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    You are here: Home > Rides > Featured Ride > No M an's L and

    No Man's Land Along the Himalayas Gisborne Rally Rann of Kutch

    Scaling Heights

    No Man's Land

    I was in the state of Arunachal Pradesh on 60kph's "One Crazy Ride". My fellow riders, VinodNicky, Sanjeev and Saurabh had left for their respective homes after riding together for 40 dayand I was to continue the ride towards the eastern Arunachal. But my fascination for snow ha

    me riding towards the high altitude region of Tawang instead. Tawang is a hill station on thwestern edge of Arunachal Prasesh, close to the Indo-Bhutan and Indo-China Border.

    The day after I had reached Tawang, I went to th

    Tawang War Memorial. On an early cold and foggmorning, the Army unit stationed at Tawang wahaving a small ceremony at the Memorial, reason Army officers from Udhampur in the state of Jammand Kashmir were visiting to pay homage to th

    martyrs ofthe Indo-Sino war in the year 1962.

    After witnessing the ceremony, which had an Arm

    band, gun salute and colorful traditional Armcostumes, I befriended some Army fellows to knomore about the 1962 conflict. During ouconversation the word "Bum-la" came-up ever

    once in a while. On further inquiry I came to know that it was through Bum-la that Chinese armentered India and into Tawang and went on as far as till the outskirts of Tezpur in Assam. La Tibetan means a Mountain Pass; Bum-la at 15,000 feet is a high-altitude mountain pass.

    Then came a pleasant surprise that one could actually go up to Bum-la, but one needs specipermits from the District administration and the Army. I rushed to District Commissioner's officto procure permits for Bum-la. Since Bum-la is very close to the Indo-Sino border, Army is verparticular about taking all the details before they allow you to visit the pass. Everything wa

    smooth until the issuing authorities asked the registration number and make of the vehicle

    would drive upto Bum-la.

    Nothing was wrong with my bike's

    registration number, but the problemwas it had just two wheels, and nothingwith two wheels has seen what Bum-lalooks like. My application was rejectedimmediately, I objected of course and

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    Magistrate's (ADC) cabin. ADC had theauthority to forego the rule of "no twowheelers allowed at Bum-la."

    The moment a biker or traveler is toldnot to go to a certain place, his/herschema automatically makes the place a

    must visit. More exotic and forbidden fruit has to be tasted ;-) Suddenly while walking towardADC's office, my curiosity to see the pass turned into desperation.

    I was surprised to see a familiar face inside ADC's cabin. I had met him three years back when

    had first come to Tawang and then wanted an extension on my Inner Line Permits. After hearin

    my case, he said I better visit the pass in a taxi, as the track to the pass is not designed for twowheelers. The track is in bad condition, is steep and on top of that the area is covered with snowIf a four wheeler cannot be balanced on the slippery snow how someone can ride a bike thereThis did it for me; now I had to ride to Bum-la and experience the ride myself to see if it wa

    possible or not. I reminded the ADC about our last meeting and also about more remoter ansteeper passes I had ridden to in Ladakh. But, it turned out that he had served for few years the Nyoma Sub Division of Ladakh and was aware of all the passes I was talking about.

    His next move was, even if you negotiate the climb, how will you negotiate the slippery snowFrankly I had no answer because I have not ridden on snow before; I have on patches of 10-5feet, but not on snow for kilometers. At this time, if I recall correctly, I was apprehensive too b

    nevertheless wanted the permits so that I could at least ride to a point closest to Bum-la after athe drama. But government rules are simple, it's all or nothing. The ADC refused to give mpermits on the grounds that if anything happens to me enroute Bum-la he would be heresponsible for it. Press and Media reporting on an accident in a state which is desperately tryinto woo tourists is the last thing they wanted especially when the state sponsored tourism festiv

    was just round the corner. I stood my ground and requested him to tell me a way I could gepermits to ride my bike to Bum- la. He raised his hands by saying even a motorcycle expeditioby the Indian Army Officers didn't go to Bum-la so how would I get a permit? He suggested mto get permissions from the Indian Army, if they agree and accept to take all the responsibility

    he would issue the permit to me.

