The largest monastery in India, a pass at 4,170 m, and a road that takes two days each way and is worth every hour.
Altitude
3,048 m at Tawang, 4,170 m at Sela Pass
Getting there
Guwahati (GAU) or Tezpur, then two long driving days
Best time
March to June, and September to early November
How long it needs
6 to 8 nights; this is a long trip
About Tawang & West Arunachal
Tawang is the hardest place on this site to reach and the one people talk about longest afterwards. The drive from the Assam plains climbs through Bomdila, over the Sela Pass at 4,170 m past a lake that freezes solid, and down into a valley held between snow ridges.
The monastery, founded in the 1680s, is the largest in India and the second largest in the world, and it still houses hundreds of monks. Below it the valley runs to Bumla on the border, to the Madhuri Lake formed by an earthquake, and to the memorial for the 1962 war.
Nothing about this trip is quick. The distances are short and the hours are long, and that is the trip.
What people come for
Tawang Monastery, the largest in India
Sela Pass at 4,170 m and Paradise Lake
Bumla Pass and Madhuri Lake, on a separate permit
Jaswantgarh and the 1962 war memorial
Nuranang Falls below Sela
Dirang and Bomdila on the way up
Know before you go
Arunachal Pradesh needs an Inner Line Permit for Indian nationals and a Protected Area Permit for foreign nationals. Both take lead time, and we need your documents early.
Bumla Pass requires a further permit issued locally in Tawang and is subject to army clearance on the day. It is never guaranteed.
Two full days of driving each way is not padding, it is the road. Do not attempt this trip in under seven nights.
Packages
1 trip that includes Tawang & West Arunachal
Each of these can be lengthened, shortened or recombined. If you want Tawang & West Arunachal on its own, or bolted onto something else entirely, just ask.
Tell us roughly what you want. We will send back a real itinerary.
Dates, how many of you, and anywhere you have your heart set on — that is enough for us to start. You will get a day-by-day plan with named hotels and one all-in price, in writing, before you pay anything.
