In and around Tawang

 The Road to the Tibet Border

The road to Tawang from Chug Valley took around 6 hours and we took the Sela Tunnel instead of going up the pass. We would cover Sela Lake on our way back. Passing by JaswantGarh War Memorial, we reached our homestay late evening.

Tseten Homestay is a lovely place located at the entrance of Tawang Town about 3 Kms before the Market area. This would be our base for the next 2 days as we explore Tawang and its nearby sights. Next day morning, we decided to travel to the Indo-china border as there was a possibility of rain the day after and we didn't want to take the chance.

Way to Holy Waterfalls

There are various border points and most tourists go to the Bumla Pass which is the route the Dalai Lama had taken to escape to India. However, we travelled up to Chumig Gyatse Holy Waterfalls, where recently a border road has been built. 

The Holy Waterfalls has significance in that it is a sacred place in Arunachal Pradesh which was blessed by Guru Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche by the Tibetans), the great yogi and tantric master who lived in the 8th century AD. It is also the location where the Yangtse clash took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the night of December 9, 2022. Violent clashes took place between the two armies which confronted each other with nail-studded clubs on a ridgeline above the waterfalls.

At the Waterfalls

To reach here, we travelled towards Bumla pass, then 6 kms before Bumla, one takes an eastward turn. The scenery around the lake and the pass (at an altitude of 4,200 meters) leaves you spellbound. Of course, one encounters a heavy military presence, due to the proximity of the border and the constant Chinese belligerence. 

The drive goes past Panga Teng Tso lake and we stop for a bit at Gribtsang Tso (Nagula Lake). Then after driving through the high plateau, one reaches grazing grounds and further ahead a thickly forested area with extremely old and tall pine trees. From there, we can see the gorges further down with the river flowing below after which sharp turns on the road high above climbs up to the ridge.

Chug Valley and Bishum-Phudung

Chug Valley

The Chug Valley is about 10 Kms from Dirang and offers an unique experience of Monpa culture and its culinary practices. Once we reached there, we were greeted by Lekyi, a Monpa woman from a neighbouring village who took us around the fields and the valley. 

We first went to see a Chuskor which is an indigenous technique of Monpa community to grind millets and grains by using flowing water to run a wooden turbine. We then got to know about making Mon Shugu which is a traditional handmade paper used in Monasteries and prayer wheels. All around were fields where we could see oranges, kiwis and other seasonal fruits being grown. 

We then went up to the Village Gompa. In the Center of the fields was an impressive sitting statue of Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. 

After walking through the fields, we went up to the old village. Enroute, we met some locals who were dry roasting corn to make it into a snack (Kakung) and we stopped to watch and taste it. 

The old village was a quaint collection of original Monpa houses. We were led to a 100 year old house for lunch and it was an unique fusion dining experience blending traditional Monpa cuisine with contemporary culinary techniques. Run by a group of ladies from the village, this curated experience turned out to be one of the top highlights of our trip.

Shergaon and Sherdukpens

The Travel Route

Every year I pick up a state in North East India and go for a visit through Chalohoppo, a travel experience company based out of the North East. Last two years, I had been to Nagaland and Meghalaya and this year I chose West Arunachal Pradesh. September was a good time as the Monsoon would be receding and it wouldn't be too cold. I reached out to two of my friends from College who joined me and we booked our slots and flight tickets. 

The 3 Musketeers with Ashiq

Three other women solo travelers were in our group and I was happy that two Trip Leaders who I had met in my earlier travels were joining us. One was Nick Doley who is from Majuli, Assam and Vikho was from Nagaland who I had met during the Nagaland trip 2 years back. We also had Pawan who was from Manipur and joined Chalohoppo recently. Ashiq was our driver whose patience and happy disposition was crucial for a smooth drive through the long roads of Arunachal. 

The plan was to drive up from Guwahati entering Arunachal and moving alongside Bhutan's eastern border to Tawang. Enroute we would be staying at Shergaon and Dirang before reaching Tawang, our final destination. We would also be going to the Indo-Chinese border from Tawang on one of the days. The overall round trip was for 8 days.

