That Last Vacation

Till yesterday, I was writing about my most recent vacation — a soul-stirring journey through the distant folds of Arunachal Pradesh, a state in North East India. And then today, this prompt comes up -“Describe your most memorable vacation.” What better choice than the one still echoing in my bones?

It began in Dibrugarh, Assam – the gentle threshold into Northeast India. And from there, the road journey unraveled like a quiet epic – Roing, Anini, Ziro, Aalo, Mechukha, and so many quiet in-betweens. Each bend on the mountain road held a different rhythm: landslides, laughter, clouds, still rivers, and long silences. But none of it felt jarring. Arunachal doesn’t rush to impress you – it waits, calmly, for you to slow down.

Anini, tucked deep in the Upper Dibang Valley, was like standing at the edge of the world. Reaching it meant braving Mayodia Pass — a fog-draped climb of cold forests, half-forgotten milestones, and wild orchids clinging to wet cliffs. There was the quiet thrill of the Emuli Grassland trek, a steep, muddy climb through shifting skies that ended in windblown pastures above 11,000 feet. No marked trail, no crowd – just us, and the kind of silence that stays with you.

The road to Acheso was a hidden gem – unpaved, narrow, framed by waterfalls that seemed to appear out of the sky. Colorful dum-dums marked village spaces. The day ended in a tent at Dree Afra campsite, rain drumming steadily through the night as I sat by a fire, wrapped in wool and quiet.

Then came Ziro, where the land stretched out in soft terraces and the Apatani people moved with the rhythm of sun and soil. Everything at its own pace and its own place.

Finally, Mechukha – the valley of skies. Surrounded by alpine forests and distant mountains, it felt almost otherworldly. The monasteries stood like quiet sentinels, and the people welcomed us with a warmth that had no translation, only feeling.

There were challenges too — landslides, fuel shortages, no network, roads that disappeared into mud — but none of it felt like an inconvenience. If anything, it added to the memory. The unpredictability shaped the days in ways I couldn’t have planned.

This wasn’t just a vacation. It was motion and pause, silence and song. A reminder that sometimes, the most memorable journeys don’t just take you far – they take you deep.

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