For a fraction of second Arvind Yadne felt 76. Twenty one days that spanned across the beautifully treacherous terrains of Arunachal Pradesh, Yadne never really felt the age effect unless it came to the three hour long ferry ride across Bramhaputra.
“I have travelled in ferries but this ferry from nowhere gave the impression that it has the capacity to carry a number of cars across the lashing waves of Brahmaputra. It was small and rickety and they had a thin plank to push the car up. That was the first time all of us felt apprehensive of what was to follow next,” says Yadne, a retired chief engineer who at the age of 76 dodged landslides, fought chilling cold, conquered the twisted terrains and overcame the complications of higher altitudes with his group of six senior citizens.
The Yadnes, Lonkars and the Datars, all in their late 60s and early 70s, embraced a journey that even youngsters will think twice before undertaking. Rejecting the popular circuit of Tawang, Itanagar and Ziro, the sextet decided to take the roads less travelled.
Twist in the trail
Like regular tourists this group of six too arrived at Tezpur to embark their journey to Arunachal Pradesh. But when a landslide blocked the popular tourist circuit, they decided to explore the north east of the extreme northeastern corner of the country. As a result, the group stumbled upon Menchukha, which they claim is one of the most beautiful courtysides they have ever come across. Surprisingly, the place does not find a mention on even the map of Arunachal Pradesh. More than replete with all the features of being a tourist’s paradise, the place strives to find its own existence on the political and physical map of its state. Completely oblivious of the world out there, Menchukha on an altitude of 5,500 ft is the home of the Memba tribe and was recently in news when an IAF plane crashed about 15 km away from the place. "Ninety per cent of the place is covered in lush green. You feel you have come to a completely different world when you enter that place,” says Yadne.
Treacherous terrains
So from Itanagar the quest to revel in the beauty of some unexplored terrains took a head start. “From Itanagar to Ziro to Daporijo and then Along and from Along to Menchukha was the route we followed,” says Surekha Yadne. However the unfriendly terrains and teh concerns for old age did pose a threat to the journey "You have to be a bit extra careful when you are old. You can't afford to be careless so we did not actually rush into reaching Menchukha and our speed limit was moderate," says Arvind Yadne. And so the stretch of 167 kms took almost six hours to get covered. " I think anyone will take that much time because it is a hilly area. Another problem that we faced was the scarcity of small time dhabas or eateries on the way. In that entire stretch we just had one dhaba," says Surekha Yadne.
Surprise in store
However days' toil was worth the trophy the group recieved when they reached Menchukha. "What met our sight was a beauty completely chaste. Untouched by any outer influence. We have been to a lot many places, Bhutan, Kashmir, Nepal, Usa to name a few but here everything was beautiful in its most natural form,"say the Lonkars.I
The local people of Mechukha who belong to the Memba tribe, according to the group were extremely warm and friendly. " Some who are literate speak Hindi and the ones who could not speak any of our languages never hesitated to communicate even non verbally. Till now we had only seen them once being featured in Discovery Channel in one of programmes and after reaching their we were face to face with the real them," recalls Surekha Yadne.
The group that comprises of six people who all have been avid travellers for years now say that places in Arunachal Pradesh are deprived of their fair share of exposure. "There has been no exposure to this area and subject sufficiently. The area is very photogenic and even arid areas of Ladakh and Leh, which too I have visited have received more coverage and publicity the sheer reason being ease of travelling to these areas and jumping in the bandwagon tendency,"says Arvind Yadne. [rc]
© 2009 The Indian Express Limited
July 12, 2009
INDIA: In old age turning a new page
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PUNE, Maharashtra / The Indian Express / News / July 12, 2009
By Shashi Priya
A group of retired senior citizens stumbled upon a virgin countryside — Menchukha in Arunachal Pradesh — on their quest to explore the uncharted terrains of the state.
For a fraction of second Arvind Yadne felt 76. Twenty one days that spanned across the beautifully treacherous terrains of Arunachal Pradesh, Yadne never really felt the age effect unless it came to the three hour long ferry ride across Bramhaputra.
“I have travelled in ferries but this ferry from nowhere gave the impression that it has the capacity to carry a number of cars across the lashing waves of Brahmaputra. It was small and rickety and they had a thin plank to push the car up. That was the first time all of us felt apprehensive of what was to follow next,” says Yadne, a retired chief engineer who at the age of 76 dodged landslides, fought chilling cold, conquered the twisted terrains and overcame the complications of higher altitudes with his group of six senior citizens.
The Yadnes, Lonkars and the Datars, all in their late 60s and early 70s, embraced a journey that even youngsters will think twice before undertaking. Rejecting the popular circuit of Tawang, Itanagar and Ziro, the sextet decided to take the roads less travelled.
Twist in the trail
Like regular tourists this group of six too arrived at Tezpur to embark their journey to Arunachal Pradesh. But when a landslide blocked the popular tourist circuit, they decided to explore the north east of the extreme northeastern corner of the country. As a result, the group stumbled upon Menchukha, which they claim is one of the most beautiful courtysides they have ever come across. Surprisingly, the place does not find a mention on even the map of Arunachal Pradesh. More than replete with all the features of being a tourist’s paradise, the place strives to find its own existence on the political and physical map of its state. Completely oblivious of the world out there, Menchukha on an altitude of 5,500 ft is the home of the Memba tribe and was recently in news when an IAF plane crashed about 15 km away from the place. "Ninety per cent of the place is covered in lush green. You feel you have come to a completely different world when you enter that place,” says Yadne.
