Trailing the Stilwell Road...Indo-Myanmar Border!

I was travelling in all directions imaginable in the 07 states of North Eastern India since a week and not a single day has failed to surprise and make me gasp at the stunning vistas this part of the country has to offer. I was aboard the 15603 Kamakhya (Guwahati)-Ledo Intercity express bound to Ledo, the eastern most rail head of the Indian Railways where the rails end. This is also the place where the Ledo Road-also called the Stilwell road begins! This is not just another road with a fancy name, it’s a road leading to Kunming, China through Burma (Myanmar), more important because of the role it had to play during the World War II.

Ledo, The Easternmost frontier of Indian Railways.

A little History about the Stilwell Road, After the Japanese invasion of Burma during the World War II, the Burma road which connected Lashio in Burma to Kunming, China and therefore facilitated war material to be sent to China was blocked by the Japanese, which called for desperate measures by the allied forces to find an alternate route to transport men and material. As a prospective solution,the construction of Ledo road begun in 1942 as planned by General Joseph Stilwell of the U.S Army with the assistance of Indian, British and Burmese troops. This was very crucial as the only other way to transport necessities was airlifting from Chabuwa Airfield near Dibrugarh (Now AFS Chabuwa) to Kunming and other airfields in China. However, the airroute was extremely complicated and involved flying over an extremely hazardous region (to avoid attack from the Japanese having occupied most of Burma) including the Himalayas which were notorious for severe turbulences and notorious weather resulting in a steady rise in missing aircraft and fatalities due to crashes, the ledo road was at that point looked upon as the only alternative. Construction of the road completed in 1945, with numerous casualties of troops from several nations involved in the World War-II. Today the road still remains, in a good shape all the way till the Indo-Myanmar border after which it diverges into a steep climb to Pangsau pass leading to Myanmar.

Here lie he fallen..

The train slowly chugged out of Tinsukia, one of the larger towns in Assam, this is where the track deviates slightly to the south east passing through Digboi (known as the oil town of assam, the oldest oil well in asia), Margharita and finally terminating at Ledo. The train now delayed by about 30 minutes finally crawled into Ledo amidst coal loading sidings. I made my way out of the railway station into the small dreamy town which begins and ends rather abruptly, with seemingly no purpose of existence but for the coalfields. With not much activity visibly around, Ledo is one of the many north eastern towns where life is laid back and moves at its own pace.

The climate usually is rather humid here like most parts of the North East India but of course with rain bearing clouds deciding to suddenly shed their load anytime, lets just say the weather is usually unpredicatbale, very unpredicatble. I fell victim to this about half a dozen times in the last three days which eventually resulted in carrying extra rain gear, the phenomenon repeated itself as I walked out of Ledo station trying to figure out some place to satiate my grumbling stomach. A fresh tea which tasted as if it was brewed immediately after the tea leaves were processed from the neighboring tea estates of assam marked the beginning of Leg-02.

I took a shared auto to Lekhapani which is about 10 Kms from ledo all the while surprised with the presence of so many security personnel. I was now on the ledo road, in a much better condition at that, but the troubled waters of sort begin from the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh at Jai Rampur after crossing Jagun.I took a cab from Jagun in Assam with my Inner Line permit in my shirt pocket, all set to head to Arunachal Pradesh, the eastern most frontier of india..trailing the Stilwell road.

Once in Arunachal Pradesh, an eerie silence takes over and the roads are practically devoid of vehicular Traffic but completely surrounded by CRPF and other security Forces. I was in my taxi headed to Nampong, Arunachal while listening to the tales of voilence in Arunachal Pradesh by the secessionist groups as recent as the previous morning. This reminded me so much of my visit to Dantewada, Gadchiroli and Sironcha and the presence of so many of these security personnel added to my fear, certainly didnt make me feel safe.

and one more...

We were stopped multiple times enroute, ILP checked and multiple questions asked. I finally reached Nampong, the Last major point in India(with a population of perhaps 1000 excluding Armed forces), Myanmar is only 10 Kms away. Darkness engulfed soon and i bid my driver goodbye agreeing to meet him the next morning, he would drive back to Jagun, 40 kms away, in the safety of Assam.

I was staying at the Govt, Circuit House, Nampong, a huge building and me being the only “tourist”, only hills and forests around, feeling ever so vulnerable and in anticipation of some action, hoping nothing would happen. More than anything else it felt so lonely and gloomy and very cold, that moment although i was in the midst of some of the most beautiful parts of our country, I felt completely alone, the worst part is i didnt know what i was scared of. It was almost like fear is in the air all around for some reason, me, being an Indian, visiting a state of India and being restless. Something didnt quite fall into place.

I went to Pangsau Pass till the farthest i could go with an Indian Passport the next day an retraced my journey through the Stilwell Road, Still restless for some reason and with a promise to myself to come back again to figure out why i wasn’t being myself and being unduly scared..