When you think of the phrase "car ferry", what images come to mind? Perhaps the ferry on Lake Champlain for Burlington to the Adirondacks in New York? Maybe the Seattle ferry system or the boat to Madeline Island in the summer off northern Wisconsin? Either way I'm guessing that you made two assumptions: 1) the ferry is big & 2) it's made of metal. Neither criteria was in effect when we took a car ferry across the Brahmaputra river in northern Assam as we made our way into Arunachal Pradesh.
The Brahmaputra is enormous but ebbs and flows substantially with the monsoons. So there is no ferry landing so to speak - you just drive the river bank until you find the river - and eventually stumble upon a ferry. Which is the equivelant of four wood canoes strung together with a couple of 2 x 4's on top to drive your car onto. We floated down the river for hours watching canoes and fisherman repairing their traps in the middle of the water.
When we finally entered Arunachal Pradesh it felt like we entered a different world. Since the state was invaded by China in the 1962 war the government has required anyone including other Indians to get a permit to enter the state. At the border crossing the power was out so the soldier checked our papers with a single candle. A thief took advantage of the situation to slip into our car and relieve one of my traveling companions Namrata of her camera. A gutsy move with guys standing around with machine guns.
When we reached the town of Pasigaht, the second largest in the state, we were told the power had been out for four days. This would be a constant theme of the trip - the power is mostly out and comes on in fits and starts. Since India has one time zone it gets light here before 5am and dark around 5pm - the towns are dead still at night - nothing moves.
My traveling companions on this trip, Jabin and Namrata in addition to Mizra, are researching conflict issues involving local perceptions of the Chinese claim that this is their territority, and the movement against 162 giant dams that are planned for the state in the next 30 years. In Pasighat we met with activists who said they believed that the building of the dams and the associated population explosion would lead to cultural annihalation for one of the most linguistically diverse places on the planet. We made a bonfire on the banks of the Siang river (an activty they said we could not do with the dams because of unexpected water releases)and they gave us delicious homemade rice wine out of old plastic bottles. The next day we met with the 80 year old former head beaucrat for the area. He said he used to have to walk 50 days in the mountains to visit the villages in his district. During the 1962 war he smuggled documents and orders around the Chinese occupied territory. He also plied us with rice wine even though it was barely noon. Then he did spot on imitations of British and American cowboy accents. This gentleman was pro-dam. He knew there would be a cost of moving people from their homes on their floadplains - but believed that people needed power to have a normal life.
Arunachal Pradesh is one of the most extreme places I have seen in India.The scenary is gorgeous - green jungle clad mountains and deep river cut valleys. This accounts for it's diversity. In reality there is no place of Arunachal Pradesh - it is entirely a political creation of the Indian state. Before the last century the tribes in these valleys developed languages and traditions independent of each other due to the stark geography.
This state has an edge I have not felt in other parts of India. The villages are gorgeous and transquil - with houses on stilts made of wood and bamboo with thatched roofs. But the towns feel like the wild west. In the town of Aloo I counted 7 steel gated dingy liquor stores within two blocks of our hotel. The men frequently have long knives they carry on their waists - and the occassional rifle strapped to their backs. There is a clear tension between the local tribal members and outsiders, Indian military and shopowners from "mainland" India that have come within the last 30 years to settle here.
The roads are one lane tracks that wind terrifyingly around the mountains - half blocked by the occasional landslide. The driver pleasantly honks at hair pin turns to notify oncoming cars of our presence. Bizarrely this is the first place I have seen elephants in India outside the Chennai zoo. Loggers use them as to transport trees in the mountains. Most of the land is onspoiled but occassionally you'll see swaths of forest clear cut and burnt out on the hill sides.
In Aloo I also got to have my first chat with the local police. I have gone along with my traveling companions when they meet with civil society groups - but when they meet with government or army officials I'm on my own. Walking around Aloo I met a British traveler. While walking together the police stopped him and told him by name that he had to come to the station house with them. When I started innocently walking away they made it clear that I was "invited" as well.
We we arrived at the police station it became clear that the cops had figured out that the English guys "inner-line" entry documents to get into Arunachal Pradesh were not in order. Successive ranks of officers entered the room, ascertained this, and told us we were getting expelled. At this point the Brit helpfully said to me "I'm not sure why you are here". Indeed. Each captain who would enter would tell both of us that we would have to go - with me insisting each time that I had nothing to do with this guy and all of my documents were in order. Finally I talked to the police chief, clarified, and walked out to freedom.
On Sunday I celebrated my birthday in India. Jabin, Namrata, Mizra and I obtained Indian ghee sweets as our cake. Magically the power was on for a couple of hours so we watched the movie The Omen on TV in the hotel.
Now I am writing in the town of Ziro which is surrounded by green rice fields in a valley that is much wider than most that I have seen in this state. From here we hope to make our way to the Tawang Valley - one of the most remote places in the state - to see an 800 person Buddhist Monestary - the very place the Dali Lama fled to when China invaded Tibet in the 1950's.
