People of arunachal says this is the most advanced district in Arunachal Pradesh . It stays in the eastern most part of the state and also the place where siang (Later in assam called Brambhaputra river) river comes in the plain land . Pasighat is situated in the East siang district and is the oldest town in the arunachal. Here in the Abor hills mostly Adi tribes Inhibits . This city has a humid subtropical climate with heavy rainfall in the month of june to september . In the whole city I don’t find any high rise building making the city more beautiful , you can almost see the whole sky from the city . There is no obstruction to your wide view. Major festival of this area is solung(it is celebrated in the moth of september. It is a five day festival with lots dance songs and feast .) , aran ,etor. This are the the festivals of the adi tribe , they live in the nearby village called basti there in the mountain . Orange and tea are one of the major agriculture product .
How to reach Pasighat ?
Air
Pasighat has a small airport but it is not used for Comercial planes .They have a halipad . The commercial airport is at Dibrugarh which is 167 km away.Government is planning to increase the length of the runway so bigger commercial planes also can get down .
Rail
Nearest railway station is Murkongsleek which is 27km distant from the city , which is well connected to to guwahati city .
Road
NH 515 is going through the the city connecting the rest of the country . Daily Bus services are available from the Dimapur, Guwahati ,Itanagar.
Places to travel in Pasighat ?
Pasighat is famous for the siang river . Pasighat is totally plain area but outside it there was lots of mountain places . Following are the places to travel in Pasighat
- Pangin
- Bodak scenic area
- The Daying Ering wildlife santury
- Kekar Moyning
- Komsing
- Komlighat
- Pasigaht Buddhist Temple
- East siang District museum
- Gomsi
I have not travelled all the area where I travelled only those place I can tell about .
Pangin: It is almost 70 -80 km from the Pasighat city . It is a very beautiful place . The major attraction is that here two river siang and Siyom river meets . People here unaware of their place and the place having no tourist facility . Here also one of the major attraction is the Hanging bridge over the siang river . This bridges are old and in the middle of the bridge you can feel that the whole bridge is vibrate by the wind blow.
here you can also find lots of Orange trees . Local basti are in the upper part of the hill.
Komsing : In this place there is this types hanging bridges situated.
What to eat in the city and where to stay ?
People here are very much fond of the sweets. Most of the shops are beside the big field in the Bazzar .Here you can find many kind of sweets like chomchom, rasgulla ,sandesh , kajubarfi , jilapi(it is most famous here… every shop made this), sweet curd , rasomalai faluda then here is also different types of snaks like nimki , singara,bhujia ect . There is also different types of shops here some tailor some grocery then cloths shop and also a gun shop But lunch hotels are in the main road .
I would say that you come here and book hotels . Online hotels are expensive . Here most of the hotels are on the main road or near by the APSTC bus station . Online it was 1500 the min one and here it is 500 – 600 . Though the quality will not be same but backpackers like me budget hotel is most required .
Key points to the city
- In Pasighat most of the shops are closed before 8 in the night and opens after 7 in the morning .
- Here food price is little bit less than other part of the arunachal pradesh but costlier than assam .
- Don’t book hotel in online as they are expensive you can book after coming here or phone book it is less expensive , Online hotels are expensive here .
- Here buses and cars are less so prebook before journey.
Story
Day 7 21st April 2021
In the early morning I wake up then freshens up and take the medicine . Then after I pack my bags and go to the Hanuman temple from where the bus is going to leave . In my mobile I got the message of the Bus NO will go to the Pasighat . When I reached there was no driver of car , only some passengers planning to go different parts of the state . So then I take a tea and biscuit for refreshment . After sometime my card conductor come then I come inside the Bus . After sometime the flood of passengers come . Some family come with a car and having huge luggage . I thought they are shifting from one place to another . They have everything with them from the chair to cloths to hen in bamboo cage to fruit to . Last 2-3 seats are totally filled up by this stuff.
