Over Sela Pass at 4,170 m to the largest monastery in India
7 Nights / 8 Days1N Guwahati · 1N Dirang · 3N Tawang · 1N Dirang or Bomdila · 1N GuwahatiBest: March to June, and September to early NovemberGuwahati (GAU) or Tezpur
About this trip
Tawang is the hardest journey we sell and the one people talk about for years. The road leaves the Assam plain, climbs for two days through Bomdila and Dirang, crosses the Sela Pass at 4,170 m past a lake that freezes solid, and drops into a valley held between snow ridges at the end of India.
The monastery was founded in the 1680s and is the largest in India and the second largest in the world. It still houses hundreds of monks, and the 8 m Buddha in the assembly hall is worth the drive on its own.
Be clear-eyed about the pace: two full days up, two full days back, and short distances that take long hours. Anyone who offers you Tawang in five days is selling you a car seat, not a trip.
Trip highlights
Tawang Monastery, the largest in India
Sela Pass at 4,170 m and the frozen Paradise Lake
Bumla Pass and Madhuri Lake, on a separate local permit
Jaswantgarh and the 1962 war memorial
Nuranang Falls below Sela
Dirang valley, its hot springs and the old dzong
Day by day
This is the plan as we would run it. Days can be swapped, dropped or added — say what you want changed and we will rebuild it before you pay anything.
1
Day 1
Arrive Guwahati
Met at the airport. Kamakhya Temple and a Brahmaputra sunset if your flight is early enough. Early night, because tomorrow is a long day and we leave at dawn.
Kamakhya TempleBrahmaputra sunset
Stay: GuwahatiMeals: Dinner
2
Day 2
Guwahati to Dirang, over the Inner Line
A long day north-east, around nine hours: across the Brahmaputra, through Tezpur, and into Arunachal at Bhalukpong where your Inner Line Permit is checked. Then the climb begins, through Bomdila at 2,415 m, and down into the Dirang valley. Cold, clear, and a long way from the plain you left this morning.
Inner Line Permit check at BhalukpongBomdilaArrive Dirang
Stay: DirangMeals: Breakfast, dinner
3
Day 3
Dirang over Sela Pass to Tawang
The great day. Up through Nuranang Falls to the Sela Pass at 4,170 m, where Paradise Lake sits beside the road and is frozen for much of the year. Down the far side past Jaswantgarh, the memorial to a soldier who held a position alone in 1962, and on into Tawang. Seven or eight hours for 140 km, which tells you everything about this road.
Sela Pass at 4,170 mParadise LakeJaswantgarh memorialNuranang Falls
Stay: TawangMeals: Breakfast, dinner
4
Day 4
Tawang Monastery and the town
The monastery in the morning, when the prayers are on: three storeys, hundreds of monks, and an 8 m gilded Buddha in the assembly hall. Then the Tawang War Memorial, the craft centre, Ani Gompa nunnery and the Urgelling Monastery where the sixth Dalai Lama was born.
Tawang MonasteryTawang War MemorialUrgelling Monastery
Stay: TawangMeals: Breakfast, dinner
5
Day 5
Bumla Pass, Madhuri Lake and the high lakes
A high-altitude day on a separate permit issued locally: Bumla Pass on the border at 4,633 m, the PTSO lake, and Sangetsar, which everyone calls Madhuri Lake after a film shot there, formed when an earthquake flooded a stand of trees whose trunks still stand in the water.
Bumla Pass at 4,633 mMadhuri LakePTSO Lake
Stay: TawangMeals: Breakfast, dinner
The Bumla permit is issued in Tawang and depends on army clearance on the day. It is not guaranteed, by anyone. If it is refused we substitute the other high lakes and refund the unused permit cost.
6
Day 6
Back over Sela to Dirang or Bomdila
The return crossing, with different light on the same pass. Stop at Dirang for the hot springs, the old dzong and the yak research centre, or at Bomdila for the monastery and the viewpoint.
Sela Pass againDirang dzong and hot springs
Stay: Dirang or BomdilaMeals: Breakfast, dinner
7
Day 7
Down to the plains and Guwahati
The long descent out of Arunachal, through Bhalukpong and Tezpur, about nine hours to Guwahati. A stop at the Nameri or Kaziranga edge is possible if you want to break it.
Descent to the Assam plainArrive Guwahati
Stay: GuwahatiMeals: Breakfast, dinner
8
Day 8
Guwahati airport
Transfer to GAU for your flight. Any time works today.
Transfer to GAU
Stay: Departure dayMeals: Breakfast
Where you stay
Hotels are named on your written itinerary before you pay. The properties below are the ones we normally use in this band; if one is full on your dates we substitute a hotel of the same standard and tell you which, rather than leaving you to find out at check-in.
