Ep 2 Bomdila to Dirang | GRL Monastery | Tawang Tourism | Arunachal Pradesh Tourism
I feel that if I sit here even for an hour... ...it won't be enough for me. I would want to keep watching this view. What an amazing view! We didn't see yak either yesterday or today. There isn't any yak here Sir (laughing) So, how is this being made then? This we get from up in the mountains. Namaskar friends, Welcome to Visa2explore! This is your host, Harish Bali.
We are in Bomdila right now. We shall begin our day with a visit to Upper Gompa. It is also known as the GRL Monastery.
Upper Gompa or GRL Monastery. This section is the Monastery hostel. Students who study here live in this hostel. And up there, you can see trees and some homes.
Those are staff quarters. The yellow-color building next door... ...is the administrative block. This is the monastery I've already shown you.
On this side is the kitchen & teaching section. These are the surroundings. Now let's visit the monastery inside. Let's go! This monasetry was inaugurated in 1997 by H.H. 14th Dalai Lama. I was just given this booklet to read. It talks about the activities taking place....
...in the monasteries under the Buddhist Culter Preservation Society. I will later read this information about those activities. For now, you can see the H.H. Dalai Lama. And with that, the 13th reincarnation of Rinpoche ji. This monastery is a part of the Gelukpa sect. You can see the idol of Sumkhapa ji here.
He is the founder of the Gelukpa sect. And his disciples too. Here, we can also see Lord Buddha. We can see Guru Padmasambhava ji.
This is Acharya Shantarakshita ji. On this side is the King of Tibet. It is believed that the king wanted Buddhism in Tibet. For that, he invited Acharya Shantarakshita ji from Nalanda. To Tibet. Around that time, we've read that there were...
...evil disturbances in Tibet. To cure those disturbances, the king also invited.... ...Guru Padmasambhava ji to Tibet. After the evil disturbances were overcome... ....and Buddhism was propagated in Tibet. This is prayer hall. We are standing here right now. Very well-maintained! About 275 monks live and pray here full-time.
And 200-250 students live in the hostel. They continue their further studies on Buddhism. I was told that they also have residential facility here. Let me figure out what kind of space is available for tourists. Let us go and check the accommodation.
Let us go. We met him a short while ago. You live here, right? You are a monk here.
Yes! This is butter tea? When we travel in the mountains, like we also went to Spiti.... Yes Sir! ...and like we've come here. I can see that people prefer butter tea to normal tea. Yes Sir, people like butter tea more here.
Nice! Very good! Thanks! We will check out the accommodation after tea. So, will you guide us? Yes! We've reached near the guest house. So, you told me you've total 15 rooms here.
16 16 And there are 2 types of accommodation. One is king-size bed, Rs 2000 tariff. And the other is queen-size bed, Rs 1000. Are meals included too? Meals are not inclued sir. Tariff is only for rooms. Only for room? Hmm What is the booking process? You can book through Whatsapp on the number given here.
Okay, so we call on this number, make payment & booking will be done. Great! Peaceful environment! In a way, it would be a great experience for tourists! Okay then, thanks! We travelled up from Upper Gompa for about half a km. Then we went straight for about 5 KM It is written here Bomdila Battle Memorial, 5 KM This is a war memorial. We visited the memorial. We paid tribute to Indian Army jawans martyred during 1962 war Apart from a mention of Subedar Pritam Singh.... ...the memorial also has names of all other martyrs. After memorial visit, we also saw the surroundings.
It felt good to be there at such a height. Right now, we are back from there. We are right now at a height of 7900 ft. 7, 9, double zero! Earlier, we were at a height of 9100 ft. That should give you an idea about our altitude. Clouds were right in front of us.
From here, we will go down towards the market. We will roam there for sometime. After that, we have to go to Dirang.
We will travel at a leisurely pace, so... ...we will reach Dirang by 6 in the evening. It is already 1 in the afternoon. Let's go. We've come to visit Bomdila market.
