Tawang with Bum La and Madhuri Lake

• Tezpur
• 75 m
• 180 km · 4.5 hrs
• Dinner

Pickup at Guwahati airport at any time of day, which is the point of this gentle start. We drive east along the north bank to Tezpur, a quiet town on the Brahmaputra. If you arrive by midday, there is time for Agnigarh hill, with its view over the river and the Kolia Bhomora bridge, and the carved stone doorframe at Da Parbatia, among the oldest sculpture in Assam. Dinner in Tezpur. Tonight is a good time to make sure your eILP is downloaded on your phone and printed, with original ID ready for tomorrow's check gate.

• Dirang
• 1,500 m
• 195 km · 7–8 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

Leave Tezpur at 7 am for Bhalukpong, 60 km north, where the eILP check gate marks the Arunachal border. The road then follows the Kameng river past Tipi's orchid centre and climbs through Tenga to Bomdila at about 2,400 m, where we stop for lunch and the view over the Kameng valley. From Bomdila it is 42 km down to Dirang, a warmer valley at about 1,500 m. Arrive by late afternoon and stretch your legs at Dirang Dzong, the old stone Monpa village, or the hot springs by the river.

• Tawang
• 3,050 m
• 140 km · 5–6 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

Start at 8 am past the yak farm at Nyukmadung and up the zigzags to Sela. If the weather is fair, take the old road to the pass at about 4,170 m for Sela Lake, which is frozen from about December to March; in snow the Sela Tunnel takes you under it. Stop at Jaswant Garh, the 1962 war memorial, and at Nuranang Falls near Jang, which drops about 100 metres beside a small hydel plant. Reach Tawang by mid-afternoon. Rest, drink water and keep the first evening quiet. We submit your Bum La permit request tomorrow.

• Tawang
• 3,050 m
• Local · about 25 km
• Breakfast, Dinner

While our team takes your ID copies to the DC office for the Bum La permit and then to the army cantonment for its stamp, you visit Tawang Monastery, founded in 1680–81 and the largest monastery in India. Go early for morning prayers, then see the assembly hall and museum. After lunch visit Urgelling Monastery, birthplace of the Sixth Dalai Lama, the Giant Buddha and the craft centre where carpets are woven. At dusk go to the Tawang War Memorial for its evening light and sound show, when running. Permit news usually comes by evening.

• Tawang
• 3,050 m
• About 90 km round trip · 7–8 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

Leave at 7 am in a local SUV, as only these are allowed on the Bum La road. The route climbs past PT Tso, a small lake close to the road, and army posts to Bum La at about 4,600 m, 37 km from Tawang. At the pass, army staff usually brief visitors on the border and the 1962 war; photography rules are set on the day. On the way back, turn off for Madhuri Lake, also called Shonga-tser, formed by an earthquake in 1950 and later used as a film location. Return to Tawang by mid-afternoon. Snow can close any part of the road.

• Tawang
• 3,050 m
• Local · up to 90 km
• Breakfast, Dinner

This day exists to protect the trip. If Bum La was closed yesterday because of snow or army orders, we reapply and try again today. If you have already been, spend a gentler day at the Ani Gompa nunneries above the town, Khinmey monastery and a Monpa village, where families often offer butter tea, or walk the old market lanes. Photographers can return to the monastery for the late afternoon light across the valley. Pack in the evening; tomorrow starts early. Bum La status changes daily, so check current status before you travel.

• Bomdila
• 2,400 m
• 175 km · 6–7 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast we drive back through Jang and over Sela, using the tunnel or the pass depending on conditions, with lunch in Dirang. We continue 42 km to Bomdila, arriving by late afternoon. Visit the Gontse Gaden Rabgye Ling monastery above the town if time allows, and the market for yak-wool shawls, woven bags and chhurpi, the hard dried yak cheese. Splitting the return here keeps tomorrow's drive to about eight to nine hours. Hand back any borrowed winter gear to the driver tonight.

• Departure
• 55 m
• 290 km · 8–9 hrs
• Breakfast

Leave Bomdila at 6 am and descend through Tenga and Bhalukpong to the Assam plains, with lunch near Balipara or Tezpur. We aim to reach Guwahati by about 4 pm, so book a flight after 6.30 pm or stay the night in the city. Tezpur Airport, about 150 km from Bomdila, is an option if its limited flights suit your plans, and cuts four hours off the day. In the monsoon shoulder months, landslides can delay the Bhalukpong stretch; we watch road reports the evening before and adjust the start time if needed.