[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Junaid42465

Hats of to you guys for such an adventurous ride. No small feat riding 100+ kms in the mountains and that too in the heavy rain.

.

I think you're the same dude i was interacting with on Facebook the cyclops group about using the triban if i am not wrong. I was gobsmacked that you were actually using a road bike there in arunachal lol! I was planning on getting the triban 500 wider tyres to gravelize it.

Please PM me, would like to talk to you off this thread. I was in Arunachal for a month last year.

[Junaid42465]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I think you're the same dude i was interacting with on Facebook the cyclops group about using the triban if i am not wrong. I was gobsmacked that you were actually using a road bike there in arunachal lol! I was planning on getting the triban 500 wider tyres to gravelize it.

Yup, that was me. Unfortunately, I'm yet to take my Triban to Arunachal. I did some rides on my 20 kg heavy Hercules MTB with normal touring tyres.

I might have been a member of Team-BHP since donkey years, but somehow, I'm yet to send a PM to anyone. I couldn't figure out how to do it.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Junaid42465

Yup, that was me. Unfortunately, I'm yet to take my Triban to Arunachal. I did some rides on my 20 kg heavy Hercules MTB with normal touring tyres.

I might have been a member of Team-BHP since donkey years, but somehow, I'm yet to send a PM to anyone. I couldn't figure out how to do it.

Sorry, but your profile says you do not wish to receive private messages and emails through teambhp. I was unable to send you one as well.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Junaid42465

Hats of to you guys for such an adventurous ride. No small feat riding 100+ kms in the mountains and that too in the heavy rain.

For off road riding, it's Arunachal with lots of off beat tracks and many of the small towns have riverside camping. For good tarmac riding with some twisties, its Meghalaya. Almost 80% of roads are great, including some of the interior areas. In Nagaland, the main highway from Assam to Dimapur and Dimapur to Kohima, further to Imphal is again under road widening process. Not a good idea during monsoon.

Thank you Junaid for so many insights.
Which area/circuit do you suggest for 9 days bike (motorcycle) riding in NE? Some place similar to Kibithu/Dong, non touristy , remote place.
We are planning for another trip early next year and are exploring some offbeat place in NE.
Will surely catchup with you whenever we visit next.

[mihir_m13]

What a visual treat my friend. Thanks for bringing it to us.

[Junaid42465]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Thank you Junaid for so many insights.
Which area/circuit do you suggest for 9 days bike (motorcycle) riding in NE? Some place similar to Kibithu/Dong, non touristy , remote place.
We are planning for another trip early next year and are exploring some offbeat place in NE.
Will surely catchup with you whenever we visit next.

Hey, apologies for the delayed reply.

If you want to go to non touristy places, simply avoid the Tawang axis. But, you can ride the Orang - Shergoan - Tenga axis, then take the new road from Tenga to Naharlagun via Seppa. An Assamese couple on Youtube had done it in their new Safari. Roads axis Itanagar - Ziro - Daporijo is in poor state. Otherwise, Daporijo is beautiful quaint little town. Check my Insta posts from last year Oct-Nov. https://www.instagram.com/junaid_pedals/

From Dapo, there are places like Nacho village with a ancient cave temple, river island camping etc. But, as said roads are poor. Further the road goes to the Border village of Taksing and Gelemo.

So, good roads are through Assam from Itanagar to Jonai. The central region Likabali to Mechuka is again great for ride, but about 30 km from Likabali, the road is under constr for next 40-50 km. Bassar town, before Along/Aalo has homestays for experiencing the local tribal life. There is also a riverside camping too.

Further North is the town of Aalo, again local culture and there are some clubs/tour doing paragliding over the Siyom river. Enjoy local food & beer. Aalo can actually accessed via three axis,
- Likabali - Bassar - Aalo (big patch under construction).
- Pasighat - Pangin -Aalo (small detour near the bridge that washed of in landslide last year, but over all great roads.
- Pasighat - Yingkiong - Aalo (great roads).

Mechuka, again famous and touristy but definitely not like Tawang.

The roads in the plains are silk smooth and beautiful for simple relaxed ride. Likabali - Jonai/Ruskin - Pasighat - Roing - Tezu - Parsuram Kund - Namsai.


As for the Kaho route, it diverges after Tezu. I haven't been on that route. But you'll find a lots of motovlogger on youtube. Last one year many have done it. I thnk it just has a few bad patches.

a 9 days trip can be planned, to cover a lot. But if you want to go to Kaho, I think 2 days up and 2 days down would be needed from Tinsukia/Dibrugarh itself.

My suggestion would be, if you are carrying the bikes on train, book till Dibrugarh. Most trains terminate at Dibrugarh and Airport is also at Dibrugarh only. But, if you are renting bikes, I don't know if they have it there. You might have to take it in Guwahati. So, riding from Guwahati to Dbrg is another 1 day.

Then do your Kaho trip for 5 days. You'll have to apply for Inner Line permit to Arunachal, except the Ruskin-Pasighat-Tezu-Namsai circuit. Also, Kaho being a border town, you might need some paper work with the Army. Please check YouTube and Insta for the same.

Hope, my whatever little input I could provide will help you plan your trip. Heck, looks like I know more about Arunachal than my own home state of Assam.

Navigation Tips:
------------------
- For better recce of routes, use google earth on PC, you'll be able see how old the satellite image was and also see roads/tracks which are other wise not marked.

