A monastery proves an unusual, but enervating, hermitage for a reluctant acolyte
Heading in and out of clouds, whether clinging to the face as wet strands of mist or pounding down as pea-sized raindrops, the only reward of motorcycling on the mountainous highway during the height of the monsoon was the sight of countless waterfalls.
Thundering down the roads from Bhalukpung to Rupa in frothing white torrents, the journey was nothing short of madness. But with a long-standing invitation to spend a few days at a Himalayan hermitage in Arunachal Pradesh and finally having a couple of weeks to spare, I wasn't to be easily dissuaded, rain or no rain.
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At Jamiri, the rain dwindled marginally and after a while stopped altogether. Around Tenga, the eucalyptus trees in the army camps filled the area with an aroma I first mistook for incense. Reaching the outskirts of Chillipam by nightfall, the tiny village above Rupa where the Snag-Nga-Chhoikor- Dargye-Ling monastery was located, my arrival in such inclement weather was obviously not anticipated. As a result of the furore it created, some unfortunate soul was displaced from his quarter and I was showed into his freshly vacated room.
Its complex name translating as