The bus leaves the station at around 6 and reached the ISBT around 7 . This bus station is very good . Here bus stop for 10 mins then leave.Then around 8 the bus stop for the Breakfast . I take Bread and vegetables , this place in assam and food price is very resonable. From the outside shop I take some chips and cake . After quiet a time the bus left for the journey. Now the roads are very good and bus runs very fast . Buside me there is some older people , he told me that if you want to experience the real arunachal then go into the village where you can experience the real arunachal . He said here tribal people eat even the tiger . He also said if you went to the Nagaland then obviously see the market there . You can find lots of different types of meat from snake to bear to tiger .
Bus comes in the assam – arunachal border around 11 . After that our bus enters the arunachal . Here I find most of the house are made of Bamboo and the roof by the plum leaf . Here is abundance of bamboo . Beside the road you can see more that km of only bamboo tree . Here bamboo is very cheap and it also very strong so people use bamboo for the house making .Finally it reaches to pasighat around 1pm . Then I take a auto and book a hotel . My hotel name is Oman Hotel. It is in the main bazar area. In the evening I went for the local side seeing . I went to the Bank of Siang in the evening . It looks almost similar to the rishikesh of ganga . Here the river flows very fast and have a thunder like sound here . Here in the bank you can see lots of white rock deposited by it . I find it is also the hangout spot for the locals . Here people come with friends and enjoy their drinks. Lots of local woman fishing beside the river bank . They stand in the bank of the river and then submerge the net and after sometime they pull the net . They catch only very small fish . They have a bamboo bucket where they store the fish . I stayed there for a certain time .
Then after i walked around the banks of the river . There are different types of tree . some are small ,some are very big . There is also lots of bamboo plant there .After staying there for an I start leaving .There i went to a shop for xerox . There I saw a woman making cloths . They weave by hand . It is very fascinating to see making of the cloths totally hand made . Then I start walking for the city ….It was 3 km from there . In the way I saw airport . A playground beside the airport and there lots of people playing football . I stayed there for a quite bit time and then start walking for the city . The road is very nice here … there was no big building which will block your site ….. and there was no traffic jam …. beside there is lots of trees . In the road there is a shopping mall so I time pass there a bit time .
Then reached the bazaar around 6 . Then I go to the bus station and book a ticket for Pangin next day . Sumo goes to Pangin from here in the morning .They also said that the bus time for Dimapur(Nagaland) is 2 :30 afternoon . I planned to go to dimapur next day after traveling Pangin next day Today I eat 2-3 types of sweets then reached the hotel . I don’t say sweets are very nice . It is very strong sweet . There is also different types of namkin . Then after I rest in the Hotel for sometime and thought that after 8 I will take the dinner .
Here I make a mistake when I go outside I see that every shop in the market closed . They said here after 8 no shops remain opened . After long search I find a hotel and eat there . Then after come back to the Hotel. Then after make the all necessary packing and sleep .
Day 8 : 22nd April 2021
Today I wake up early in the morning and then freshens up and went to the main road from where I will get the cab for Pangin . Then after I call to the tour operator … they said car will come around 6 in the morning . Then I wait here and car comes and I get the middle sit in the sumo. From here to the pangin it takes around 2 hour. This road goes along the siang river . sometimes it comes very near sometimes very far to the river . In the middle it stops for the breakfast . I must say the position of the restaurant is very nice . From the window of the restaurant you can see the beautiful siang river . Beside the restaurant there is shops for vegetables and Handicraft. There I find some wooden block with handle fixed on the side . I asked the locals why you made it like this . They said it is a meat chopper if you want you can take one . I said I don’t eat meat what I will do with this . Here I found this types of leaf , it might be used for addictive material
After that the car once again left for the destination . It reaches the Pangin town at around 8 in the morning . Here I asked the other passenger I want to see the meeting of the two river so where should I get down ? A lady says you need to get down at the sangam stop . From that bridge you can see the meeting of the siang and siyom river . So I get up to the car to go there but after reaching some distance there is a place where roads are being widens . So for that they are breaking the side of the mountain . In a shift only they allow to pass the car . Our car also stranded . They said the bridge is nearby . So I asked the guard can they stop the work for like one minute I will cross the road . It was too muddy . They asked the person above to stop then I crossed the road . After that they start their work once again . Big big bolders are coming out from above . Then after might be I walked 1 km and reached the sangam bridge .
