[deepakdsz]

This travelogue is based on a road trip to Arunachal Pradesh in 2025, starting from Bangalore. Unlike well-documented routes to Ladakh or other parts of North India, information on road trips to East Arunachal is often limited. This account aims to guide future travelers planning a similar expedition.



Key Takeaways & Considerations:

Road Conditions & Infrastructure: Arunachal Pradesh is still developing its tourism infrastructure. Expect basic and limited stays, especially in remote areas. I caried a sleeping bag just in case to account for itchy blankets. Road quality can be challenging, with twisty and sometimes poor surfaces.

Weather: Be prepared for cold weather and carry extra insulation like quilts or sleeping bags. Sunsets occur early, around 5 PM, which, combined with challenging roads, can limit the distance covered each day.

Family Travel: As of 2025, the route, especially beyond Tawang, is not recommended for family travel due to road conditions and limited infrastructure. It's more suited for adventurous travelers. Improvements are expected in the next 2-3 years.

Route Planning: The trip focused on Mechuka, Anini/Acheso, and Kibithoo. To avoid potential Kumbh Mela traffic, the initial route used NH16 via Vizag and Kolkata, returning via NH44. NH30 + NH44 is preferred for less traffic compared to NH16.

Inner Line Permit (ILP): An ILP is mandatory for visiting Arunachal Pradesh. It can be obtained online. Make 2 copies of it. (https://eilp.arunachal.gov.in/preTuristEIlpKYC) at a cost of approximately ₹500 per person. The ILP allows a maximum stay of 14 days. Include relevant districts like West Siang, Dibang Valley, Anjaw, and Shi Yomi in your ILP. If Tawang is on your itinerary, include West Kameng and Tawang districts.

Detailed Itinerary & Experiences:

Day 1: Bangalore to Vizag (5 AM Start), likely will encounter fog after hoskote.
Early start recommended due to traffic on NH16.
Breakfast options near Mulbagal and after merging to Tirupati rd.
Lunch at Nellore Toll Plaza restaurant - good food and rest rooms
Reached Vizag by 8 PM. Rajahmundry is an alternative halt if delayed.
Roads were good throughout, except for traffic.

Day 2: Vizag to Kharagpur
Breakfast recommended near Vizag. No good options once on the highway.
Good Odisha thali at Hotel Atithi, Ongalpada.
Heavy traffic between Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack, speed cams too
Bumpy roads approaching Kharagpur (West Bengal).
Several stay options in Kharagpur, next to highway at entry point
We preferred to stay at Kharagpur to avoid entering kolkata city.


Odiya Thali

Day 3: Kharagpur to Siliguri/Fulbari
Breakfast options available around kolkata.
Take the Kolkata bypass near Howrah and stick to NH12 towards Siliguri.
Stayed at Fulbari to bypass Siliguri traffic and save time.
TIC rooms in Fulbari, next to highway is a decent option for a night halt.
Be cautious of barricades and wrong-side traffic on NH12.
Daylight ends by 5:15 PM from here onwards

Day 4: Fulbari to Tezpur via Guwahati
Plenty of food options on this stretch. Jim's Motel was great for food.
Bypassed Guwahati; the recommended route otherside of rive had poor conditions.
Mix of concrete and bouncy road surfaces.
You will encounter Traffic from Bhutan. Jaigaon is a 17 km detour for Bhutan entry with an ID card.
Shergaon is the recommended halt for Tawang-bound travelers. Start early to reach before 5:30 PM due to challenging routes in Arunachal Pradesh.




Bhutan reg car parked next

Day 5: Tezpur to Aalo via Silapathar (not via Pasighat)
Good roads for the most part.
ILP check at the Arunachal border. Officers here were excited on how far we drove to visit their land.
Reached Aalo by 5 PM; extremely cold from here.
Plenty stay and food options available in Aalo.

Day 6: Aalo to Mechuka
Start early due to construction and time windows set for travel.
As on 2025 there was construction work ref to as 'cutting work' in progress, this has led traffic halts upto ah hour at few points after Pene. Attaching pic for reference. We were lucky to cover this part on sunday. No work on Sunday.


Pene to Tato, Road closure timings.

Extremely bad and non-existent roads after Kaying.
Slushy, muddy roads due to rain and snow. Not recommended for low-clearance vehicles. 4x4 or RWD preferred.
Army-run café at Kaying for snacks and tea


While driving down towards Roing, we had to stop at a waterfall to clean vehicle lights

Day 7: Mechuka
We stayed at Zenyor's Homestay. Hospitality could not get any better than here. Great conversations and clean stay. Our host woke up at 5am to prepare tea before our journey
Points of interest: Border, bridges, monasteries and Salman Point.







Day 8: Mechuka to Roing via Aalo and Pasighat
Started at 5 AM.
Delays due to constructionwork.
Lunch at Aalo, reached Roing at 8 PM.
Good roads from Aalo to Roing.
Basic and limited homestay options in Roing.
Good food at Hotel Kakhu, Roing.
Here were realized we had to drop 1 option. It would be Anini or Kibithoo. Based on recommendation from staff of hotel Kaku who had visited both these places, we opted to visit Anini and dropped Kibithoo


Road closure timings Tato to Pene, despite this we had to spend 1 hr waiting for road work to complete

Day 9: Roing to Anini
Two checkpoints after Roing (alcohol restrictions). However all tea shops after that checkpoint server beer and whisky with hot water
Scenic and narrow roads, with some steep off-road patches ('sinking zone') after Mayodia pass. Mayodia Pass had snow (no AMS concerns).
Good stay options in Anini.


at Mayodia Pass

Day 10: Acheso
Drove towards Acheso and Bruni border (last point).
Dree-Afra camp is a good tent stay option beside the Dri River.
Drove until the check post (end of road for civilians). China was 20+ km from there.


from inside the campus of Dree-Afra camps


The roads were covered with snow, we drove until checkpost where the road ends. China is 20+ KM from there.