Arunachal Pradesh - Land of Tribes

Arunachal has a huge diversity of population and about 23 major tribes and 100 sub-tribes live in the state. To categorize the cultural spheres broadly, West Arunachal Pradesh is populated by the Monpas, a tribe who follow Tibetan Buddhism. In the lower areas near Shergaon, there is a Buddhist Animist tribe called Sherdukpen. Central Arunachal Pradesh is populated by the Tani tribes who are a Sino-tibetan ethnic group and migrated from their homelands into Arunachal and Assam. They are animists and have their own religion called Donyi-Polo. The Eastern part of Arunachal is populated by the Mishmi tribes who are predominantly animists.

Bandung and Overall Impressions of Indonesia

Amidst Volcanoes and Plantations

July 2024

Bandung is in West Java and the drive from Semarang took around 5 hours. The highway roads were very good and time flew by pretty fast. The cost was around IDR 300000 which is around USD 20. 

Bandung is a city with narrow roads with heavy traffic which reminded me of Bangalore. The weather is also milder as it is in the plateau at a height. I had booked a place at G10 guest house which was run by a lady Inge Francisca and her husband. She was half Chinese and had made up the place very well with a beautiful terrace and a small pantry.

JL Braga which is the main street in Bandung and the high street was a 20 minutes walk away and the most people could do was spend time there especially in the evenings. The weekends were very lively with food, music and all of Bandung hanging out there. 

Padang Food

In general, liquor is not available in any of the shops in Java and one had to go to specific bars to have a drink. One gets used to not drinking and soon I found it normal to go weeks without having a drop of liquor. In a way it was refreshing and I made it up for it by drinking lots of Coffee, I suppose. 

Near the guest house was a Warung Suko Mananti which had some great Padang food. It is run by a friendly family and service was very good. The daughter was normally at the counter and she had finished studying communications at the nearby university which was a few meters away.

Padang is a cuisine of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. Padang uses coconut milk and spicy chili and has three main elements: gulai (curry), lado (chili pepper) and bareh (rice).I took Tempura, Rendang (slowly cooked beef), chicken, jackfruit, boiled cassava leaf and had it with iced Jasmine tea. It was absolutely delicious and felt like home. After that I visited the place a couple of times and experimented with all the varieties that were available.

A Chinese Traveller

One of the people at the guest house who I happened to meet was a Chinese girl who was currently working in Jakarta and had come down for the weekend. Her name was GuanShiren and she had grown up in Schenzen. Her English was pretty decent. She recently had visited UAE, Kazakhstan and after that experience decided that she would open up her own company in the future where she would source goods from China and sell to other countries. To hone up her experience, she accepted a job offer from a Chinese company to do similar work in Indonesia. The work life balance in Jakarta was surprisingly much better even though it was a Chinese company as in China, work was by the 996 system which is work from 9 am to 9 pm 6 days per week.

Guan and I went to the Bandung central area where after a cup of coffee, she went off to do some shopping (apparently Bandung is famous for its high end brand shopping deals) and I went off to have dinner and loiter around in the crowd.

Another Volcano

One of the mornings, I took a bike and visited the Tangkuban Perahu volcano which is to the North west of the city. It is an hours bike ride through the winding busy highway and the road goes all the way to the top of the crater from the entrance (after a fees of 200000 IDR for foreigners). If you go early in the morning, you will be rewarded with a clear sky, sunny views of the volcano and no crowds. After spending half an hour walking around the rim, it was time to come back.

To the South of Bandung is the well visited White crater and further South East is the Barut area and Kawah Papandayan, but that has been kept for the next visit to these Highlands.

In one of the morning walks at Tegalega gardens in Bandung, I came across many vendors selling Idli like cakes sweetened with a topping and made over open wood fire. Similarly in the morning, everyone seems to be having fried snacks called Gore gan like Tape Gorang (Fried fermented Cassava), Tofu, tempeh, banana, corn, cassava etc. It quite tempting to stop by and have a nice oily snack. If only it was accompanied by Kadak Ginger Chai! 

