Winter is In and Pula is Out - Grass footwear from Himachal Pradesh

My pair of Pula

' Cannabis sativa ' not only sounds exotic, it also means a bit devilish for many for its obvious reasons. The palmate-leaflet plant though in fact ,is a big contributing product to the thriving cottage industry of Himachal Pradesh in the form of Pula Chappals.

Himachal Pradesh was known as the land of the gods , hence footwear made of cowhide ( leather) was considered inappropriate to wear around the religious places.Hence, the Pula came to evolve as an alternative for the Paharis of Kulu region to be worn during the religious ceremonies and to walk on the snow.

Dried trips of grass or Bhang as it is popularly known are converted into rope form and are strengthened by a process of twisting and stretching to make these colorful footwear.The upper exterior are stitched using the wool of contrasting colours. 

Chad, a village near Banjar is the main market for these chappals. On an average you can buy it for around Rs.60 /- . I bought mine from Manali near the main bus stand area. A great souvenir for oneself or to gift to your loved ones, dont forget to pick a pair when you are in Himachal .

Road to Pasighat

Whistling Teal

We started off early from Dibrugarh to our next destination - Pasighat.It was such a beautiful sight to see miles full of paddy fields and birds enjoying the morning Sun

Rufous Treepie

Cotton Teal

Open-billed Stork

Can you spot the Lineated Barbet on the tree?

Red Junglefowl

Lesser Adjutant

As always while crossing over to Arunachal Pradesh from Assam, you may require to cross the river on a ferry.In spite of having gone through this n number of times ,I always hold my breath while watching this

Ferry was chock a block with people and vehicles

 Brahmatputra seemed calm and serene

As soon as we approached the bank people were all set to jump out...This always reminds me of Bombay local trains as everyone seem to be in a hurry to go somewhere..:-)

Time for Mulla's driving skill test!!

And Bingo!!! Mulla passes the driving test with flying colours..:-)

We were on the road again.On the way spotted this striated grassbird "god only knows why" sitting on the wire, whereas there were ample tall grass down below.

Nearby spotted this male bronze-winged jacana trying his level best to woo the female

The female was royally ignoring him as it should be..:-P

In the distance , the hills of Along were beckoning ..but our destination was Pasighat. We reached Pasighat by late afternoon. Had a quick lunch at the only cozy restaurant of Pasighat. Met DFO Tasi Mize, who briefed us about the schedule for the next day. Sounded very exciting . Spent the night at the NEPC guest house, where we were booked by DFO for the next three days

Notes from the North East - Wakro

We decided to take a chance at birding inspite of the showers the previous night and a cloudy morning ahead. There were plenty of Ashy Wood Swallows swooping above the circuit house with their squeaky calls...

A little ahead this colorful insect was basking itself on a bridge of a small stream

Striated bulbuls were in plenty everywhere in Wakro

Lush greenery around the hills due to rains gave a beautiful feeling to be around there

Pin-tailed pigeon seemed to be waiting for sunshine

Degradation of the forests can seen everywhere which has also brought in huge migrant labour population from other states to Arunachal Pradesh.They are employed as labourers in the tea gardens or orange orchards everywhere. In fact at few of the places we saw more non Arunachalis than the locals

One more birding spot marked

When birds weren't plenty you start aiming your cameras at the butterflies..:-)

This fellow was curious about the strangers in his land and that was definitely not a friendly look!!

Sad truth about how packaging of what we consume is affecting everyone's life

We drove little ahead to Parashuram Kund as the rains did not allow us much birding.

Situated at the deep gorge of river Lohit, the entire area around Prashuram Kund is very windy.No wonder this Horizontal  Axis Wind Turbine seemed to be working really well

Hornbills love this fruit, but did not see any at that time

There were two of the HAWTs there...for some strange reason they looked like a couple, one was silent and the other was full throttle ..:-)

This beauty made me chase for long time before settling down on the leaf

Lohit seem to be flowing ...but isn't as happy as I had seen it in the year 2002.  The construction and excavation have ruined the unique geographical features as a result of the work on the dam, as well as a bridge a few hundred meters away

Malayan giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) seemed oblivious about our presence

Just a board without a single soul around...

The rocky outcrop is supposed to be the axe of Parashuram

The setting was beautiful. But was longing for hot cup of tea. Hence, crossed over the bridge and found a tiny shop run by a Nepali to enjoy the tea

Saw this cutie waiting for someone

Being not really a very religious person, I was happy to see the kund from afar..

We returned to Wakro and as planned met "Uncle Moosa" at his Apne library ..more on this very inspiring person will be posted soon on this blog soon..

We were to meet again, but never mind one group photo..:-) 

We decided to check on the routes for Kamlang .We could not but admire this beautiful Mishmi dwelling on our way...

The typical frontal roof of the Mishmi House

The brother n sister were chooo chweet and enjoying their school vacation time.

uuuuhhhhh look at that sweet smile when we requested her to do pose.

At a closeby house saw the well preserved Mithun remnants

The fruit resembled Brinjal  

When the clouds cleared a bit, butterflies started showing up

 A wide variety of wildflowers can also seen around the place.

Emerald dove was pacing across the road. You can see these birds all over Arunachal

Love the pink of the wild banana flower 

 It was time to return back to the circuit house 

The entire landscape was mesmerizing in the setting sun.We decided to explore this beautiful spot again the next day day and finally drove back to the circuit house to retire for the day...