    The brigade headquarters near the Tawang War Memorial is open to civilians only after 5 pm.

    met a Captain whose answer was "Indian Army doesn't issue permits; we will just cross checyour identity once you get permits. Only after meeting the permit holder personally the BrigadHeadquarters will endorse the permit and without the endorsement. There is no other way oncan cross the several Army check posts enroute. I repeatedly told the captain about my rides the past, finally he said after cross-checking with the commander that the Army would no

    recommend my case to DC for the permits but will endorse it only after the DC office issues mone.

    The verbal confirmation was enough for DC to give permits to ride to Bum-la on my motorcyc

    and subsequently it was endorsed by the brigade HQ in the evening.

    Few more facts I gathered while shuttling between the two offices: Bum-la is the pass from

    where Dalai Lama entered India escaping from Tibet and the Chinese Army. He was wearinArmy fatigues as a camouflage. He stayed at the Tawang Monastery (which is incidentally thbirthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama) for four days before going to Bomdila. The road to Bum-la also a historical route, since it is from here that the Chinese marched into India and were Tawang the next day. In fact, some portion of the road was made by the then Chinese Army fo

    vehicular traffic. Marks and holes from bullets from the 1962 war could still be seen enrouteIndia had lost 4,000 of her men while China lost 3,000.

    Bum-la is just 35 kms from Tawang. I had to cross the last TCP, 8 Kms from the pass before PM, entry for civilian traffic after that time is strictly prohibited.

    My personal facts are that I had ridden and pushed the bike to Mersimek-la highest motorabl

    pass in the world which is tough but my toughest pass was Salsa -la, a rather little known pass Ladakh. I have hypo thyroid, which means I will feel cold more than a normal person, but fosome strange reason I enjoy cold and especially snow.

    So, when I started the next day, 19tNov, I was pretty sure that if it was onincline, I would overcome it, becauslike any hardcore 60kpher, I don't lik

    turning back from a route. Tawang a10,000 feet is a cold place to be November, morning temperature whestarted was 5 degrees, but with all th

    excitement, cold didn't bother me mucOne has to ride up north from Tawanfor bum-la on the P.T. Tso route; throad climbs up immediately giving yo

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    birds eye view of Tawang but sadly on

    can't stop and click pictures due tvarious army camps and ammunitiodepot. Just 7 Kms into the ride, th

    altitude increased drastically, the temperature dipped and I was in the middle of a snow-cla

    landscape. Luckily for me the snow was not on the road and as I made my way upto P.T Tso, thmore whiter the landscape around me became.

    P.T. Tso is 17 Kms. from Tawang and isat an altitude of around 13,000 feet, a

    must do route if one is in Tawang.P.T.Tso is also one of the places I love

    and for no particular reason. It is justthe way the place makes me feel. I had

    spent a lot of time sitting at the lake onmy previous three visits and fourth visitwas no different. The only difference wassnow and lots of it. I parked my bikemid-way and walked down to the lake

    for a stroll, I could feel the cold from thesnow on my feet, but its all part of thefun.

    Tso means Lake in Tibetan language.P.T. is derived from Pankang Thang, Pankang is a slice of wood used locally to insulate the rooof the houses. Thang is a place or plains in Tibetan. The place is called so because locals from

    Tawang used to give Pankang instead of money as tax to the kings of Tibet, as most of Tibet is high altitude desert and devoid of trees, each family would keep their share of Pankang at th

    lake from where Tibetan Army would collect it. P.T. Tso still has the charm of an isolated place we overlook the Army communication lines; the aura of the lake does match up with its richistory.