- Download NaviMaps by MapMyIndia, you get offline maps for free and places are named correctly (including villages). In google maps, things are misplaced at many places or you see only the Chinese names.

- OpenStreetMap has more details on obeat roads as all professional GPS equipment uses OSM only and All others take it from OSM. Best part of OSM is, we can always update missing roads or change road alignment etc. All govt agencies, from NHAI, PWD, BRO, BSNL, electricity deptt etc would always update the maps. I'm in cycling and also love driving and riding, so I keep on updating the OSM maps.

[cooldip]

Amazing write up Shubhendra.

It took me a week to read the entire thread. I was just blown away with the level of detail. I've never been a biker and never enjoyed reading any biking thread before this one.

Its an inspiration for me to explore Arunachal - the real Arunachal and not the touristy bits.

[Kandisa]

Great write up and amazing experience. I happened to browse through your log just before starting a trip to Arunachal in 2nd week of October. And I must say I did get some really useful piece of information (especially about that bakery at Tezu and the road block around Khupa). Just came back yesterday from the trip, done in my Vcross, and endured an even worse weather spell for most of the days after entering Arunachal with 5 days of continuous incessant rainfall. Will share a log soon.

[haisaikat]

Wonderful writeup and even more the comprehensive coverage of Arunachal, probably biggest and one with maximum reach on Team Bhp in a single journey of AP. The pictures are beautiful, and you guys did it 2 wheelers that is even more thrilling.

Even I had planned AP for this September with help from BHPian gunin but considering I had only 8 days within AP it was not enough to cover from east to west, so decided to drop it. Majority tourists visit only Tawang side in AP. It seems reading your log that at least 20 days required and may be its wiser to do this in parts rather than together. Saw that you did skip Ziro Valley and Mechuka based on the guidance received, but I wish to include them for sure.

The Bum la views are awesome, everytime someone post photos it feels like heaven. Rated 5 stars.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Kandisa

And I must say I did get some really useful piece of information (especially about that bakery at Tezu and the road block around Khupa). Will share a log soon.

I hope, you enjoyed your trip. My sole intention was to let people know these minor details to plan their travel as I couldn't find much information online ad had to rely on local's suggestions to plan the travel.

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Majority tourists visit only Tawang side in AP. It seems reading your log that at least 20 days required and may be its wiser to do this in parts rather than together. Saw that you did skip Ziro Valley and Mechuka based on the guidance received, but I wish to include them for sure.

The Bum la views are awesome, everytime someone post photos it feels like heaven. Rated 5 stars.

I don think entire Arunachal can be covered even in 20 days, Its HUGE and it takes time to cover even 200-250 kms a day.
If you have been to Himalayas of north then you may want to skip Tawang. But Zemithang is a must visit place in that area.

[berserk]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Through some research and contacts, came across a car and bike rental company called ‘Kohua bike rentals’ run by a gentleman Danish. He is a calm and straight forward guy who promised us 2021 Himalayans at competitive rates and valid RSA (RoadSide Assistance). He also agreed to get the saddle bag mount fitted in each of the bikes at some nominal cost.

@Shubhendra, thanks to you for sharing the bike rental company here. I used their services recently on a bike trip to Shillong, just a couple of weeks back. We booked a Himalayan bs6 with saddlestays for a week and had no issues with the bike as it had just returned from service.

I would also recommend Kohua for bike rental. The rates are competitive and the refund process was immediate after returning the vehicle. But they required quite a bit of follow-up from my side to confirm the booking. Similar frustrating experiences while making hotel bookings also in Meghalaya

[shyamkrish]

Hello All,

Iam planning a trip to the North-East starting April 23rd. I have visited Sikkim before. I will be flying to Imphal from Mumbai. The reason Imphal is to meet a very old and close friend from college. We studied engineering together in 1995 and have been in touch. So I will be meeting him first and he is from Manipur.

My journey is open ended with atleast 2 weeks. I plan to stay in Imphal for 2 days and then myself and my friend plan to go to Arunachal Pradesh. I plan to take a flight to Dibrugarh and then go to Roing, stay there for 2 days, then take a APSTC govt bus to Anini, stay there for 2-3 days.

Then come back from Anini to Roing, get to Wakro, visit Glow Lake and then Pangsau Pass/Parasuram Kund and return to Dibrugarh, get to Imphal and fly back.

I estimate this might take 15 days. My friend, though is Manipuri, has never visited AP. So he is excited. My question is, I would like to use public transport wherever possible and only use taxi if needed.

I noticed that when we reach Dibrugarh from Imphal at noon, there are no buses to Roing. I don't want to waste a day in Dibrugarh. If we take a taxi on the same day, what would be the best price to reach Roing from Dirugarh?

[adv_tourer]

Firstly, thank you Shubhendra ! I must say that this has been a wonderful write-up & a great one to read! It's almost like you are giving a virtual tour of all these wonderful experiences! Covering these off-beat places is one thing, but to document it so beautifully is certainly praise-worthy. Gives a sneak-peak into the mystic & unknown roads of Arunachal Pradesh. The roads that you guys have embarked upon is a dream for many including myself!

Me and a couple of friends are planning a similar one to Arunachal and would love to hear your inputs. Can you DM me please? I'm not able to message you directly & hence the request.

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks again!