Bum La is the day most people come to Tawang for. It sits on the India-China border at 15,200 feet, 37 km from Tawang. It is one of the very few places in the country where a civilian can stand on that frontier.
It is also the day that goes wrong most often. Almost always, the cause is something you could have planned for.
Here is what we tell everyone before they go: the permit, the car, the opening days, the cold and the lakes on the way.
Your ILP is not enough
The Inner Line Permit that gets you into Arunachal does not cover Bum La. You need a separate permit. The Deputy Commissioner's office in Tawang issues it, and the army cantonment then stamps it. Without the army stamp, you will not get through the checkposts on the road.
In practice you apply the day before. You need copies of your ILP, a photo ID and the vehicle details. A local agent or your driver usually handles it, and we arrange it for our travellers.
Our permits guide covers the ILP itself.
Your own car cannot go
Local vehicles serve the Bum La road. These are SUVs from the Tawang taxi union. The car that brought you to Tawang stays in town.
That SUV is a separate cost, paid on the day. It is usually not part of a package price.
It does not open every day
The army runs Bum La, and the army decides which days it opens. It is generally not open at weekends. It can close on any day for snow, weather or military reasons, sometimes with very little notice.
The day before, ask which days it is open that week.
That means two things for your itinerary. Do not plan Bum La for your last day in Tawang. And build a fallback: if the pass is shut, the lakes on the same road usually are not.
Start early, and dress for winter
Vehicles leave Tawang early, typically by eight in the morning. They have to be back past the checkposts by mid-afternoon.
It is cold at the top in every month. It is windy, and often snowing. Wear everything you brought.
Take the altitude seriously, too. Tawang is around 3,000 metres and Bum La over 4,600. Spend at least one quiet day in Tawang before you go.
Drink a lot of water and skip alcohol the night before. If your head is pounding at the top, go down. Anyone with high blood pressure, a heart condition or breathing trouble should talk to their doctor before booking.
What you see at the top
The pass itself is bleak and spectacular: rock, snow, prayer flags and army posts.
Bum La is one of the five official Border Personnel Meeting points, where Indian and Chinese troops meet. It saw one of the fiercest battles of the 1962 war. In 2006 it reopened to border traders for the first time in 44 years.
Take photos only where you are told you may. Do as the soldiers say.
The lakes on the way
On the road up is PTSO Lake, a high-altitude lake close to the road. Further on, the road splits at Y-Junction, around 14,600 feet. One way goes to Bum La, the other to Sangestar Tso.
Everyone calls Sangestar Madhuri Lake, after the song Madhuri Dixit filmed here for Koyla in 1997. The great 1950 earthquake made it by flooding a forest. The dead tree trunks still stand in the water.
If Bum La is closed on your day, the lakes are a very good consolation.
Planning it
Bum La is built into our Tawang & the Western Passes itinerary. It comes with a rest day in Tawang first and a plan for the day if the pass is shut.
See Bumla Pass and Madhuri Lake for the short version, or ask us about your dates. Bum La is one stop in our guide to western Arunachal beyond Tawang.