    The road ascends further from P.T. Tsthrough lovely hair pin bends to Nagu

    la a pass at an altitude of 13,568 feeand three kilometers from P.T. Tso. Onkm further from Nagu la is GrdptsanTso, another lake with rich history anmyth attached to it. Gur

    Padmasambhava, an Indian saint wh"re-introduced" Buddhism in Indiespecially in the Himalayan states wapraying in a cave adjoining Grdptsan

    Tso. The myth goes that a twelveheaded serpent lived in what waGrdptsang Tso. Guru Padmasambhavto mediate in peace, fed the serpent wiso much food that he exploded

    Grdptsang Tso is considered a holy lake by the locals and while visiting the holy lake they don

    shout, utter bad words or dirty the place because, according to their belief, if they do so, thweather changes drastically and is accompanied by rain and snowfall. Some locals also visit th

    lake to see their future, usually accompanied by a lama, who first performs a holy ritual anafter certain offerings are given to the lake, one can see his future in the water's reflectionThere is also a meditation hut and aGurudwara near the lake.

    From Grdptsang Tso the road breaks upinto a track and after a few steep

    stretches comes Y-Junction, 3 Kms from

    the lake. It's called Y-Junction becausethe road intersection is in the shape of aY. A straight from Y- Junction will takeyou to Sangesar Lake also known as

    Madhuri Lake and the small turn on theright will take you to Bum-la. A board atY-Junction said "Celestial paradisebegins here". For me it began before

    P.T. Tso lake and also for the fact thatthis time around due to sub zerotemperatures, I had not encountered any tourist vehicles, where tourist would rush out from thcar with the camera, go click click click, on the lake or the board and without any hesitatiocome up to you wearing 3 jackets, two monkey caps and two pairs of gloves and ask you wha

    the hell you were doing on a motorcycle and go back to the car and start murmuring to otherwho in turn would stare wide-eyed at you.

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    I met no tourist but met NK Vijaypal Singh and his fello

    army jawans who were posted in a small hut at Y-Junctioat an altitude of 14,615 feet for the past one and hayear. Just three men, all from Rajasthan, a desert state western India staying at a god forsaken place cut off frothe rest of the world. NK Vijaypal singh had also served a

    a black cat commando to a minister in central governmeand his posting at Y-Junction was his last posting beforretirement; but his fellow mates had a long way to goone was in middle of his service and the second one ha

    just begun his career in the Indian Army as a 20 year oJawan. The hardships these guys face, stationed at Y

    Junction can belittle any hardships I have or anyone of uhas gone through in life. Temperature at Y-Junction at 1am was chilling zero degrees and mind you it was just th

    start of the winters. And these guys are not posted therjust for the heck of it, the list of duties assigned to theneed them to be on their toes for all 24 hours. But thbest part about the Army guys or "jawan bhai", a ter

    they like civilians to use is the warmth with which thesguys greet you and host you. Be it a super sweet tea

    their ration of dry fruits, super strongArmy rum, or just an invitation to sitbeside the fire in their hut.

    I think the warmth has two origins; first,we as Indians are always welcoming

    guests even though if we know littleabout them, second, after spendingmonths and years at desolate andextreme places we would naturally havean intrinsic desire to talk and share with

    somebody coming from comparativelyfamiliar regions of the country and I amfrom Mumbai. But what we should realizehere is that "Jai Jawan" now has just

    become a clich. The soldiers are verywell aware that an Indian sitting in the comforts of his concrete house doesn't even realize whan Indian Soldier has to go through before we say "Jai Jawan". Making a statement comes easbut has no weight of knowledge to it, that's what I felt. Don't write hate mails to me if you don

    agree.

    I tried my best to reciprocate th

    warmth I got from NK Vijaypal Singh anhis fellow Jawans, not as a traveler bu

    as an Indian, by just listening to thestories and experiences, forgetting thathad to report to the last TCP beforBum-la upto 1 PM to proceed furtheAfter a hot cup of super sweet tea an

    warmth of a bukhari, I bid farewell to mnew found friends. Interestingly, at YJunction there was a board spelling othe distance to Lhasa and Beijing!

    I took the small track turning right froY-Junction and a mixed emotion of riding on a new terrain, fear of unknown, hope of reachinBum-la and horror of failure crossed my mind. After spending 15 minutes in the hut next to th

    fire, I couldn't bear the cold outside, and it was not just ordinary cold, but mind freezing coldThe cold wind hitting you on the face like a thousand needles, the numbness in the hands, thstiffness in the body, you trying to squeeze your body together while riding and then realizinhow stiff it becomes when you need to use hands and legs on a turn.

