Travel style · Arunachal
Homestays and villages in Arunachal
Sleep in the hive itself
Homestays are the Himalaya's best value and its best way in: Ladakhi kitchens, Spiti mud houses, Kumaoni stone homes, Lepcha villages in Dzongu, Apatani homes in Ziro. Simple rooms, home food, money that stays in the valley.
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsA homestay is a room in a family home, with meals from the family kitchen. Expect clean, simple rooms, often a shared or outside bathroom in the high valleys, and food made from what the village grows.
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
Homestays and villages trips in Arunachal
Photo: Bhavikji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
The Siang valley and Mechuka
Private SUV with driver
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Tawang circuit by shared Sumo
Shared Sumos, with one shared taxi day in Tawang
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
5 places
Where to go
Photo: Itrajib · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dirang
Orchards, hot springs and yaks on the road to Tawang
Photo: Quentin Talon & Mario Geiger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Mechuka
A wide Memba valley on the Siyom, far up the Siang
Photo: Bhavikji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Pasighat
Adi country where the Siang meets the plains
Photo: Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditio… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Roing
Idu Mishmi foothills below the snows of Mayudia
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: Quentin Talon & Mario Geiger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Morning at Samten Yongcha monastery
Walk or drive up to the old Memba monastery above Mechuka for morning prayers, butter lamps and a wide view over the Si…
Photo: Quentin Talon & Mario Geiger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
A day walking the Siyom valley
Follow the Siyom across Mechuka's wide grassland, over wooden bridges and past grazing ponies and prayer flags, to vill…
Photo: Quentin Talon & Mario Geiger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
A Memba kitchen evening by the fire
Spend an evening around the hearth in a Memba homestay: butter tea, rice and local greens, perhaps yak or pork, home-br…
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…
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: Quentin Talon & Mario Geiger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Budget
Memba homestays, Mechuka
Memba family homestays are the main places to stay in Mechuka: timber houses near the Siyom with warm kitchens, ho…
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…
Homestays and villages elsewhere