The Bandung Conference

Bandung became famous in the world map when it hosted the Asian and African countries in what is known as the Bandung Conference in 1955. Many Asian countries were getting independence from the colonial powers and the Bandung declaration is valid even today. It was also instrumental in giving birth to the Non Aligned movement. One of the days, I went and spent some time at the Bandung Asian African Conference Museum. It's a well kept museum with photographs and documents from the conference and the hall itself where in 2025, the 50th anniversary was celebrated.

Whoosh Bullet Train

Finally it was time to leave Bandung. I said goodbye to my host Inge and headed out to the station to catch Whoosh, the Fast Bullet Train to Jakarta. There is a free feeder train from the station which takes you to Padalarang. The train then takes 30 minutes to reach Halim station in Jakarta with a top speed of 350 Km/Hour,a journey which normally takes 1 1/2 hour. Ticket cost was a reasonable 200000 IDR which is around USD 12. It was an impressive experience and testimony to the growing infrastructure and confidence of Indonesia as a Nation.

Overall Impressions of Indonesia

As I left Jakarta for India, I reflected on what I had perceived Indonesia to be when I started my journey and my impression since. I had expected a Nation like India but more conservative with a Muslim Majority and having issues in terms of infrastructure and jobs. What I found was instead refreshingly different. The Islam that it has is liberal and  syncretical with elements of Hinduism, mystical beliefs, old age animism and spiritualism.

Though mosques are ubiquitous and all across the country you can hear the Azan at various times of the day, worshipers are not on the face or the act of worshipping visibly public. The largest mosque in Jakarta is very modern and has been designed by a Christian, a direct proclamation of the kind of Islamic Nation that the country wants to be.

There are so many ethnic groups (over 1300) and the country has been influenced over centuries by traders from India, Arab states and colonial powers which is reflected in their language and food. All across the country, you can see Sanskrit/Pali words and their language has words from Sanskrit, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch all pointing to the fact that this is a not a Mono Cultural Nation like China, instead it is a thriving multi cultural country like India. 

Women wear the Hijab more than probably the previous generation, but it is not mandatory and women have more freedom to express themselves both at home and public spaces. Java is a fertile land and even with its high density of population didn't feel overwhelming like India. The train and road infrastructure is world class and its cities are in much better shape than the Indian cities. People are friendly and many speak English especially in the urban areas. I came back with a better appreciation of the country and its people. 

Nothing can match a slow journey to soak in a culture and to understand the soul of a Nation.

Videos

Bandung	Bullet Train to Jakarta

Semarang

Capital of central Java

July 2024

Semarang is the capital city of Central Java and an important regional center and port today. It's about 4 hours by train from Surabaya and the journey is very pleasant across flat irrigated lands. On landing in Semarang, went and checked into a guest house called Arya Graham (note the Sanskrit name). 

In the evening, had a steak at a nearby steak joint. Steak joints can also be seen in the cities and I suppose this is a legacy that the Dutch had left to the Indonesians. Everyone advertises the Sirloin steak and I got one made Medium Rare which was not bad.

The Railways and Old Town

The next day, I went off to explore Semarang. 

First stop was at Lawang Sewu, the former colonial era headquarters of the Dutch East Indies Railway Company. The building is very well preserved and pretty impressive with a decent exhibit showcasing the history of the railways in Indonesia. Indonesia was the second country in Asia after India to establish rail transport and the first line was between Semarang into Central Java and was used to transport agricultural commodities and mining products from the hinterlands to the port. 

After a tour of the museum, I went over to the Semarang old town area. The area had many Dutch buildings and while there has been an effort at restoring them, it didn't have the charm of Jakarta or Surabaya old town area. I visited the Semarang Contemporary art gallery which had a decent collection. Nearby was an antique market and I browsed through the exhibits which had old cassettes, masks and old prints.

Lunch was Mangga Muda (Young Mango) which had duck, tofu, tempeh, egg and young mango sauce. I had a drink called kelapa jeruk which was an interesting mix of  Orange juice with coconut. 

Chinese Temple

In the evening, went off to visit Sam Poo Kong, the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang. It was originally established by the great Chinese explorer Admiral Zheng He between 1400 to 1416 and has undergone multiple renovations. The temple showcases the Chinese roots of the Indonesian Chinese and now is shared by all ethnicities and religions. The complex has five temples and is built using mixed Chinese and Java architectural styles. The overall complex is pretty impressive.