We can also see some hotels amidst this huge bazaar. Before going into the market, we are going to visit a shop here. We are standing outside it.
Tell me one thing, what is this? This is our local garlic Sir May I see it? You can see it. You must smell from this side. It will smell like garlic. Ahh! This is a local variety Sir! Don't you have that other common variety? Yes we have that as well as this local variety. Its upper part is used in momos and...
...the lower part is used in curries. Nice! Interesting! Can you show me what more you sell? This is soyabean? Yes, soyabean Sir! What is this? This is Chhurpi made with soyabean. It is called Chhurpi? Yes! We had gone to Sikkim, there, Chhurpi was like this. Like this? In Sikkim, this is called Chhurpi. Here, we call this Chhurgam, this is Chhurpi.
You make Chhurgam with yak milk. Yes, yak milk! And this Chhurpi is made with fermented soyabean. By fermentation! What is this? This is our ghee, local ghee. When we will come back to Bomdila....
...we are going to Tawang... ...I will purchase this yak milk ghee. What are these? Button mushrooms? Yes, these are button mushrooms. And this is black mushroom. Both these are soaked before being cooked. Basically, you've dried these mushrooms. Yes, dried! This is called Timbur Sir.
This makes the tongue go numb, right? Yes! What do you use it the most for? Soups? Not soup Sir, we mostly use it in chutneys. In chutney! Yes, in chutney, we add a few of these. It adds flavor and taste to the chutney.
Tell me one thing... I noticed something yesterday as well as today. Whether it is restaurants or markets like these... ...it is the ladies who are running the show everywhere. I didn't see any gents. What is the reason behind that? Maximum shops are run by females, even when you'll go upwards.
What do the gents do? Everyone is doing different things, could be a job or driving taxi. Or farming? Yes Sir! This is a huge market, so everyone does his own thing. Yes, these are separate shops. Like it is my shop till here, and then this portion is hers. Likewise, these are separate shops.
Very good! Nice! Good! We shall leave now. Thank you! Let us see the rest of the market. It has started raining. Yes, it has begun today. By the way, does it rain during this month? Yes, it rains alternately. Thank you! We've just met Dorje, our channel subscriber.
So, you will help us visit the Bomdila market? The rainfall has increased suddenly. So, let us go. Total, how many shops are there in Bomdila market? Sir, about 50 shops! Alright! So, ma'am tell us what all you have here. It looks like there is a lot here. First of all, tell me about that stand, up there. This is momo pot, to store momos.
Ohh! For momos! You can also store chapatis, dry fruits in this. What is its price? Its for Rs 1285. I have seen some restaurants using these for momos. Yes! Yes! It is the same. Good! This is agarbatti (incense stick) stand. This is where you'll put in agarbatti and close it.
The fragrance will come out from here. This is ornamental. Nice! What is its price? It has dragons carved in the front. Its price? It will cost you Rs 850. 8, 5, zero! Yes! What is this thing? Which one, tell me? This one! This represents the monastery dance. At the November festival in monastery? Yes, yes, yes! They wear masks like these! Yes! Your shop is named Sikkim Store.
Yes! Why Sikkim? I belong to Sikkim, thus Sikkim store! Tell me something about these cups, which I like very much. Last time we visited Sikkim about 4 years back.... ...we visited someone who served us tea in these cups. Yes! The same cups are used here? Yes, the same cups are used here.
Like this is the lid, and these is steeper. What is this for? This is used for steaming anything in this. Like green tea, etc. Yes! Nice! What is this set's price? It will be for Rs 480 Sir. 480 for one set? One set! We have plates like these! I just showed you the small size.
Same is this in a bigger size. Hmm! Nice! It is good! And Sir, this is a table. Alright! Yes! It is interesting! Yes! It has been kept folded. Hmm! Your can put a glass in front.
