In the land of rhododendrons
by Himmat Singh Gill

A HOLIDAY on the far away mountains of Arunachal Pradesh can be a visual treat. There scarlet, white and pink rhodos bloom in all their rugged finery and majestic elan. Only a short mule-track walk away from the international border with China, adjoining the district headquarters of Twang, trumpet-shaped rhododendrons dance away merrily on bushy-topped plants welcoming the sudden gusts of cold winds blowing in from the northern Tibet plateau. There is no better sight on this earth than this, and the snowy peaks in the backdrop with a blue water lake in between, are truly God’s gift to those mortals who are fortunate enough to have been there. In Greek, the "rhodon" is a rose, and the "dendron" a tree, and the rose trees of the North East grow in wild abandon, impervious to the march of civilisation, and all the rot that it often brings with it. The orchids from this part of the world have been "tamed" to some extent, but the rhodos have resisted captivity all along, as they nestle along the hill sides and the mountain gorges, singing their lullabies in the sweet pure air.

Many places in Arunachal Pradesh earlier known as NEFA, are now open to tourists and it will be well worth your while to take a flight to Guwahati and from there on by road, and go to the land of the brhodos.