Day 11: Anini to Namsai
Scenic drive, good roads for the most part.
Reached Namsai by 5:30 PM.
Visited the Namsai monastery.
Stayed at 'Woodpeckers' in Namsai (great stay option).

Day 12 Onwards: Return Journey
Namsai to Guwahati (via Kaziranga National Park).
Guwahati to Fulbari, Fulbari to Varanasi.
Varanasi to Nagpur and then to Bangalore.
Recommended route from Siliguri/Fulbari to Varanasi: Siliguri towards Patna via Purnia, bypass Patna, then towards Varanasi.
Varanasi to Nagpur is straightforward (NH30 merging with NH-44).
NH-16 is an alternative but has heavy traffic.

[aah78]

Note from Support: Thread moved out of the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[deepakdsz]

https://youtu.be/PNiPbOQ8Qn0?si=TIfhxhsBv2D2iMcB

Glimpse of a bad stretch after Mayodia pass towards Anini. Mechuka was even bad, havent d/l clips from dashcam

[W.S.T.R.]

Superb. Planning to do this in near future. It's still a road less taken but a fascinating one for travelers & adventure lovers.

Keep safe. Keep travelling.

[Rookie_Jeeper]

Originally Posted by deepakdsz

This account aims to guide future travelers planning a similar expedition.

Thanks for taking the effort to document and the photos are great as well. Hoping to do the same route on my Compass in the near future.

I was also quite happy to see Kharagpur in your itinerary. That's a name you don't get to see very often. I have lived 5 years in Kharagpur and have lots of good memories associated with the place, so it's very close to my heart

[lejhoom]

Originally Posted by deepakdsz

Glimpse of a bad stretch after Mayodia pass towards Anini. Mechuka was even bad, havent d/l clips from dashcam

Isn’t it interesting to note locals (most probably) merrily traveling in small cars like the white one in the front on such bad roads?

[travelog]

Thanks for documenting this trip! My wife and me had done Mechuka recently while covering most of Arunachal ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ti-baleno.html (20-day self-drive trip to Arunachal Pradesh in a Maruti Baleno) )

Those wanting this adventure must do this in the next 12-18 months by then, the entire road construction get over and the thrill would have gone from this trip.

I think only the Miao- Vijoynagar would remain as an adventure for the next few years before it gets reconstructed & Arunachal Frontier Highway gets completed.

[deepakdsz]

Originally Posted by Rookie_Jeeper

I was also quite happy to see Kharagpur in your itinerary.

Nice to know about your Kharagpur exp. Past several trip Kharagpur is preferred halt as that saves time. Back in 2016, during the GQ drive we had a flat tyre abt 80km before Kharagpur. Sidewall of micheline was torn, we found replacement at Kharagpur and the tyre shop (to fix, sold from another shop) remained open late beyond 9PM for us. That was very helpful gesture. Wish you the best on your drive plans

Originally Posted by lejhoom

Isn’t it interesting to note locals (most probably) merrily traveling in small cars like the white one in the front on such bad roads?

Yes. i admire how easy those Altos and Brezzas make it appear.
The white car ahead was driven by an experienced, senior gentleman. We got acquainted an hr before that day. Later on that route it struggled to climb a steep slushy trail. Reattempts with more momentum got it through. Skillfully driven as the risk to damage underbody was very high there.

Originally Posted by travelog

Those wanting this adventure must do this in the next 12-18 months by then, the entire road construction get over and the thrill would have gone from this trip.

Agree on the timeframe to get the adventure out of this route. Thanks for the link, will read through now

[Rainbay]

Inner Line Permit (ILP): An ILP is mandatory for visiting Arunachal Pradesh

Hi Deepakdsz thank you for sharing the detailed travelogue. Certain to inspire, instruct future road trippers like myself.

Cognizant of Arunachal Pradesh being border state & visiting it and neighbouring States require ILP. Maybe its time to do away with this stipulation for a fellow citizens travelling to these regions. Not only would an administrative requirement be done away with but much improved security situation & economic integration of these regions not warrant this paper. That is not upto us but for powers that be, but just triggered thought on why citizens travelling to part of our country need this 'diluted visa'.

[deepakdsz]

Originally Posted by Rainbay

just triggered thought on why citizens travelling to part of our country need this 'diluted visa'.

Security perhaps, by monitoring visits. Similar permit is required to visit Hanle, LA. Foreign nationals are not allowed to stay overnight at Hanle unless approved. Considering the process is online and straight forward this seems okay IMO.

[BhaskarG]

Originally Posted by deepakdsz

https://Youtu.be/PNiPbOQ8Qn0?si=TIfhxhsBv2D2iMcB
Glimpse of a bad stretch after Mayodia pass towards Anini. Mechuka was even bad, havent d/l clips from dashcam

Covered this stretch 2 months back in an i20. Downhill is not a problem, but climbing up in FWD car is. Keeping momentum in bad road is difficult.

Can you please share the clips of the bad stretch of Mechuka, as you mentioned?