After that I'll go back to the Garden of Peace school in Tamil Nadu. I'm excited to see the kids and sleep in a bamboo tree house again.
The Brahmaputra is enormous but ebbs and flows substantially with the monsoons. So there is no ferry landing so to speak - you just drive the river bank until you find the river - and eventually stumble upon a ferry. Which is the equivelant of four wood canoes strung together with a couple of 2 x 4's on top to drive your car onto. We floated down the river for hours watching canoes and fisherman repairing their traps in the middle of the water.
When we finally entered Arunachal Pradesh it felt like we entered a different world. Since the state was invaded by China in the 1962 war the government has required anyone including other Indians to get a permit to enter the state. At the border crossing the power was out so the soldier checked our papers with a single candle. A thief took advantage of the situation to slip into our car and relieve one of my traveling companions Namrata of her camera. A gutsy move with guys standing around with machine guns.
When we reached the town of Pasigaht, the second largest in the state, we were told the power had been out for four days. This would be a constant theme of the trip - the power is mostly out and comes on in fits and starts. Since India has one time zone it gets light here before 5am and dark around 5pm - the towns are dead still at night - nothing moves.
My traveling companions on this trip, Jabin and Namrata in addition to Mizra, are researching conflict issues involving local perceptions of the Chinese claim that this is their territority, and the movement against 162 giant dams that are planned for the state in the next 30 years. In Pasighat we met with activists who said they believed that the building of the dams and the associated population explosion would lead to cultural annihalation for one of the most linguistically diverse places on the planet. We made a bonfire on the banks of the Siang river (an activty they said we could not do with the dams because of unexpected water releases)and they gave us delicious homemade rice wine out of old plastic bottles. The next day we met with the 80 year old former head beaucrat for the area. He said he used to have to walk 50 days in the mountains to visit the villages in his district. During the 1962 war he smuggled documents and orders around the Chinese occupied territory. He also plied us with rice wine even though it was barely noon. Then he did spot on imitations of British and American cowboy accents. This gentleman was pro-dam. He knew there would be a cost of moving people from their homes on their floadplains - but believed that people needed power to have a normal life.
Arunachal Pradesh is one of the most extreme places I have seen in India.The scenary is gorgeous - green jungle clad mountains and deep river cut valleys. This accounts for it's diversity. In reality there is no place of Arunachal Pradesh - it is entirely a political creation of the Indian state. Before the last century the tribes in these valleys developed languages and traditions independent of each other due to the stark geography.
This state has an edge I have not felt in other parts of India. The villages are gorgeous and transquil - with houses on stilts made of wood and bamboo with thatched roofs. But the towns feel like the wild west. In the town of Aloo I counted 7 steel gated dingy liquor stores within two blocks of our hotel. The men frequently have long knives they carry on their waists - and the occassional rifle strapped to their backs. There is a clear tension between the local tribal members and outsiders, Indian military and shopowners from "mainland" India that have come within the last 30 years to settle here.
The roads are one lane tracks that wind terrifyingly around the mountains - half blocked by the occasional landslide. The driver pleasantly honks at hair pin turns to notify oncoming cars of our presence. Bizarrely this is the first place I have seen elephants in India outside the Chennai zoo. Loggers use them as to transport trees in the mountains. Most of the land is onspoiled but occassionally you'll see swaths of forest clear cut and burnt out on the hill sides.
In Aloo I also got to have my first chat with the local police. I have gone along with my traveling companions when they meet with civil society groups - but when they meet with government or army officials I'm on my own. Walking around Aloo I met a British traveler. While walking together the police stopped him and told him by name that he had to come to the station house with them. When I started innocently walking away they made it clear that I was "invited" as well.
We we arrived at the police station it became clear that the cops had figured out that the English guys "inner-line" entry documents to get into Arunachal Pradesh were not in order. Successive ranks of officers entered the room, ascertained this, and told us we were getting expelled. At this point the Brit helpfully said to me "I'm not sure why you are here". Indeed. Each captain who would enter would tell both of us that we would have to go - with me insisting each time that I had nothing to do with this guy and all of my documents were in order. Finally I talked to the police chief, clarified, and walked out to freedom.
On Sunday I celebrated my birthday in India. Jabin, Namrata, Mizra and I obtained Indian ghee sweets as our cake. Magically the power was on for a couple of hours so we watched the movie The Omen on TV in the hotel.
Now I am writing in the town of Ziro which is surrounded by green rice fields in a valley that is much wider than most that I have seen in this state. From here we hope to make our way to the Tawang Valley - one of the most remote places in the state - to see an 800 person Buddhist Monestary - the very place the Dali Lama fled to when China invaded Tibet in the 1950's.
After that I'll go back to the Garden of Peace school in Tamil Nadu. I'm excited to see the kids and sleep in a bamboo tree house again.
Happy belated birthday, Ryan!
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