| A Nunnery in Tawang |
[Jul. 13th, 2007|03:05 pm] |
Untitled: at the Dhukhang Jangshup Choling Nunnery, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
We visited an AnneGompa(a nunnery) after Ptso. The search itself was good with us trying to find a road that goes close to the nunnery; we took a road, came back and took another road before reaching the path down the side of a hill to the nunnery. A 20min walk down this path took us to the nunnery. The nunnery was pretty empty but for 3-4 students. We interacted with them for some time, not speaking the same language, but through signs and photos.
( 8 more photos )
North-East, Mar 17-Apr 1, 2007 |
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| The way to Pankang Teng Tso(aka Ptso) |
[Jul. 11th, 2007|02:35 pm] |
Silence: a pond on the way to Pankang Teng Tso(aka Ptso), near Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
We started early on the 27th, driving up the curvy roads from Tawang gaining altitude, going towards Pankang Teng Tso also known as Ptso Lake(Tso means lake). It was foggy as we went higher and when we reached the view-point for the lake, the visibility was no more then 20ft; we did climb through the snow to the view point to see a few plants surviving in the snow but not the lake itself. The road here is used by the army and we saw a few trucks go up, making their way through the fog; this road leads to BumLa, the border and then into Tibet.
On our way back, we stopped at a smaller lake; the calmness of the water, the slow silent movement of the clouds, the wetness of the earth and the dearth of warmth was something to experience. We also stopped at a gompa which was a small climb up from the road, it was empty but for a large number of prayer flags surrounding it.
( 8 more photos )
North-East, Mar 17-Apr 1, 2007 |
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| An evening at a tea factory |
[Jul. 3rd, 2007|02:20 pm] |
 We reached the Tata tea factory at Teok late in the evening of the 23rd to be met by Rinku who managed the place. A large area around the factory were the tea estates and the factory was where the leaves were brought to to be converted to tea powder. Rinku showed us the process of blow-drying, crushing the leaves, fermenting the powder in rows of shelves, and then a large oven maintained at a particular temperature gets the tea powder ready for the last step of separation into different grades based on the size of the granules. We later spent some time at the old-time British style bungalow which was Rinku's home listening to Rinku and his wife's tales while their son kept us entertained with his antics.
We left the place with a packet of tea each, heading towards Jorhat where we were to spend the night. We were to start our journey towards Tawang the next day.
North-East, Mar 17-Apr 1, 2007 |
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| Shillong |
[May. 14th, 2007|08:38 pm] |
Gap: walking around Police Bazaar, Shillong.
A combination of the old and the new, Shillong was much better for us coming from Guwahati. The weather was cool in the nights and pleasant in the mornings but we were only using the town as a jumping pad to places further south in Meghalaya; we ended up spending only the morning of the 19th walking around a couple of places.
( A walk around Police Bazaar-10 )
( Back to School-7 )
North-East, Mar 17-Apr 1, 2007 |
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| Guwahati and around |
[Apr. 17th, 2007|03:34 pm] |
Boat ride: on the Brahmaputra, on our last day in Guwahati, Assam.
Guwahati, the gateway to the north-east, seemed to have outgrown its space between the Brahmaputra and the mountains; haphazard development leading to narrow roads and lots of traffic, maybe the reason why bus and taxi drivers are called pilots around here. Abound with door-less Sumo taxis, autorickshaws with doors and a lot of policemen with rifles and machine guns patrolling the markets, we landed here on the 17th.
( A sweet welcome )
( A visit to Kalashethra )
( Navagraha temple )
( Around Hajo and Poa Mecca )
( Silk village )
( By the Brahmaputra )
North-East, Mar 17-Apr 1, 2007 |
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| Flying to Guwahati |
[Apr. 11th, 2007|12:52 pm] |
First rays: Flying to Guwahati, the sun rises and lights up the plane's windows with its orange glow
We were taking a night flight from Bangalore to Delhi and then an early morning flight from there to Guwahati. None of us were feeling sleepy when we were munching up some steamed corn outside the domestic arrival terminal at Delhi; later walking to the Balaji restaurant outside the departure terminal where we sat, sleepless, waiting for the time to catch the next flight.
On the flight, the sun indicated that it was ready by painting the whole sky with clear shades of orange and blue, then rose with its orange glow lighting up the whole plane. Later, we were lucky to see a clear sight of the Himalayas in the distance, and even though it was a little hazy, we could make out the bare mountains closer by and rivers flowing through the lands below.
( 1 more photo, of the Himalayas and the rivers ) |
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