Journey through a forgotten land

Combining her love for writing and travelling, Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent has published a number of books, including Tuk-Tuk to the Road and A Short Ride in the Jungle. Embarking on difficult journeys that take her to remote regions of the world, Antonia has now explored Arunachal Pradesh, in her latest book, Land of the Dawn-Lit  Mountains. In the spring of 2016, she travelled some 2,000 miles, encountering shamans, lamas, hunters, opium farmers, fantastic tribal festivals and relating little-known stories from the Second World War, she discovered a world and a way of living that’s on the cusp of vanishing forever. Antonia shares a few photographs with After Hrs from her travel to Arunachal Pradesh and some trivia regarding the same...

Classic Arunachal

This photograph was taken in the Upper Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh, when I stopped at the roadside not far south of the town of Yingkiong. For me, it’s a classic snapshot of Arunachal’s mountainous terrain: cascading paddies, drifting mist, forest-cloaked slopes and a river purling below.

Story of skulls

Mithun, or bos frontalis, are large, semi-wild bovines found in Northeast India, Burma and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Highly valued by many of the tribal societies of Arunachal, they often end up being sacrificed, and their skulls smoked and hung like this. I saw these particular skulls in the hut of a Miju Mishmi shaman in Anjaw District, in the far east of the state.

Build a bridge

Whilst trekking in Pemako, a sacred Buddhist valley in the Upper Siang District, we were hit by a sudden storm and, on crossing the Siang River at Tuting a few days later, I found that it had destroyed half of this hanging bridge. These Adi men were busy fixing it — not a job for anyone suffering from vertigo!

Back in time

During my journey across Arunachal Pradesh, I trekked to the wreckage of a Second World War American C-46 transport plane which had crashed into a mountain north of the state capital Itanagar in February 1945, sadly killing all but one of the US airmen on board. The lone survivor was rescued by local Nyishi villagers, eventually making it home to the US. Today, much of the wreckage still remains — including this radial engine.

Pass perfect

The final leg of my 10 week, 2,000 mile journey was riding to Tawang, in the far north-western corner of the state. There was one problem: to reach the town I had to cross the 4,175 metre Sela Pass. My motorbike, a brilliant little 150-cc Hero Impulse, did not enjoy the altitude, and I had to make some home-made adjustments to the air filter and carburettor in order to make it. This photo was taken at about 3,800 metres, not far below the Pass itself.

Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains
Price & Publication: Rs 499, Simon & Schuster.