It must have been in a moment of madness when I accepted an invite from a dear friend, Ravi, to join him on an extreme overlanding group expedition through Nagaland. A trip which the organizers had clearly labelled as level 3 or “Extreme” level. My motivations: I had enough spare time on my hands and the idea of travelling in Nagaland sounded interesting. Like all people from the Indian plains I had some hazy romantic notions of the North East. Clean, green, gentle undulating roads, some good food; overall a bit like a walk in the park. The experience was romantic indeed but not quite the way I had envisaged it! It turned about to be long hours of drives on non-existent roads (or impromptu constructed bridges) spanning over ten days, nights at places where one felt blessed to get flowing water in the taps (if at all). And forging ahead on a Mahindra Thar- a very sturdy but not so comfortable vehicle considering I have driven sedans all my driving life.
The trip organizers had some impressive credentials. Nidhi, a 30-something, tough as nails woman, was the first Indian to drive solo to the Pole of Cold – the coldest inhabited place on earth and other such tough terrains in India and across the world. An enthusiast of extreme overlanding as such seemingly maniacal trips are universally known as. Her business partner Satty, Col (retd) Satender Malik, had served over two decades in the Army with exhaustive experience in the North East.
We, a rag-tag group, ages ranging from 74 years to 14 year were handed over our Thar keys when we landed at the Dimapur airport. We were led to the nearby Army mess for a quick lunch, a briefing and distribution of the “kit”. The kit consisted of an emergency snack kit, a multipurpose tool, a note pad with a pen. Some empty boxes per person which we realized later were to be used to pack lunches that we would have on-the-go. The heaviest component of the kit – a 20 litre can of Bisleri – was pre-loaded into each Thar. And then we were off to Kohima, a journey of 80kms along National Highway 29.
What was to be a drive of two hours, took more than twice the time thanks to the highway. Narrow stretches in most sections and road broadening work along various stretches by shearing of hillsides. Just a gentle precursor of things to come.
A night’s rest at a boutique hotel Razhu Pru, Kohima, and we were ready for a half-day training the following day on emergency medical rescue training as well as understanding our Thars better. Topics like air pressure, oil and water checks were discussed. “You must do these checks each morning before starting, without fail”, said Nidhi.
The drive from Kohima to Lake Shilloi, our first stop, was the longest I have ever done. The distance was just 280 kilometers. But it took us over sixteen hours, we started at 4am and ended only at 8.30 pm! Driving through non-existent roads, rather difficult conditions; a test of pure endurance and tenacity. To add to the excitement one of the Thars in our convoy lost its way in the darkness and it took some quick action by Nidhi who back-tracked and raced in the opposite direction to rescue the errant driver.
We were warned in advance that the accommodation in Lake Shilloi would be basic- Indian style toilets, no water on tap- but what made it even more interesting was that the transformer in the area had blown a few days earlier and hence there was no electricity! The local village Chairman Asilo who was our host was deeply apologetic for this though he could have done nothing about it. Some candles were marshalled in the (very) few hours we had before we went to bed. But none of this would prevent us from having a party around a campfire under a star light sky!
Lake Shilloi to Kiphire was to have been a short drive, but like many other segments expected to be short, it turned out to be an over ten-hour drive for a distance of 50-60 kilometers. Reason: non-existent roads for quite a part of our way as well as an unplanned detour thanks to the collapse of a bridge en route. At mid-morning we had our first sighting of Myanmar border (much of the drive-in this trip was along the Myanmar border) which we were told that it was as close ten kilometers as the crow flies. A late pre-packed lunch midway and an evening stop at Moya village where our request to a villager for hot water and mugs to prepare tea with the tea bags and sugar we were carrying was cheerfully met. The lady who gave us the water and cups refused to accept any money saying forcefully but politely that she does not run a “hotel”, so why should she accept money! Our tired group showed up well past sunset at Kiphire’s Tsatongse Memorial Guest House, by far the best place (barring Kohima) we would stay at during the trip. Which was a good thing as the following day was a rest day.
