Everyone routes Arunachal west - Bhalukpong, Dirang, Tawang. Go east instead and you get a circuit out of Dibrugarh or Tinsukia that takes in a snow pass, two lakes, a major Hindu pilgrimage site and a district capital where the fish market is the social centre. Almost nobody sells it.
Roing, and the fish market
Roing is the headquarters of Lower Dibang Valley, and it is a pleasant, workaday town in a spectacular position where the hills meet the plains. The Idu Mishmi are the people here.
Nearby are Mehao Lake, inside a wildlife sanctuary and reached on foot, and Sally Lake, closer and easier. But the thing I remember about Roing is the fish market - loud, immaculate, and full of species from the Dibang that you will not find named in any guidebook.
Mayodia, where it snows
The road from Roing climbs to Mayodia Pass at about 8,700 feet (2,655 m), and in December and January it holds snow - which for travellers coming up from Assam is a genuinely novel proposition, since there is nowhere else this accessible in the region that reliably does.
The drive is about two to three hours of switchbacks through dense, dripping forest. There is very little at the top: a viewpoint, some tea, and cloud moving through the trees. Go early, because the pass clouds over by late morning more often than not.
Parashuram Kund
Further east, in Lohit district near Tezu, the Lohit river comes out of the hills and there is a pool where, by the Mahabharata account, Parashuram washed the sin of matricide from his axe. Bathing here at Makar Sankranti in mid-January is held to cleanse sin, and lakhs of pilgrims arrive from across the North East and beyond for it.
Outside the mela it is quiet, a small complex above a fast grey river with the Mishmi hills behind. Whether you come for the faith or the geography, it completes the loop - and it is the only major Hindu pilgrimage site in Arunachal.
How to run it
Fly into Dibrugarh, cross into Arunachal, and give it four to five nights: Roing, up to Mayodia and back, then east to Tezu and Parashuram Kund. Add Anini if you have another three days and the road is open.
December and January for snow at Mayodia and the Makar Sankranti mela; October to April otherwise. Inner Line Permit required throughout, and mobile signal is patchy the moment you leave the towns.