It was a very charming view . Here two rivers meet . Here in this area also a new bridge was constructing by authority . In old bridge floor was made up of wood beam. The bridge was maintained by staff all time . after staying there for a quiet time I go for the onward journey to the hanging bridge . They said beside the road there is a hanging bridge which will connect to the other part of the siang river . After walking to a certain distance beside the road there is a small road goes towards down and this road will go the hanging bridge .
Hangind Bridges’s picture is in the part of the Pangin section of the “where to go ” section . It was very scary . It was made up of the wire . with wire fencing all over . In the below floor was made by the bamboo to made the bridge light . When I first step on the floor I was thinking if I made right decision or not . There was not a single person there if any accident happens no one will know where I was gone . I was walking over the bridge with holding both side of the fencing. In the middle of the bridge it was vibrating by the wind . Suddenly I saw the bridge was vibrating more . I saw another man and his dog are also come in this bridge . Then I got my courage back. I talked to the person He stays in the nearby village having vegetables . He was going to sell the vegetables . In the bridge also somewhere bamboo floor was broken . After sometime I was in the opposite part of the bridge .
Now I thought I will go to the village . so I follow the village road to go there . In the way I meet a boy who says that now it is corona time so outside people are not allowed in the village . They may fine you . So I don’t go on that side and gazing with this boy through the orange firm . Now there was no orange . In the December there was orange . This boy was going to his friends House . I also went there . I saw in the house there was a small pond like structure where there is fish. The house was made up of wood and bamboo. After that he show me the way to go to the another bridge from where I will go to the opposite side of the river . Might be after 10-15 minutes walk I reached there . Here a new strong bridge was going to build and beside that there is a same hanging bridge. Condition of this bridge is much better . After reaching to the opposite site I go with a bike to reach to the panging town .
From here I booked the car towards Pasighat . The place is very nice . Pasighat is the district head quarter of the siang district . A small veg market was there . As might be this is the market day so in the big field there was lots of temporary seller selling different household items , dresses , jewellery, food stall and manyouther item. I buy some snaks from there . I walked here and there and roaming around the town . The place is very beautiful but I am astonished that there is no tourist except me . Today was cloudy day so it is enjoyable weather. I saw the DC office , Horticulture dept then Hospital . Pasighat is a very small town with every facility . I roam around the temporary market . Here most of the shopkeepers are assam people . I find in the north east assames community is the strongest in terms of activity . People eat too much jilapi there . It was too much expensive there . After roaming sometime I come to the sumo counter once again . I talked to that person he says he was CRPF jawan before . So he is sharing lots of stories about this place and also his career . He says people don’t aware of their rights and don’t know what is inside this rich mountain . He says politicians here are totally corrupt so the road condition was such a bad .
After sometime the sumo car came and I go into the car . The car was totally packed . There was a bengali gentleman . who was here for seven year working in a rock plant . His sons and daughter are settled here also . we are talking in the way in the meanwhile I reached the destination around 2 in the afternoon . After that I take a bath and goes for the bus station where I will take the bus toward Dimapur . Here might be very few tourist come as people astonished when I say that I have come here only for travelling . The counter person said, the bus gone to the Horticulture college as all students are going back to the dimapur as college is going to close as the covid situation deteriorates . The bus left from here around 4 o clock . I must say the driver was very nice , bus was running smoothly, they just stop for toilet after sometimes. Around 8 -9 It was going through the bogibeel bridge which was one of the longest rail cum road bridge . It was 4.94 km long . Around 11 it stops for dinner. . As the covid spreads too much so they said you have to eat in the bus . But I eat in the restaurant as there social distance was maintained . There you get only the packed food . After I take a rest and go inside the bus and sleep .
