After taking part in the Mechukha festival, we headed for the Lohit, the last destination of our trip in India and Arunachal Pradesh. Thanks to Joe Rea-Dickins who made our trip so much easier with some great beta, check out his recent post on kayaking in Arunachal.
Here’s what we found on our trip into the very northeast corner of India to the Lohit river …
Logistics
When traveling by public transport we made one of our basecamp in Tezu, a village around two and a half hours drive from the take-out of the Lohit (Pasuram Kund). We left our luggage at the Shiva hotel (a very hospitable place, I recommended it).
We caught sumos (shared 4×4 cars) from Tezu where you can get a good price to go up to Hayuliang (around 650 rupees) or you can rent one for yourselves at 6,000 rupees minimum for about four hours of travel. It may be better to talk to sumo drivers in Wakro from where it will be cheaper and easier to repeat the river for another lap.
The village of Hayuliang is at the put-in for the lower section of the Lohit. We stayed in the only guest house in the town (which is another perfect base camp if you decide lap the river)..
The river
The Lower Lohit is a high volume class 3-4 and depending on the lines you choose, we made the descent in three and a half hours (while taking photos and video). If you stay to do another lap, I recommend camping out on the river on your final run to take in the marvellous landscape.
At the take-out, Pasuram Kund, there is absolutely nothing. Get out on river left and you can lodge your stuff at the police house beside the road to go buy supplied or eat about 300 metres down the road toward Wakro.
