Day 5

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 Day 5: Breakfast starred classic upma and piping hot chai, enjoyed while wrapped in enough layers to survive a Himalayan snowstorm - because today was the Big One: the fabled Indo-China border at Bumla Pass! Of course, the local taxi ‘mafia’ made sure we didn’t take our regular chariot. Instead, we were shepherded into the official Bumla taxi as tradition (and economics) demand.

We stopped first at the Insta-famous Madhuri (Sangestar) Lake, but the group verdict was unanimous: overhyped, overpriced, and overrun with tour buses. Special mention however of the Hot Chocolate and Hot Coffee which we got to taste at the Cafe . . . talk of redeeming feature !! The hidden gems - Pangateng Tso and Nagula Lake - were far more serene, like nature’s secret level for select players.







Bumla Pass itself felt like stepping onto a movie set  - at 15,200 feet, our engine-room (lungs) did a double take, but the view of snow-capped peaks and the army’s border briefing gave us a shot of our latent patriotism, talk about merge-emerge ( of feelings and emotions) . Surrounded by history, soldiers recounted tales of courage, and we found ourselves misting over  - possibly from the wind, possibly from emotion.​






Afterwards, the return to Tawang was a blur of peaks and pines. Cultural immersion continued at the giant Tawang Monastery  - so grand even selfies felt spiritual, and inside-photography was a pleasant surprise! On the way to the local market, we stopped for a bow down to the gigantic Buddha who looked out over the city, benignly blessing the town .



Dinner was innovation on a plate: rava dosa (fortified for “good health” with sattu  - ignore the generous butter baptism, we had some serious stock to finish). If there’s ever an Olympic medal for creative mountain cooking, the gold’s already ours. Full credit to S for gamefully grinning and partaking in all the adventurous cuisine.

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