TheFreeBird
Before you read along , have a look at the first part of the series Basic Mountaineering Course NIMAS dirang BMC part 1 . In this part I take you through the 15km endurance trek and on a journey to New Melling enroute the beautiful Sela pass and Jaswantgarh war memorial as we enter Tawang.
DAY 5 ENDURANCE TREK
A 15 km Endurance Trek was scheduled today. The rOOksOOk was heavier by 5 kilos to touch 10 kgs of back breaking stuff. I could hear my spine cursing me already. Packed food from the NIMAS Chefs had pulav & eggs alongwith apples & oranges. We followed the daily PT route to reach the top of mountains from where we went further ahead for almost 6-7 hrs. The rhododendrons & the fern covered trees were a treat for sore eyes.
The bark of the above tree with dotted stem was used as paper in early days. The tree canopies & the untouched route made for a beautiful trek. Slight drizzle made for a pleasant weather as the ponchos were out for the first time & we looked like an army on a mission.
The enjoyable trek continued for a while till we crossed a mountain where sun was shining brightly. A quick lunch and we started descending through the dry foliage. After walking through a rain forest in the morning we had now entered completely different environment where we were walking through heaps of dry leaves for hours
We finally reached a village where we were informed that the trek had ended. Our legs had exhausted but glad we finished the trek Yayy !!! The joy was short lived as we were informed that we had to walk all the way to NIMAS. The trek was far from finished as I dragged my feet to the starting point which was about 7 km away including the uphill climb to NIMAS on top of the hill
This was now a 22km Endurance trek.
The walk was exhaustive and we heaved a collective sigh of relief as we finally managed to scrape our way back to the base. No sooner did we reach the camp I crashed in the tent. Later Dep. Director Col. Chadda took lectures on Acclimatisation, Camping & Walking in the mountains. None of us wanted any of this theory as we sat through the lectures with red drowsy eyes.
Had dinner & slept like a dead log.
DAY 6 REST DAY
After the heavy duty trek yesterday, instructors decided to go easy on us today. We had a bit demure PT today. Cloudy conditions made for a super scenic view. Later we had sessions on Jumaring followed by Glaciers & Avalanches. The previous days exhaustion was still pent up in our bodies. I almost slept through the lectures. After the lectures we had free time and anyone could go to the Dirang market to buy things. Next day we moved to New Melling for the next fascinating part of this adventure.
DAY 7 MOVE TO NEW MELLING 8642 FT
The rOOksOOk needed to be packed & we had the to option to keep all the unwanted things could be kept at a store room in Dirang. My definition of necessary things is a bit screwed, as I ended up carrying a lot of useless things to the New Melling. It was probably 20 kgs. Bidding goodbye to Dirang we were transported to Jang. The route is pretty scenic and the early morning sun lit it beautifully. We stopped at two places, Baisakhi army base & the Jaswantgarh war memorial.
The Baisakhi base has a CSD canteen where we stocked on cakes, chocolates & juices for the following days in the wilderness
Many families also stop at this army post to get good at lesser cost. It was good to see some normal people after a while. Leaving Baisakhi base our vehicles gained height as we approached the high altitude Sela pass ( 13700 ft). The terrain had now changed as we could see many snow clad mountains
SELA PASS
As the climate was very cold and windy we didnt stop at Sela pass for long time. We just got to play for a while with snow. Instructors ordered us to get back to vehicles assuring us that we will get more than our fair share of snow in the days to come. They were 100% right.
The next stop some 14 km from the pass was Jaswantgarh war memorial. By the unparalleled courage shown by Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat & his two associates, they stopped the Chinese army for over 72 hrs in the 1962 Chinese invasion thus saving 1000’s of lives. The Rifleman from the 4th Battalion of Garhwal Rifles infantry Regiment was posthumously awarded Mahavir Chakra. The temple like structure built in his memory is well maintained by the army .
The small canteen at Jaswantgarh provides refreshments to the tired travelers. We had samosas and momos. Tea is free . The near by army store has all kinds of clothes to shop. Army caps & bandana are good memoirs.
Bro tip
Don’t plan to buy trek stuff from here as they may be out of stock. Some guys had planned to buy water proof gloves from here received an out of stock shocker.
Getting back in the vehicle we moved on from this picturesque spot. We reached Jang where we waited near the hydel station for collecting the remaining mountain gear from the previous batch on their way back. I couldn’t help but notice the freshness in the returning batch. The fresh air & the pristine nature had cleansed their minds of the negativity which arises from our daily chores. Or probably they were just happy to get back into network area. Mobile network tends to weaken after Jang.
Once the previous batch reached, we got extra stuff including the ice axe, new back packs etc. The rucksack which was already heavy now had additional gear making it super heavy. Just as we started the journey we were able to see the mighty Nuranang waterfall.
From here onwards it starts to get extremely beautiful with clear rivers moving parallelly and huge mountains & valleys. Jang to New Melling is about 15kms accompanied by a crystal clear river.
Here is my vlog till New Melling. If you like reading my story till now you will definitely like the video. Bare in mind these videos are of old video making style as I was just getting started. My newer videos have a different feel. Subscribe to my channel.
END OF PART 2
As we reached New Melling, nature’s beauty had become more untouched. In this New Melling village only 7 people live permanently, making us students the majority. Though the riverside camp is beautiful, the physical training & rock climbing gets very tough making you forget all the beauty
PARTS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
If you have any doubts add a comment at the end of this post or reach out to me through my social media channels. All links at the bottom of this page. Below are few more mountain related posts you may like:
- Mountaineering as a career in India
- Mountaineering books to motivate you
- Should I quit my job for a mountain life ?
- Trading as a way to TRAVEL full-time
- Basic rock climbing. 10 days, Mt. Abu
- Basic mountaineering 30 days, NIMAS
- Stok Kangri – 6000m high altitude trek
- Famous treks of sahyadri, Maharashtra
Satsriyakal bhaii..
My name is Ashirbad and I’m from a small town in Odisha. I’m also interested for the BMC course at NIMAS Arunachal Pradesh, but I couldn’t able to register myself in the website. I have also made contact with the NIMAS but they failed to help me. Bhaii.. please help me in this matter.
Satsriyakal Ashirbad.
Few days back another person was also trying to fill the form for 3-4 days but was not able to because the servers were down. He was however later able to fill once the servers were back up. So i would suggest you try once again after a while. There may be connectivity /network issues at there side.
Hope for the best.
In which months did you go for your BMC @ NIMAS?
It was in April