    From my experience I have kind oflearnt how to avoid the cold; no it's notthe rum, but just by conditioning my

    mind that, It's not that cold, becauseonce you give into the cold you just startshivering, cluttering your teeth and thenyou just feel cold and nothing else. Istopped for a while to get over the "cold

    feeling" I had, and believe me guys ifyou kind of think that it's not that cold,the cold will go away!!! At least to an

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    ,upright and walk for a few meters, one

    does naturally crouch when it's cold, justwalk and try not to think about cold. Ifyou don't believe me ride upto a placewhere the temperature is minus 5 degrees, because that was the temperature when I crossed Y

    Junction.

    The landscape around me was snow

    white, and so was the road on sompatches, riding on the snow is not problem, in fact the soft snow gives better grip, but there were patchewhere underneath the snow there was

    smooth layer of ice, the front tyre wouskid immediately on coming in contacThe trick I learnt after a few slips, whiccame instinctively, was not to engag

    the front brake.

    Soon I arrived at the last check pobefore Bum-la, the one I had to crosbefore 1 PM. Klemta, by no means was

    small Army Outpost, the place had thworks of a well established Army Camp, which stood in sharp contrast with the surroundinlandscape. It is at the base of the third incline you have to ride to get to Bum-la. At Klemta,was greeted by wide-eyed soldiers who walked in one by one at the check gate and had th

    same set of questions and suspicious looks, honestly I did feel a bit odd being interrogated an

    questioned with doubt by my own country men. After the preliminary enquiry, the guy whoperated the handset at the check gate checked my permits and called the Major at the posthough I could only listen to the operators voice. He kept on saying, "Sir, Bombay se bike p

    aaya hai, haan Bike pe, jaaney dun, haan sir bike pe hai, akela hai".

    I was just 8 Kms from the elusive Bum-la and I knew that the guys at Klemtawere apprehensive about letting me go

    ahead. I requested the operator if Icould talk to the Major, I got my 2minutes phone time with the Major andthankfully, he let me talk for those 120

    seconds, in that time I conveyed to himwhere all I had ridden before and howbadly I wanted to touch the pass and itwould be better if a biker was left to

    decide if the bike would climb up thepass or not. Major, as expectedly toldme to stay at the check gate and hewould call back after talking to hissuperiors. Until he ca lled back which was

    a minute or so, don't ask what was going in my mind: His answer to my relief was YES, GAHEAD, but be careful, the track gebad from here.

    Major was right, the track from Klemtclimbs up around a small lake and keepon going up until one gets an aerial vieof the camp, but sadly one can't take o

    the camera here. Actually, one can buwhy take pics of Army camps? Thlocation is a paradise, I guess a romantArmy Officer must have said, let's maka camp here.

    The lake near the camp has hugboulders on its right bank, if an Image the area under snow cover is shown t

    anybody, immediate reaction would be "I want to live at a place like this".

    The track from Y-Junction to Klemta and beyond is dotted by many lakes, all formed by th

    glacial melts from the snow capped mountains above. Only one lake on the route had a boarinforming the visitor, Khemkhar Tso, ahuge lake surrounded from all sides bymountains. Six kilometers from Kelmtacame another surprise, another Army

    check post, but this one was just to

    record traffic movement and 20 feet

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    from the check post a board read,"Caution: You are under enemy

    observation from here on" So now evenChinese were watching an Indian bikerriding to Bum-la.

    500 meters from this post comes a smallstructure on the left hand side of theroad. It's the temple of Joginder Baba,Param Vir Chakra, posthumously. The

    temple is built to pay homage to thegreat soldier who fought bravely against

    the advancing Chinese Army with a handful of men and limited ammunition and no rationNobody lives at the temple, one can enter the shrine but first out of respect the footwear has tbe removed. Don't worry about the cold because once you push the shrine gate open, a pictur

    of Joginder Singh, commander of a platoon of Sikh Regiment stares right at you. It's like cominface to face with history. On the right hand side a board is placed which reads out the History o1962 war and how Joginder Singh and his men became martyr giving the supreme sacrifice fothe motherland.