We were suitably rested from the tiring drives since the beginning our journey and we were rearing to go. Tuensang was our next stop. We could take everything in our strides, or so we thought. And what followed was the most challenging day of the entire trip. Here is how it started: soon after we left Kiphire, we discovered that along the way a hillside had come crashing down and there was no way we could take the pre-planned route. The alternate route chosen had its own challenges. We were warned by passers-by that there were rivers which we could not cross. Nidhi decided to forge ahead since we had to reach Tuensang that night. And soon enough we saw the first two of the several real challenges. In our path lay two waterways dug by the villagers.
The first one was U-shaped and not too wide. The decision was to build two track on this, width corresponding the Thar wheel base, with locally available logs and planks. Lest these slide these logs were “locked-in” with stones. One of the team members was responsible for precision guiding each Thar and despite butterflies in our stomachs- definitely in mine at least- each of us passed through this. I gingerly ventured forth to the next challenge, just a few meters away. This was a V shaped trench where Nidhi decided against putting up tracks. We had to descend into the trench at a deep incline, rev up the engines and climb up the trench to get on the other side. The near vertical descent into the trench was a real stomach churner!
We thought we had seen it all when the toughest obstacle presented itself. We were confronted by a mound right next to a river on its left with very little gap between the mound and the river. The plan was to ascend the mound slowly and the moment the front wheels reached the top of the mound, we were to take a steep left turn towards the river and align the Thar parallel to the river. A steeper left turn would get you right into the river. Which, sure enough, happened to the person following my Thar!
What followed was a display of leadership, technical expertise and teamwork, all at once! The Thar was towed out and the team technician went to work on it immediately, Nidhi too jumped in and along with the technician went about identifying the problems and fixing them one by one. Some others too chipped in handing over tools to the repairers. Eventually the damaged Thar was up and running and we were on our way again. That we had to cross a couple of really fast flowing rivers did not cause a sweat, we had got so accustomed to obstacles by now! Thanks to this “steeplechase” run through the day we could check into Tuensang’s Navinn Hotel only very late at night.
Tuensang to Mon drive was relatively easy and the one highlight of the journey was the way our team members took over the kitchen road-side eatery “Rice Hotel”, Changkhong, and cooked a meal -egg curry, rice, daal and salad- for the group!
Paramount Guest House, Mon, is run by a forbidding looking matriarch and her family, known just as Aunty! Basic place, but not bad at all.
The following day we drove to the Konyak region. Konyaks are the largest and fiercest tribes of Nagaland. Till a few decades ago they were head-hunters, each head hunted would be marked by a tattoo on their faces! Konyaks are spread over Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and even Myanmar. The Angh is their chief and we were at the Longwa village to meet Angh Tonyei Phawang. He welcomed us and even posed with each of us for photos. Perhaps he had not seen so many visitors all at once and he had suitable fortified himself with opium, his glazed eyes said it all!
The Angh’s house is bang on the India-Myanmar border. The gate of his house straddles the border and either of the gate posts says Nagaland/India and Sagaing/Myanmar, respectively. The verandah of his house was filled with ladies selling their wares while village children were milling around enjoying the hustle and bustle of the tourists.
Some team photos and it was time to say goodbye to Longwa village and to the Angh. On the way back to Mon we were stopped by some army men who wanted to see our “inner line permits”. They were respectful and when Satty, the retired Colonel who had served in the North East for several years joined in, we were given a description and even a feel the SLRs and AK47s the jawaans were armed with.
The following morning was departure to Dibrugarh (Assam) where our journey was to end. The transition from Nagaland into Assam was stark with the tea gardens stretched for miles on end in Assam. Our Thar ride ended at the airport where the team would catch their respective flights back home. We had travelled a total of 966 kilometers, my travel partner Ravi had kept a count!
Was this trip easy? Certainly not! Will I similar trips again? Most definitely! Such trips demand toughness, some skill and ability to pull out coping resources from within oneselves. Like the tagline of Nidhi’s and Satty’s company “Wander Beyond Boundaries” says, “It is not the road we conquer but ourselves”.
