Scenery - North-Eastern Arunachel Pradesh

[Manfred M]

I've been more or less been posting people shots, but thought I would share a view of some of the stunning landscapes we have been traveling through for the past week or so.

Arunachel Pradesh's northern border is with China (Tibet), so we are technically in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. There are terraced rice paddies in the populated areas. I thought the the crepuscular rays coming through the clouds and hills nicely highlighted the trees on the hills. The deeper, textured green nicely contrasts the bright green colour of the rice plants in the terraced fields.



Just to give you an idea as to how remote this area is, we have seen five tourists over the past couple of weeks; three were Indian and from Kolkata and the other two were an American couple from New York City.

[bnnrcn]

Lovely image Manfred. I loved the colors and the terraced fields and light. Well, I actually loved everything in the image I thought you have been on a tour with a group of tourists. Are you and your wife travelling on your own?

[Manfred M]

Lovely image Manfred. I loved the colors and the terraced fields and light. Well, I actually loved everything in the image I thought you have been on a tour with a group of tourists. Are you and your wife travelling on your own?

Thank you Binnur.

It's just the two of us for most of the trip. We decided to do a group tour to some of the more mainstream parts of India (the logistics were just a lot easier that way), but that will only be for 10 days. There are no group tours to a number of the places we have been / will be visiting.

[John 2]

That is stunning Manfred. I guess the advantage of being on your own is that you can stop and capture this sort of image when it presents itself without the pressure of keeping up with a group.

[IzzieK]

Very nice scenery, Manfred...I can already imagine you and your wife enjoying everything at your own pace...a good way to travel. I have not seen a terraced scenery for a long time and this one really nailed it with the light and the background.

[mugge]

Just stunning. The two shafts of light made it ...perfect.
Ole

[Mike Buckley]

Gorgeous!

Though my wife and I have become so spoiled by the luxury of traveling at our own pace on our own, we have done two group tours over the decades that were just as enjoyable for very different reasons. On one trip we had sort of hybrid arrangements in which everything was planned and facilitated by a tour company; we were on our own except for when they picked us up and dropped us off at various places.

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[bnnrcn]

Manfred, are you planning to visit Rishikesh in India too? It is one of my dreams that I will go there one day to shoot the lovely scenery and also have a short Ashram experience. I hope I will be able to do it in the future

[Manfred M]

Manfred, are you planning to visit Rishikesh in India too? It is one of my dreams that I will go there one day to shoot the lovely scenery and also have a short Ashram experience. I hope I will be able to do it in the future

Yes, we will be going there a week today. No plans for any Ashram experience (I have no interest in doing anything like that).

[Rebel]

Amazing image Manfred, the rays of light are awesome!

[HaseebM]

Really awesome, breathtaking image Manfred. Hope you enjoy your stay in India.

[bnnrcn]

I'm looking forward to seeing your Rishikesh shots

[Manfred M]

Gorgeous!

Though my wife and I have become so spoiled by the luxury of traveling at our own pace on our own, we have done two group tours over the decades that were just as enjoyable for very different reasons. On one trip we had sort of hybrid arrangements in which everything was planned and facilitated by a tour company; we were on our own except for when they picked us up and dropped us off at various places.

It sounds like we have similar travel styles, Mike. Arunachal Pradesh is the last place in India that one cannot travel to freely. One needs a special permit (full of restrictions) to go there, and that includes Indians, not just foreigners. Cost is $50US each for 30 days and the permit is only issued if you have booked a tour with a minimum of two persons through an approved tour operator. Lots of police checkpoints on the route that required us to produce the permits.

This is what we did and spent about 2 months of back and forth with emails nailing down the itinerary. Bhutan was even more restrictive (and expensive).

In both cases, a group of two with a guide and driver means an awful lot of freedom and stopping where and one you want to.

[Manfred M]

Really awesome, breathtaking image Manfred. Hope you enjoy your stay in India.

We are really enjoying India. People told us that we would either love India or hate it. We seem to have fallen into the "love India" camp. We have about another two weeks in India before we head off to Nepal.

[FootLoose]

Beautiful image, Manfred, the greens are mesmerising. The two god beams give the background a lot of depth, too.

[Stagecoach]

Wonderful scenery Manfred. It always amazes me what a work of art some of the terraced rice paddies are, this being complimented against the natural background.

[dje]

Very nice indeed Manfred, that's a real keeper.

Dave