Destination index

Every place on the Tawang road, with its own guide

Every place worth stopping between Guwahati and Bumla: Shergaon, Rupa, Sangti Valley, Mandala Top, Mukto, Lumla, Zemithang, Mago Valley, Thembang and more, each with altitude, best time, driving times and maps.

Route halts

4,170 m

Sela Pass

The 4,170 m gateway that decides whether you reach Tawang today

1,560 m

Dirang

A West Kameng valley town on the route from Bomdila towards Sela and Tawang

2,415 m

Bomdila

West Kameng's district town, monastery terraces and the first big view

1,900 m

Shergaon

Sherdukpen orchard country and one of India's finest low-key birding bases

Landmarks

4,633 m

Bumla Pass

India's border post at 4,633 m, open to civilians with a permit

1,890 m

Nuranang Falls

A hundred metres of white water below Jang, the loudest stop on the road

3,708 m

Sangetsar (Madhuri) Lake

A lake formed by an earthquake, studded with drowned fir trunks

3,048 m

Tawang Monastery

Galden Namgey Lhatse — the largest monastery in India, founded 1680

Wildlife

45 m

Orang National Park

Mini Kaziranga — rhino, wild buffalo and grassland birds, without the crowds

500–3,250 m

Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary

Bugun liocichla country and one of Asia's great birding roads

Hidden gems

3,800 m

Mago Valley

The last Indian village before the Bhutan–Tibet trijunction

3,300 m

Mandala Top

108 stupas on a ridge above the clouds

1,500 m

Sangti Valley

Sheep pastures, a quiet river valley and Monpa village life beside Dirang

2,300 m

Thembang Village

A fortified Monpa dzong village on the UNESCO tentative list

1,570 m

Rupa

Sherdukpen heartland of orchards and old trade routes

2,700 m

Mukto Village

Terraced fields, quiet gompas and the road less taken from Tawang

1,900 m

Lumla

The soft green shoulder of Tawang district

2,000 m

Zemithang

The valley the 14th Dalai Lama walked into in 1959

1,700 m

Chug Valley

Water mills, walnut groves and almost no visitors

3,100 m

Thingbu

The gateway hamlet on the road to Mago

2,600 m

Nukmadong

A 1962 war memorial most itineraries drive straight past

1,890 m

Jang & Jang Waterfall

The town below Sela and the 100-metre fall that shares its name

3,700 m

Penga Teng Tso (PTSo)

Tawang's closest high lake, frozen solid by January

3,500 m

Taktsang Gompa

Tawang's own Tiger's Nest, on a cliff above the Zemithang road

2,900 m

Urgelling Monastery

Birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama

2,000 m

Gorsam Chorten

A 12th-century stupa on the Nyamjang Chu

1,600 m

Dirang Dzong

A 500-year-old stone fort village still lived in

1,500–3,000 m

Apple Orchards & Yak Farms

The working countryside of West Kameng

1,500–3,200 m

Traditional Monpa Villages

Weaving, wood, buckwheat and butter tea