Travel style · Arunachal
Food and tea in Arunachal
Wazwan, momos, thukpa and first flush
Food trips through the Himalaya: Kashmiri wazwan, Ladakhi skyu, Himachali dham, Garhwali mandua, Newari feasts, Darjeeling tea tastings and Bhutan's ema datshi. Cheap, filling and the fastest way into a culture.
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsMountain food is built on what grows high and keeps through winter: barley, buckwheat, millet, potatoes, dried cheese and meat, apricots and walnuts.
Arunachal is India's far eastern Himalaya: Monpa Buddhist country around Tawang and Dirang in the west, Apatani rice valleys at Ziro, Adi villages along the Siang, and the rainforest of Namdapha in the east. Indians need an Inner Line Permit, foreigners a Protected Area Permit. October to April is the best window.
Trips
Food and tea trips in Arunachal
Photo: Arunachal2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Ziro Apatani homestay on a budget
Shared Sumos, with a shared taxi day in the valley
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Monpa and Apatani: Tawang to Ziro
Private SUV with driver and private guide
3 places
Where to go
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dirang
Orchards, hot springs and yaks on the road to Tawang
Photo: Bhavikji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Pasighat
Adi country where the Siang meets the plains
Photo: Arunachal2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ziro
The Apatani valley of rice, fish and pine
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Rohit Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dirang Dzong village and the hot springs
Walk the lanes of an old stone Monpa settlement on a rise above the river, then go down to the hot springs where Dirang…
Photo: Neelanjana234 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
A day in the Sangti valley
A flat, quiet valley 15 km from Dirang with a clear river, fields, sheep pasture and Monpa villages. Walk the riverbank…
Photo: Rupasree · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Yak country on the road to Sela
Drive up from Dirang into the cold forests around Nyukmadung, at about 2,700 m, where yaks graze and the national yak r…
Photo: Rashid Jorvee · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sunset on the Siang at Pasighat
Watch the Siang spread out of the hills into braided channels and sandbanks as the sun sets behind the ridges, with boa…
Photo: Prashanthns · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Birding in Daying Ering sanctuary
Cross to the river islands of the Siang to look for wintering ducks, waders and grassland birds in a sanctuary of sandb…
Photo: Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditio… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
An Adi village, the mosup and apong
Visit an Adi village near Pasighat with a local guide: stilt houses, granaries, the mosup community hall, orange and ar…
Photo: Bullo Doilyang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Apatani village walk in Hong and Hari
Walk through two large Apatani villages with a local guide: stilt houses, granaries, clan platforms, shrines and the ri…
Photo: Thinksaurabh · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
An Apatani kitchen: pike pila and rice beer
Cook and eat with an Apatani family around the hearth: smoked pork, bamboo shoot, sticky rice, pike pila pickle and hom…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Anand Explore · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Apatani homestays, Ziro valley
Family homestays in the Apatani villages of Hong, Hari, Hija and Siiro are the best way to stay in Ziro: wooden ro…
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Dirang Boutique Cottages
A small riverside property across a hanging bridge on the Dirang river, with cottages in the style of Monpa shephe…
Photo: Arunachal2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Siiro Resort, Ziro
A pine-wood resort in Siiro village on the edge of the Ziro valley, with private rooms, attached bathrooms and vie…
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Rungkhung Village Resort, Dirang
A resort among kiwi and orange orchards in the Dirang valley, part of Summit Hotels' Signature Collection, with va…