Treacherous terrains
So from Itanagar the quest to revel in the beauty of some unexplored terrains took a head start. “From Itanagar to Ziro to Daporijo and then Along and from Along to Menchukha was the route we followed,” says Surekha Yadne. However the unfriendly terrains and teh concerns for old age did pose a threat to the journey "You have to be a bit extra careful when you are old. You can't afford to be careless so we did not actually rush into reaching Menchukha and our speed limit was moderate," says Arvind Yadne. And so the stretch of 167 kms took almost six hours to get covered. " I think anyone will take that much time because it is a hilly area. Another problem that we faced was the scarcity of small time dhabas or eateries on the way. In that entire stretch we just had one dhaba," says Surekha Yadne.
Surprise in store
However days' toil was worth the trophy the group recieved when they reached Menchukha. "What met our sight was a beauty completely chaste. Untouched by any outer influence. We have been to a lot many places, Bhutan, Kashmir, Nepal, Usa to name a few but here everything was beautiful in its most natural form,"say the Lonkars.I
The local people of Mechukha who belong to the Memba tribe, according to the group were extremely warm and friendly. " Some who are literate speak Hindi and the ones who could not speak any of our languages never hesitated to communicate even non verbally. Till now we had only seen them once being featured in Discovery Channel in one of programmes and after reaching their we were face to face with the real them," recalls Surekha Yadne.
The group that comprises of six people who all have been avid travellers for years now say that places in Arunachal Pradesh are deprived of their fair share of exposure. "There has been no exposure to this area and subject sufficiently. The area is very photogenic and even arid areas of Ladakh and Leh, which too I have visited have received more coverage and publicity the sheer reason being ease of travelling to these areas and jumping in the bandwagon tendency,"says Arvind Yadne. [rc]
© 2009 The Indian Express Limited
For a fraction of second Arvind Yadne felt 76. Twenty one days that spanned across the beautifully treacherous terrains of Arunachal Pradesh, Yadne never really felt the age effect unless it came to the three hour long ferry ride across Bramhaputra.
“I have travelled in ferries but this ferry from nowhere gave the impression that it has the capacity to carry a number of cars across the lashing waves of Brahmaputra. It was small and rickety and they had a thin plank to push the car up. That was the first time all of us felt apprehensive of what was to follow next,” says Yadne, a retired chief engineer who at the age of 76 dodged landslides, fought chilling cold, conquered the twisted terrains and overcame the complications of higher altitudes with his group of six senior citizens.
The Yadnes, Lonkars and the Datars, all in their late 60s and early 70s, embraced a journey that even youngsters will think twice before undertaking. Rejecting the popular circuit of Tawang, Itanagar and Ziro, the sextet decided to take the roads less travelled.
Twist in the trail
Like regular tourists this group of six too arrived at Tezpur to embark their journey to Arunachal Pradesh. But when a landslide blocked the popular tourist circuit, they decided to explore the north east of the extreme northeastern corner of the country. As a result, the group stumbled upon Menchukha, which they claim is one of the most beautiful courtysides they have ever come across. Surprisingly, the place does not find a mention on even the map of Arunachal Pradesh. More than replete with all the features of being a tourist’s paradise, the place strives to find its own existence on the political and physical map of its state. Completely oblivious of the world out there, Menchukha on an altitude of 5,500 ft is the home of the Memba tribe and was recently in news when an IAF plane crashed about 15 km away from the place. "Ninety per cent of the place is covered in lush green. You feel you have come to a completely different world when you enter that place,” says Yadne.
Treacherous terrains
So from Itanagar the quest to revel in the beauty of some unexplored terrains took a head start. “From Itanagar to Ziro to Daporijo and then Along and from Along to Menchukha was the route we followed,” says Surekha Yadne. However the unfriendly terrains and teh concerns for old age did pose a threat to the journey "You have to be a bit extra careful when you are old. You can't afford to be careless so we did not actually rush into reaching Menchukha and our speed limit was moderate," says Arvind Yadne. And so the stretch of 167 kms took almost six hours to get covered. " I think anyone will take that much time because it is a hilly area. Another problem that we faced was the scarcity of small time dhabas or eateries on the way. In that entire stretch we just had one dhaba," says Surekha Yadne.
Surprise in store
However days' toil was worth the trophy the group recieved when they reached Menchukha. "What met our sight was a beauty completely chaste. Untouched by any outer influence. We have been to a lot many places, Bhutan, Kashmir, Nepal, Usa to name a few but here everything was beautiful in its most natural form,"say the Lonkars.I
The local people of Mechukha who belong to the Memba tribe, according to the group were extremely warm and friendly. " Some who are literate speak Hindi and the ones who could not speak any of our languages never hesitated to communicate even non verbally. Till now we had only seen them once being featured in Discovery Channel in one of programmes and after reaching their we were face to face with the real them," recalls Surekha Yadne.
The group that comprises of six people who all have been avid travellers for years now say that places in Arunachal Pradesh are deprived of their fair share of exposure. "There has been no exposure to this area and subject sufficiently. The area is very photogenic and even arid areas of Ladakh and Leh, which too I have visited have received more coverage and publicity the sheer reason being ease of travelling to these areas and jumping in the bandwagon tendency,"says Arvind Yadne. [rc]
© 2009 The Indian Express Limited