    On the left hand side is a glass case which has on display, the shoes, mug, bullets, motor shellknife pouch and Sikh Holy book which Joginder Singh had on the fateful day. Apart from thpersonal belongings, the mortal remains (bones) of the soldier are also kept in the case. Apa

    from several pictures of Joginder Singh, there are posters and religious symbols belonging to areligions in India. My ride to Bum-la started with aggression; Bum-la seemed like a challenge

    but at the shrine the challenge felt like ajoke. One can't help but imagine theconditions in 1962. During that time

    Indian Army was not even equipped withproper clothing, forget aboutsophisticated guns. The soldiers foughtwith limited supply of food, braving the

    chilling cold. And here I was after 44years; feeling good about riding amotorcycle to a pass, sounds silly, isn'tit?

    500 meters further from the temple, asmall painted patch on the rock surfacesaid "Engage 4 * 4 from here"

    announcing the climb for Bum-la. But I

    had only two wheels and out of thosetwo only one was engageable :o))

    The climb is not just a climb but "The Climb". It is as arrogant as engineering can get. Whamakes it even more difficult is the surface; it's not smooth but instead has lot of loose stones anboulders which are a result of heavy Army vehicles revving up before the climb; it is not possibto gain momentum before the climb, lack of oxygen makes the bike also underperform by 50-7% One just has to get down and push the bike up. A small stream runs down beneath the stone

    on the incline. The snow from the pasmelts and makes its way through thartificial slope and into the lakes below.

    You not only pant your way up but thcold surface below after a point becomeunbearable. It's very hard to breathe

    such a high altitude; you struggle t

    http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/HEROISM/Joginder.html
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    rea an a er a po n s ar remov nyour jacket to get rid of the suffocationAnd the moment you remove the jackethe cold and strong wind strike at yo

    but It's better to brave the cold then tfeel dazed by lack of oxygen, thdeficiency blanks you out and it's not nice feeling. I must have taken atlea

    six stops on that 500 meters incline. It takes the wind out of you and the cold will force th

    thought of returning back to Tawang.

    I rested for 10 minutes and started for Bum-la which was just 2 Kms away. After a few mor

    turns, which were not a problem, the track opened up on a plateau, a flat table top. Snow covewas 2-3 feet here, but luckily Army had cleared snow from the track. The wind speed here waatleast 50 kph, if not more. No more inclines came for the next one and half kilometer, instead

    swanky Army structure appeared on the

    right hand side.

    I wasn't aware of Border meeting Hut atBum-la - the place where the armypersonnel of both the sides meet. Suchmeetings are called Border Personnel

    Meetings (BPMs). There are only threeBPM spots along the Indo-Sino borderand 60kph members have already beento two other BPM's, one at Chushul inLadakh and the other one at Nathu-la in

    Sikkim.

    Usually, an officer of Brigadier rank

    leads the delegations from both thesides. The delegation comprises ninemembers including two interpreters. The

    Chinese side conducts BPMs in Februar

    and June while the Indian side on Augu15 and October 20. Out of these foumeetings, two meetings are formwhere agenda are discussed anremaining two are celebration meeting

    organised to celebrate Chinese SprinFestival and India's Independence Day.

    Bum- la Hut was constructed by A

    Ranks of 1 Maratha LI (JANGLI PALTANand inaugurated by Maj. Gen. ND JetVSM on 29th May 2000.

    Bum-la Hut itself was a surprise, but was nothing compared to what I sa

    next. I walked down on the track from Bum-la hut again to get over the "cold feeling" and 10meters into the walk I saw a sight which I thought was a symptom of Acute Mountain Sicknes

    Alright that's adding drama, but during my travel years, I haven't been to a place where flags otwo countries are placed 10 feet from one another and the small strip of land in between is "NMan's Land". I was as close to China one can get on the Indo-China Border. Usually "No manLand" is more than a kilometer wide on

    International Border, but with China stillclaiming 90,000 sq Kms of India itoccupied for two months in 1962,technically speaking, I was at the Actual

    Line of Control on a disputed territory.