8 lucky signs. Hmm! And from this side, you can see Sir. It is folded on all sides. Alright! Yes! Nice! Nice designs! All local! Great Ma'am! We made this short visit to find out what all you are selling here. Usually, when tourists visit Bomdila.... ....where do they prefer to stay? I believe they mostly like to stay near the market because of the proximity.
There are lodgings available here as well. Are there any restaurants in this market? Yes! There are restaurants, lodgings right here. So, the tourists prefer this area? Thank you! Namaskar! Now, we are going to visit the homestay? Yes! So, are these all hotels? Cozy Inn.
Yes! You'll find a lot of hotels here. In this bazaar? Yes, in bazaar. Total how many hotels are there in the bazaar? Here, you will get about 7-8 hotels in this lane.
All in this main market area of Bomdila Sir. So, all the empty spaces, are these always like this? This market isn't crowded like the usual markets. Here, it isn't like that Sir. By evening, it might become more crowded. Right! Where is this homestay? We will have to take our car to go to the homestay Sir! A little far! How far? About 5 minutes away Sir! Will we go back this way? We will go from here Sir.
We drove the car for about 5 minutes to visit this homestay. Is this the homestay? Yes Sir! Are you the homestay owner? Yes! Ohh Great! So, we just wanted to check the accommodation and learn about tariff. So, ma'am, what is the tariff here? The tariff here is Rs 3000. For Rs 3000, you give 2-room accommodation.
That means suitable for 5-6 people. Yes, 6-7 people! And for meals? We cook meals here. For Rs 300 or 250 per head, we serve chicken, mixed vegetables, ,....
...dal, etc and the local wine, whatever is needed. Alright! So, how many rooms do you have? For now, you have 3 rooms ready? Can we see the view from here? Cannot see anything because of the fog. During winters, this place experiences snowfall upto 3 feet high. And right now, there is dense fog everywhere. So, we cannot see anything beyond 10-20 meters.
Though, we can see the houses down below. Okay then, we shall take your leave. Let's go Sir. So, after saying bye to her, we will go back to the market. We shall have lunch there. Okay Sir1 Okay ma'am, thank you so much.
Thank you! We've returned to the market. We are having lunch here. Choden Restaurant! Down there? For lunch, we've ordered Chhurpi with vegetables.. Along with Thukpa. Chhurpi sabzi has paneer, chhurpi, potatoes, and glass noodles. We've also asked for glass noodles separately to show you these.
Why don't you start? We will have Thukpa later. You live in Bomdila. Yes! So, do you cook this dish regularly at home? Yes, we cook this dish frequently. See, Chhurpi has a bit of fermentation behind it. So, in this whole preparation, you have a little bit of fermentation's....
...what you will call it, smell or what! That thing is there. But it isn't weird or something. You can eat it even if it is your first time. As for spices, you only have salt in it. And nothing else! Good! Both of these are Chhurpi.
Then why are these different in colour? The difference is because one is old and the other is new. Alright! This is the old one? This is the new one? Alright! I remember, during our Sikkim visit... ...we had shot the whole process of making Chhurpi. I am going to shoot that again in the coming days. Because, I came to know there are 2 types of Chhurpi here.
One is made with milk and the other from soyabeans. Good! Its good that we tried something new here. Now we are going to taste chicken Thukpa here. So, if you order one Thukpa, it would be enough for 1, in fact, 2 persons.
Adding this will enhance the taste. What's this? Its Schezwan! Schezwan! Shall I add this? Yeah! Just a little bit. Yes, I will add a little.. More won't be tolerable.
Very good! It needs more salt. I think they forgot to add salt to it. Isn't it so? No worries! Like Chhurpi, where we had nothing but salt... ....so, in this, we added salt later. Rest, it has nothing else, just this schezwan and red chutney, which we added later. So, in simple words, I would say it tastes bland.
Nice! One thing is there. Adding red chutney has enhanced the taste now. Excellent! So, our overall meal experience was good here. I would say that if you come to Bomdila market.... ...you must taste this Chhurpi sabzi. It would be a new experience for you.
