapha.
NAMDAPHA
An Out of The World Experience
Namdapha, a mysterious name, as if hidden by a veil of secrecy, like its hornbills and its gibbons -- a fitting name for the most bio-diverse region in this country.
The rain-forests of Namdapha hold an absolute riot of life with myriad species seeming to burst forth from every niche and pore. With an altitudinal variation from 200 msl to 4500 msl, the park harbours a great variation in both flora and fauna. This variation has given rise to the growth of peninsular as well as alpine flora.
It's the place where the hornbills rule the skies, the whirring of their wings during take-off; their huge bodies silhoutted in the evening sky reminding one of some huge prehistoric bird. The serenity and stillness of Namdapha is punctuated only by the shrill shrieks of the hill mynas and the cackles and whistles of the White-capped Laughing Thrush.
Namdapha is the last stronghold of the Hoolock Gibbon -- India's only ape species. A gibbon in motion is one of the most glorious sights a rain forest has to offer. Every morning a primieval drama enacts itself in the tree-tops of this forest. The male hoolock starts with one or two tentative hoots, others join in and the group launches into an ecstatic song and finally the female takes over with a rising peal that gets faster and faster and higher and higher until it becomes a high trill of tonal purity that no human voice could ever hope to match.
The stay in the beautiful Forest Lodge
, the early morning walk into the forest and collecting colourful stones from the river bed are all unforgettable experiences and the words of Robert Frost '
