colourful corn in Sangti, a touristic village near Dirang
There is not an awful lot to do in Dirang, where we landed again on the way back from Tawang. A small commercial district, referred to as the market, contains some 10, 15 shops, many selling the usual general supplies, and recognisable from the strings of salty crisps outside. Some sampling has actually revealed that most of those are uncannily spicy. And Dirang has its own monastery, the Thupsung Dhargye Ling monastery, a modern structure and – of course – nothing compared to Tawang.
the centre – the market – of Dirang
with the general supplies shops
selling crisps (right top), vegetables and anything else you can think of
Thupsung Dhargye Ling monastery in its full glory
and the low benches and colourful decorations
and inside (photography forbidden, of course) the Buddha and a cardbord cut-out of the Dalai Lama
a woman contemplating the corrugated iron outside Dirang
Outside town are terraces against the river bank, for agriculture. There are even some simple greenhouses, plastic structures protecting the vegetables from too much sun and rain.
agricultural terraces outside Dirang
and some of the green houses, mostly from plastic sheeting
the river that leads to Sangti, upstream
sheep grazing the open river valley
some of the rural housing is pretty basic
Sangti Village
A side valley leads to the small village of Sangti, an hour or so away from Dirang. The way to get to there is very nice, a relatively open valley, with lots of agriculture again. Every so often we encounter a stupa, or a little structure with prayer wheels, often in the memory of a deceased. But nearer Sangti the valley also sports several horrendous tourist developments. This is obviously a popular area, and the effect is that the valley floor is being ruined with compounds full of chalets, with red or blue corrugated iron roofs, completely misplaced in the landscape.
many of them contain prayer wheels, the more, the more important the place is, I think
a small stupa, along the road
goats keeping guard outside another stupa
the main street in Sangti village
very colourful, thanks to houses, flags and laundry
the local store adds to the colour of the village
Sangti village has not been spared, either, but is still a lovely place, where people have tried to maintain the authentic look. Here, too, every other house seems to have a tourist function, but not in a disturbing way. The buildings along the main street – the only street, I think – are lovely decorated with flowers, and the houses have been painted in colourful hues.
We need to backtrack to Dirang again, to continue our way down. Except that we spot this festival ground in Dirang, where a lot of activity was developing. Which warrants a look, of course.
the festival ground that is being prepared in Dirang
blossom, everywehere in the valley
really nice in close up
