Day 22: Plan: Tezpur Itanagar Siliguri

Day 22:

Plan for the day: Tezpur-Itanagar-Siliguri.

Planned kms: 880 kms

Got up early morning as Tashi had messaged me back saying it would take me about 4 hours to reach Itanagar and that he would be at the entry point of Arunachal Pradesh as I would need ILP to enter Arunachal. So I started off early at about 6:00AM hoping to reach by 10 ish. The roads were decent and I reached by about 10:00. I was expecting a couple of riders to come with Tashi but there were about 7 riders who had come. I was very happy to meet so many riders of the Royal Arunachal Riders.



Breakfast with Royal Arunachal Riders

We had breakfast, then I was honoured to be gifted the Tribal Thumpers badge by Royal Arunachal Riders honoured . We then took permission at the entry gate as we could not take ILP since it was a National Holiday and Biki Punung & Tashi Bros personally took my responsibility, gave his documents and told them that the ILP would be submitted the next day. We then entered Arunachal through Holongi Gate.

Groupfie time


Honoured to be gifted with a Tribal Thumpers Badge

With Biki Punung

The roads were awesome and scenic. The Royal Arunachal Riders guys were super awesome. We then rode to the Buddhist Temple. It was an awesome experience being at Buddhist Temple in Itanagar. This temple was consecrated by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama on 15 Dec 1996.


 A few photos at the Buddhist Temple


Buddhist Prayer






Monkey Me in Itanagar

Bulls in line



With Biki's Bull

We then had some juice & snacks & I tried plucking some guava from the tree (the monkey in me could not resist). I posed for a few pictures on Biki's awesomely modified Bull. I then took leave from the Royal Arunachal Riders and Biki bro guided me till the main road which would take me back towards Tezpur. What an awesome team this has been. The brotherhood of bikers is really an awesome feeling. The North East of India is such a wonderful place and the guys here have a heart that's much more beautiful than the nature that we see around the North East. Lucky for me I have had my share of a fraction of their goodness.


Between Itanagar & Hollongi Gate




On the way back I clicked a few snaps. At the exit gate, the same one I entered, I made documentation about my exit. I then rode towards Siliguri via Tezpur. By the time I reached Tezpur again it was about 3:30 PM. I was then advised to take the Nagaon road as it was a 4 lane road all the way. I therefore took it even though it was about 75 odd kms longer. It was about 8:00PM I reached Guwahati. I was tired but I wanted to go ahead as far as possible, hence I continued. But I had 475 kms more to reach Siliguri.

Sunset somewhere near Nagaon


I continued till Kamalpur Assam and reached there by about 9:30. I was getting tired and sleepy but I could not find any hotel to rest for the night so I continued. A little ahead, I met a rider who was on his Yamaha R3 he waved at me and I stopped. We then had tea and chatted. This guy was Nilotpal Kalita. This guy joined me till a little before Pathsala Assam. In between, I was dozing off. I thought I had enough for the day. I had done almost 600 kms. My mobiles were switched off so I requested Nilotpal to help me find a hotel close by. He readily agreed to help and immediately called a friend of his who told him that Pathsala was the closest I could find a hotel. I thanked him and he guided me. A little before Pathsala was Nilotpal's place so he took a deviation and I continued. It was about 10:30 by the time I reached the hotel. I was told that almost all hotels here close by 10:00PM. Luckily for me they took me in and even more luckily they had food. I was so hungry I gobbled up and don't remember if I washed my hands, I dozed off to sleep.

Hungry, Tired and Sleepy


End of day 22

A small view of day 22 ride https://youtu.be/lTYX4L1Offw


Route taken : Tezpur, Holongi Gate, Itanagar, Tezpur, Nagaon, Guwahati, Pathsala   .


Road conditions: Moderately decent all the way till Itanagar and back. Roads were good till Pathsala from Tezpur through Nagaon & Guwahati.

Kms Done: 614 kms


Destination tomorrow: Pathsala-Siliguri-Patna. (850 kms)

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