Guwahati2 nightsStandard to deluxe city hotelTypically: Vivanta Guwahati · Radisson Blu · or similar
Dirang2 nightsMountain hotel or resort; simple and warmTypically: Pemaling Hotel · Awoo Resort · or similar
Tawang3 nightsBest available in town, which is good but not luxuryTypically: Hotel Tawang Heights · Dondrub Homes · or similar
Getting around
A Sumo, Bolero, Scorpio or Innova Crysta throughout, with a driver who works the Sela road regularly. Nothing smaller goes over that pass in comfort, and in winter chains may be needed.
Up to 4 travellers normally ride in a Wagon R, Swift Dzire or similar; 5 to 7 in an Innova, Xylo or Scorpio; 8 and above in a Tempo Traveller or a second vehicle. On the North Sikkim and Silk Route legs the vehicle is always a Bolero, Sumo or Scorpio, because that is what those roads take.
What is and is not included
Included in the price
Accommodation on twin sharing in the hotel category booked, with all applicable taxes
Daily breakfast and dinner at the hotel, unless stated otherwise for a particular night
All transfers and sightseeing by private non-air-conditioned hill vehicle, exclusively for your group
Driver allowance, fuel, tolls, parking and inter-state road taxes
All permits and inner-line documentation required by the itinerary
A named trip coordinator reachable by phone for the length of the trip
Pick-up and drop at Guwahati airport (GAU)
Arunachal Inner Line Permit for Indian nationals, arranged in advance
Bumla Pass local permit application at Tawang
Not included
Air and rail fare to and from the start point
Lunch, and any meal not listed as included
Entry tickets and camera fees at monuments, parks and viewpoints, unless a line above includes them
Any ride, activity or excursion marked optional in the day-by-day plan
Room service, laundry, telephone calls, tips and anything of a personal nature
Travel insurance and medical costs
Cost of any extension, detour or extra night caused by weather, landslide, roadblock, strike or another event outside our control
Anything not expressly listed under what is included
Protected Area Permit for foreign nationals, which is a longer process and quoted separately
Monastery, museum and memorial entry tickets
Oxygen and any medical assistance at altitude
Booking, payment and cancellation
How booking works
A written itinerary with named hotels and one all-in price is issued before any payment is taken.
Booking is confirmed against the advance; hotel and transport vouchers are issued once it is received.
The balance is payable before the trip begins, unless a different schedule is agreed in writing.
Peak-season travel (mid-October to early January, and mid-April to early June) is held on shorter cut-offs and may need full payment earlier.
Rates are held against the dates quoted. A change of dates is re-quoted at the rates for the new dates.
Government levies, permit fees and entry charges are charged at the rate in force on the day of travel.
If you have to cancel
Cancellations must reach us in writing. The date we receive that message is the date we use.
What we can return depends on what the hotels, transport and permit offices have already charged us. Those deductions are passed on at cost, without a markup from us.
Permits, entry tickets and train or air tickets already issued are governed by the issuing authority and are usually non-refundable.
Peak-season bookings carry tighter terms because hotels hold us to tighter terms. These are stated on your confirmation.
No refund is due for unused nights, unused services or an early departure once a trip has begun.
A road or pass closed by weather is not a cancellation. We rework the day; costs already committed to third parties cannot be returned.
Your written confirmation carries the exact advance, the balance date and the cancellation schedule for your trip. Those numbers, not this page, are the ones that apply. Full terms are on the booking conditions page.
Questions about this trip
How far ahead do you need my documents?
At least three weeks for the Inner Line Permit, and considerably longer for foreign nationals, who need a Protected Area Permit issued through the Ministry of Home Affairs. Late documents are the single most common reason a Tawang trip has to be postponed.
Can this be done in fewer days?
Not honestly. Five-night versions exist and they mean four of the five days are spent entirely in a vehicle. Seven nights is the minimum we will sell.
Is Bumla Pass guaranteed?
No. It sits on the border and access is at the army discretion on the day, quite apart from weather. We apply for every group and it is granted most of the time, but nobody can promise it.
How is the altitude?
Sela at 4,170 m and Bumla at 4,633 m are crossings, not overnight stops, so exposure is short. Tawang itself is 3,048 m, which most people feel mildly on the first evening. The two-day ascent from the plains is good acclimatisation in itself.
Fill this in and we will come back with a proper day-by-day itinerary for your dates, with named hotels and one all-in price. No payment is taken at this stage and nothing is confirmed until you say so.
We reply within the working day.
The itinerary comes in writing, with the hotels named.
Change anything you like before you decide.
Your details stay with us. We do not sell or share them.
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.
