Day 7: Ziro

We were up by 6am and walked down to the market... grabbed a hot masala chai and paranta to warm us up. After walking through more windy streets we finally came up on acres of paddy fields where we saw the Apatani tribal people (distinguishable by their facial tattoos and nose plugs) going about their daily work harvesting bamboo and rice. After at least 10km of walking through fields and the market place, we returned to the hotel, took a welcome hot shower, more food and ready for the afternoon. Never in our wildest dreams could we have guessed what was coming next.

Looking for a village by the name of Toku, We took a wrong turn and ended up driving into a village called Hija, a place time has forgotten. Surrounded by a labyrinth of houses made of bamboo, ornate with tribal decorations, onlooking villagers looked on at us in happy bewilderment. A woman by the name of 'Muni' who spoke broken Hindi called out to us asking if we wanted to see their houses from the inside. Not hesitating we entered the first house with her, where an old Apatani lady was sitting by a fire in the middle of the room heating up a pot of tea. We gladly accepted a cup of tea and listened on as Muni explained more about Apatani traditions and showed us the tools and containers used to collect grain, rice and bamboo. These people may live a simple life and have little money, but their houses were incredibly spacious, tidy and organised. Although when I asked to use the toilet, I never expected to have to share it with a pig and cockerels!

Muni had an incredibly infectious personality and she seemed all too excited to invite foreigners into an Apatani home and promptly paraded us in front of her friends, took us to many other houses and the paddy fields. We must have spent some 3 hours in Hija and we were speechless afterwards. We felt utterly privileged and humbled. We have both travelled and experienced a lot, but nothing comes close to this. Absolutely nothing.

-Dave