Coming down from Tawang, most people drive straight through Dirang. They keep going until the plains. Turn off instead.
A short way up a side road from Dirang Dzong lies the Sangti valley. The valley floor is broad and flat. A clear river winds over white stones. Pine covers the slopes, and almost no one else is there.
We use it as the last night in the hills. It is the night people mention when they come home. Here is the valley, the cranes, Dirang on the way in, and how to fit it in.
The valley
The Sangti river runs the length of the valley. It joins the Dirang river at Dirang Dzong, the old stone village near Dirang town.
The people here are Monpa, the same Mahayana Buddhist community as Tawang. Monasteries stand along the valley. There is a government sheep farm on the riverbank, and a few campsites and stays for visitors.
There is not much to do, and that is the appeal. Walk by the river in the evening. Sit outside. Sleep.
The black-necked cranes
Sangti is one of only two places in India where the black-necked crane winters. The other is Zemithang, also in Arunachal.
The cranes arrive after the harvest and land on the cut paddy fields. Locals call them thung thung karmo and hold them in great regard. People believe their coming brings good luck and a good harvest.
The best months to look for them are roughly December and January. Their stays have grown much shorter in recent years - sometimes only a week. So we never promise a sighting. If you see them, you are lucky.
On the way: Dirang
Dirang itself deserves an hour on the way in. Dirang Dzong is a fortified stone village. Thupsung Dhargyeling monastery, above the town, is one of the most beautiful on the road.
Fitting it in
From Tawang, Sangti is a five-to-six-hour drive back over Sela. So it works well as the night between Tawang and Guwahati.
The next morning you have a long but easy run down through Bomdila and Bhalukpong to the plains.
See Shergaon and Sangti valleys for how we route both. Or start from Tawang & the Western Passes and ask us to add a night.
Sangti is one part of our guide to western Arunachal beyond Tawang.