And you must eat it piping hot to enjoy its full taste. Am I right? Good! So, now we will finish our meal. And then we have to go to....
Right now, I am in two minds about whether we should go to Thembang or not. ...because of the fog and light drizzle. So, it is possible that by the time we reach Thembang, it would be dark. So, in 10-15 minutes, we will decide between Thembang and Dirang. It will take us about an hour to reach Dirang. We left Bomdila about 20 minutes back. We've stopped our car to see this view.
Look at this beautiful view! Mountains! First of all, see the clouds! Behind those are the mountains. Then mountains, then again clouds. And total clouds in front of your eyes. Even the clouds are of different shades. There are dark clouds as well as white clouds.
Uff! What a view! What a view! I feel that if I sit here even for an hour, it won't be enough. I would want to keep watching this view. What an amazing view! And this isn't the only place with a marvellous view. As soon as we left Bomdila, I had been wanting to stop for the continuous scenery. So, we eventually stopped the car after 20 minutes.
You can see the road on this side. It has just stopped raining. So you can see down there. Lovely! This is really too good! Finally, we've reached Dirang.
It feels so good! Let us cross this road to see the view of the Miyong river. You can see directly below us. Uff! We can hear the river at this distance.
Talking of the aerial distance, we must be at least 250-275 meters from the river. Despite that, we can hear the river. What a beauty! Lovely! Let us do one thing, before going to the homestay, let us retrace our path.
We shall take a U-turn after a km and then try to reach the river. We can reach that bridge too. It is 5.10 pm. It will get dark in another 20-25 minutes.
So, we shall reach there before the darkness. We shall take some photographs there and show you the place more closely. Let's go! So, it took us another 2-3 minutes to reach near the river. Wow! Wow! Awesome!!! It feels amazing to stand here.
The water current is very fast. Lovely! The sky is filled with clouds. In fact, sky isn't visible. It is only clouds everywhere. Now we will go to that bridge. We will see the river from there.
Before that, see that gate, where we were standing a short while ago. The gate said "Welcome to Dirang." And now, we passed that road, to reach here. Let's go.
We've reached the bridge. One thing is there. The fast wind makes it even more amazing to walk on this bridge. I am impressed. It was a good decision to come here. We will spend a day or two in Dirang.
We will come back here tomorrow. For now, let us do one thing. I can see some accommodation in front of me. Let us go there and find out about the facilities. Let us go! We've come to see Dirang Boutique Cottages.
I had told you these cottages are located by the river. The tariff of this accommdation that you see is Rs 2750 including breakfast. Double occupancy tariff! Yeah! Hmmm nice! For how many years have you been running this operation? We started this in 2019 actually. 2-3 years! Yeah! Nice meeting you. Thank you so much! Thank you! Same here! Nice meeting you! Yeah! Okay ji, Bye-bye! Okay ma'am, bye! We've reached our homestay. This is the owner of this homstay, his wife and their uncle.
Fantastic! It is a pleasure meeting you all. Ohh! Thank you! Thank you! Such a beautiful way to welcome guests! Welcome Sir! Welcome Sir! Ohh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Ohh God! Karsun Bhai, let us do one thing, show us the room first. Then we will sit with you. You can help us plan our next two days in Dirang. Alright! Where is the room? This room is called Mandala. Mandala! Lovely! Nice, spacious room! You told me this room's tariff is Rs 1800.
On double occupancy! We shall finish today's episode here. Tomorrow, we will do local sightseeing. I will say bye-bye here.
I am now going to sit with him and plan. And we will decided about visiting spots for tomorrow We will enjoy tomorrow's trip if there is less or no fog at all. We shall be able to see till far, in that case. So, it is bye-bye for now. Thanks for your time! Goal, goal! No, no, it wasn't a goal! I don't have words to define this beauty. If I look towards the right, I feel like sitting in an aeroplane with clouds around.
And then there is the mountain peak in front of me, covered in snow.
2022-05-08 20:55