I then went to Mlinjo Cafe and Restaurant where I had an Empal gentong, a spicy Indonesian curry-like beef soup originating in Cirebon, West Java. It is a variety of the Soto cuisine and is similar to gulai which is usually cooked with firewood in a gentong stove (Javanese for clay pot). The soup was excellent and the beef pieces tender. It was a good day spent. 

Next Destination

From Semarang, I had planned to go to some Islands in the North Coast called Karimunjawa. However, I couldn't get eh ferry ticket because it was over the weekend and at this time of the year, there are a lot of tourists who come to the Island.

So I decided to go to Bandung instead, in Central Java before I went back to Jakarta to take my flight. Bandung is surrounded by volcanoes and plantations and the base for travel to those areas. It is also the site of the famous Bandung Conference which gave birth to the Non Aligned movement. I took a shared mini Van to Bandung which was about a 5 hour journey. 

Surabaya

The Shark and the Crocodile

July 2024

The train from Malang to Surabaya is around 2 hours and 15 minutes and on arrival, I checked myself onto Choice City Hotel which was at the top of a mall, the BG Junction mall. 

The next day morning, I set out to explore Surabaya. Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta. A port city, it is a vibrant sprawling metropolis with a thriving China Town and Arab quarter. It is well known for the Battle of Surabaya which was instrumental in getting support for Indonesian independence. It is a clean and Green city which continued to surprise me with my experience of Indian Cities and not so high expectations when I came to Indonesia. Surabaya is named after the Pali words Sura (Asura) and Bhaya (fear) which is the founding of the city after the Majapahit won against the Mongols in 1293 AD. I reflected on what would happen if Indonesia insisted on renaming all their cities because of their Hindu names and keep Muslim names instead. The country has incorporated their past into the present and is rolling on into their future, a critical difference between the people of Indonesia Vs India where we seem to be regressing into the past.  

Old Town

The first place to start was China Town and the Hong Tiek Hien Temple, the oldest temple in Surabaya. There are Altars of Chinese Gods and Goddesses, Buddha and even a small altar for Indian Gods, so that no one is left out. There was a friendly Muslim guy who was exercising on the temple premises and he was happy to pose for me. 

I next went to the Sunan Ample Mosque which is the oldest mosque in East Java and where Sunan Ample's tomb is located. He was one of the nine revered saints Wali Songo credited for the spread of Islam in Java.

The area near Ample has various Warungs selling snacks and street food. I changed upon something a little different, a bakery called Anita Family Bakery. Inside the shop was a whole variety of  cakes and pastries and I was s happy to buy an assortment based on what the shop attendant suggested.

From the China Town, I went to the Old Town Center. At the Kota Lama area there are many old colonial buildings and the red bridge which was the site of the Battle of Surabaya. Beside it is a replica of remains of General Mallaby's exploded car.  The area was pretty lively with a photography crew taking photographs of what looked like a period Chinese character and locals who were busy taking photographs. 

High Streets

In the evenings, the high streets of Surabaya come alive with young people crowding the cafes and restaurants. The action was around JL Tunjungan street which included all the big hotels including the Majapahit which was the location where the Flag incident happened on September 19th 1945. Here a crowd gathered and the Dutch flag was torn and the blue part removed to keep the Red and White of the Indonesian Flag. 

Soon it was time to move on and I started moving back West towards Central Java and the city of Semarang which was also on the coast.

Malang

A Slice of Netherlands

July 2024

One of the countless Coffee Shops in Malang

The overnight train to Malang starts at 1230 AM and reaches at around 0700 AM. The executive coach has ample space to stretch the legs and I was able to catch up on some sleep during the journey. The train stations are sparkling clean and the washrooms were even better than what I have seen in many airports. The trains were on time, sanitized blankets were provided and the overall experience has been very good. 

