Seat of Our Pants » tawang

Tawang Valley Villages

Jaime — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:04:23 +0000

The Tawang valley is not only home to the massive Gompa, but also to a number of traditional villages. Because we’d spent so much time getting up there, we told ourselves that we would stay at least two days in the area. Our rear ends needed a rest and the thought of traveling again made our eyes glaze over. So, to fill our extra day, a traditional village tour was organized with three of our traveling buddies.

Our tour consisted of visits to three hillside villages. Because our group of five were the only foreigners in the area, we had the villages to ourselves. We didn’t receive much explanation from our guide, rather we were allowed to cruise through the villages, snapping photos and exchanging smiles with the locals.

It was in these villages that we saw the Monpa hat in action. We were also introduced to the fairytale-like stone tower homes of the Monpa people.

Check out our photo gallery below for some of the highlights.

[View with PicLens]

Tawang Valley India is a large enough country to have corners that...
Movie Night in Tawang Yay for local culture! The other night, we were invited...
Tawang Gompa We’ve come to the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeast...

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Helicoptering above the Himalayas

Martin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:13:32 +0000

Geography and politics have conspired to make the Tawang Valley very hard to reach. In fact, the only way to get there is to either bounce around in a jeep for two days, or to fly there with a helicopter. We did the jeeps on the way in – a scenic if somewhat uncomfortable way of reaching our destination.

On the way out, we opted for the chopper. Since people are comparatively poor in this part of the world, the Indian government partially subsidies the ride – an hour-long ride set us back ~60USD each.

While the weather was a bit hazy, the trip was still a memory for life. It’s not every day you find yourself cruising in a 1950s Soviet helicopter above the rice terraces of eastern Bhutan.

...but what's up with that beard??

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Movie Night in Tawang

Martin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:06:01 +0000

Yay for local culture! The other night, we were invited to the premiere of the movie ‘Journey of Life’, a film made by young Tawang people. We spent three dollars each on the entrance fee, something that entitled us to sit on the nice couches pictured below. The plastic chairs were a dollar less. Everybody else sat on those. Embarrassing but hey – we even got bottle service (well, I had one bottle of beer).

The movie itself was a surprise: a healthy old-fashioned slap-stick comedy, starring two slobbering country fools that stagger around Tawang town, messing up royally wherever they go. Even though the movie was entirely in the local Monpa language, we had no trouble following the ‘plot’.

Unfortunately we had to leave after an hour because the ear-splitting sound effects were so loud that we had to stuff napkins in our ears. Good times.

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Tawang Valley

Martin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:06:25 +0000

India is a large enough country to have corners that are totally un-Indian. Tawang Valley, located in a corner of Arunachal Pradesh, is such a place. Ethnically, this is a side-branch of Tibet, and the local Monpa people speak a dialect of Tibetan. The food is similarly Tibetan-influenced, as are buildings, clothing and the general feel of the place.

It is similar to its cousin region Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, but it is infinitely more lush and green. Since the area is claimed by China, there is also a strong military presence here. The situation is, however, very calm.

We find it to be an interesting place to visit for a couple of days. The surrounding villages are truly scenic, and on clear days one can see how truly majestic the valley is. Not bad for a far-flung corner.

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