Arunachal Pradesh

Introducing Arunachal Pradesh

The ‘Land of Dawn-lit Mountains’ grips northern Assam in an embrace of densely forested ridges. These rise to some fabulous snow-capped peaks along the Chinese border. In Arunachal’s deep-cut foothill valleys live at least 65 different tribal groups (101 by some counts) with bucolic cultures and photogenic bamboo-house settlements. High in the beautiful Tawang Valley are several splendid Tibetan-Buddhist monastery villages. China has never formally recognised Indian sovereignty here and it took their surprise invasion of 1962 before Delhi really started funding significant infrastructure. The Chinese voluntarily withdrew. Now border passes are heavily guarded by the Indian military, but the overall atmosphere is extremely calm. Sadly permits remain annoying and expensive enough to deter most potential foreign visitors.

Arunachal Tourism (www.arunachaltourism.com) offers more information.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009