Arunachal - Rolling Through The Hills

Generous hosts, scrumptious food, a rich heritage and dreamy hilltops-a 12-day drive through Arunachal Pradesh lays out all that makes the simple, free-hearted northeastern state one of the most delightful travel destinations in India

- Mitali Saran

A bit of westernmost Arunachal Pradesh pokes out between Tibet and Bhutan, like a small nose. Near its tip is Zemithang village, in the Pangchen Valley. Think of a wide meadow beside the restless, hazel Nyamjang Chu river. We have driven about 90 km from Tawang over mountain roads-stopping for tea at the beautiful Sangetsar Lake with its prayer flags and golden ducks, and negotiating a 66 hairpin-bend descent to this meadow. The village has laid out a lunch banquet, including the best pork I have ever had. I hope they fed the same dish to the Dalai Lama in 1958, when he stopped here to rest during his escape into lifelong exile.

The sun is sharp at 8,000 ft, but the air is fresh, the beverages are cool, and the food is insanely good. Apple-cheeked children peek at us from behind the knees of the village dignitaries. A snooze on the grass would be nice, or an excursion to the allegedly aphrodisiac lake Chamling Tso, on the Chinese border. But our 'Trans-Arunachal Drive 2022' convoy is expected back in Tawang at dot o'clock, to be flagged in by the dot o'clock-loving chief minister. The ceremony will mark the end of an epic 2,400 km road trip that began in the furthest east of the state, two weeks ago, and which ends here in the furthest west.

The convoy is incomplete. As many as 30 burly Mahindra 4x4s wait, stamping and snorting at the foot of the mountain. "How the f*** does someone lose their keys over lunch!" snaps the radio. Only a fool would, in Deepest Remotesville. It takes 10 minutes of panicked scrabbling for me to finally find them. I catch up with the convoy at the 13th-century Gorsam Chorten nearby, its ancient painted eyes giving me the ancient painted side eye.