    The flags are placed right at the Bum-lapass which is at an altitude of 15,000

    feet. And the track doesn't stop in India,I could see the track going deep intoChinese territory, so one can ride intoChina from Bum-la. The milestone at Y-Junction was there for a reason after all.

    The Indian Army is posted bang on theborder, while there was no sign of the Chinese post for Kilometers. Bum-la overlooks thChinese territory which also had less amount of snow. 10 feet away from the Chinese flag, ther

    was garbage thrown around, Chinese juice cans, boxes and other made in China stuff. Chinessoldiers come to Bum-la once in a while and have a picnic and leave empty cans and boxethere to indirectly tell India that it is their territory. Similar practice is followed in Chushu

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    .

    The high point in the ride came when I walked up to the No Man's Land. I was also carrying thflags Sanju made for 60kph and "One Crazy Ride". I pitched it next to the National flags of twcountries. The minus 10 degress and dense fog I encountered while returning to Tawang didn

    bother me much. Standing on the Indo-China No Man's Land was the perfect climax to the whopermission drama. I was doubly high thanks also to the super strong Army rum at the pass.

    Ride to Bum-la was more than just ride, even if you take the "first" taaway, the peace and tranquility experienced sitting at several lakeenroute, interaction with Army, th

    struggle at the incline and coming face tface with Joginder Singh at the shrinYou not only explore a track going to high altitude pass, but explore the limi

    of your strength, both mental anphysical and explore the myth, thhistory and the people of a great countrwe call India. A board near No ManLand, Welcome to India aptly proclaim

    the high one gets on reaching at th

    pass and it is very difficult for me tosum-up the feeling.

    Relations with China are peaceful, butinside sources tell that China has

    verbally confirmed a cease fire till 2008,

    that is until they hosts the Olympics andpopular belief is that after 2008 Chinawill start putting pressure to regain the90,000 sq kms of territory it is claiming

    in North - East India. Not only Arunachaland bit of Assam, President Maoillustrated China by using the image ofthe hand where palm was depicted asTibet and the five fingers as Bhutan,

    Sikkim, North- East India, Ladakh andNepal!

    Quite revealing that is but when Gegong Apang, the present Chief Minister of Arunachal Prades

    applied to Chinese embassy for a visa to attend a conference in China, he was told that he didnneed a visa as he is a Chinese National!

    I hope that Bum-la and other parts of India don't see another Indo-China C onflict, and I am suryou will agree to it.

    Tips, if you are traveling to Bum- la:

    Make sure you mention the vehicle registration number correctly at DC's office, if it mis-spelled or you take another vehicle, the Army might not allow you to go through.

    Get the permit stamped at the Brigade Major's office opposite Tawang War Memorial, th

    office is open to civilians after 5 PM. Without the Army stamp, you will not be allowed tride on this inner line route.

    Start early from Tawang; 7 AM is a good time, and start the return journey from Bum-

    latest by 11.30 or noon, weather changes drastically at noon; clouds move in and visibiliis very low, chances of snowfall are also high.

    Wear ankle-high waterproof shoes, good pair of gloves, balaclava and ear protection.

    Threading on the tyre should not be worn out; you'll have to ride through oodles of snocovered patches enroute Bum -la.

    Acclimatize yourself to High Altitude for a couple of days in Tawang if you are riding t

    Bum-la on a motorcycle since you will have to push the bike to reach Bum-la.

    Carry a minimum luggage; 4-5 litres of fuel is more than enough to cover the 70 kmjourney.

    One can hire a taxi from Tawang but the charges are exorbitant (~2,000 Rupees)

    Make sure you protect the camera equipment. Exposing camera to extreme temperature

    within a short span of time will result in condensation on recording heads/CCD.

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    If going by Taxi, do not switch-on the car heater.

    Happy Trails,

    Gaurav Jani

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