Malang turned out to be a beautiful Dutch colonial university town. It is at an elevation, so the weather is cool. The infrastructure is very good and classy cafes and restaurants dot the town. I took a hotel just beside the University in a quiet locality and the first thing that I did was to hire a bike for the next few days so that I could explore around.

In the evening, went out to a restaurant called Ikan Bakar (Means Fish and grill) and had heir signature dish, Nila Pesmol, a freshwater fish cooked in Sundanese style from West Java. This had a yellow sauce and mix of herbs, chillies and tomatoes.

A hike and a chance Temple encounter 

After a day of rest, the next day I ventured out of the city to the nearby hills called Coban Glotek which is south of Batu and about 45 minutes away. It was a nice and pleasant drive with the hills just outside the town. I took a trek to a nearby waterfall and then on noticing that there were many Hindu temples, stopped at a temple called Pura Patirtan Taman Pasupati dedicated to Shiva. I later figured out that the area near the hills are primarily Hindu villages with their traditional Bamboo poles called Penjor. In the temple, a family had come to celebrate Saraswati Puja and on finding out I was from India, invited me to join them in their ceremonies. The Husband was from Bali while the lady is from Java. They had a son and daughter, Dhananjaya and Savithri, typical Hindu names. I introduced myself and they nodded, as Baskara is a known name in Java (means Sun in Sanskrit. I later found out that one of the more famous Baskara was Baskara Putra, a young singer whose music I quite liked! ). 

The ceremony was very solemn and deep felt, and I reflected on how traditions from the past over 1000 years ago still held strong and unchanged in this Island far away from India where the ceremonies have in fact become more loud and raucous compared to the simplicity and devotion that I saw here in this remote outpost of Hindu culture. 

Outside the temple, in the village there were some beautiful Hindu houses and the community seemed to be rich and thriving. I reflected on the fact that temples were common in the hills and mountains, the abode of the gods, whereas the mosques that I saw were primarily urban in the cities, towns and villages where most of the population stayed. 

Back at Malang, I looked out for something different for Lunch and this time settled for a Bebek Sedak Hitam (Duck cooked in Carok, a black spice which tasted like fermented salted beans served with Sambal and rice. 

The City and People

Kirana and Karina

Over the days, loved taking walks around the campus and outside the university. Malang is one of the most beautiful and livable cities that I have seen with its restored Dutch buildings, wide and well marked roads, boulevards and parks. I could easily stay a few months enjoying the place and its mild cool weather, a better version of Bangalore I thought.

The reception ladies were kind and lively and I got to know them over the days. There were Kirana and Karina, the twins who inspired with their attitude and dedication. Then there was Sharifa who spoke decent English and wanted to work, earn money and then go to college and Dui (meaning Two), a smiling affable guy who used to do the night shift.

Trip to Bromo

July 15th early morning was the trip to Bromo, the most accessible active volcano in Indonesia. The travel would be in a jeep with a group and the pick up was scheduled for 1230 in the early morning. Yes, it was going to be tough sleepless night for the plan was to catch the sun rise over Bromo before we made our way to see the crater.

We were a bunch of French, German folks and myself. By 3 AM, we were at the location and after loads of coffee, we went out to the designated hill stop to settle down in the cold for the sun rise. There would have been hundreds of people from all over the world who had come down to watch this extremely popular activity.

We were rewarded by an amazing sun rise over the clouds in the far valleys, before the rays of the sun revealed the Bromo Volcano and the Caldera below us. After the frenzy of cameras from all around, we reluctantly started our journey back, but our first stop would be at the edge of the crater itself so that we could climb up Bromo and peer deep in to the crater where the lava was smoking up.

It was an interesting bunch of people walking up to the crater. We had the Europeans, both young and old and the Japanese who were trudging up the black lava sands. Then there were the Koreans and Chinese who were in horses which were taking them to the crater, complete with their Sunglasses and makeup intact, hands on their mobile phones taking selfies. If there were Indians, they to would join on the Ponies, I thought.

The Crater was an incredible sight and my first volcano experience. All in all, as we came back to our hotels exhausted, it was an experience worth it and I came back a tired, sleepy but happy man.

Videos

Train to Malang	A Morning Walk in Malang
Bromo Volcano	Near Malang Temple