Ela Tripo - Offbeat on Point

Our routes

Tour Packages

13 routes we run ourselves, from five days on the grassland to 11 across three states. Each one lists the season it genuinely works in, the permits it needs, and how high it goes — because those are the things that decide whether a trip is right for you.

Routes
13
States covered
4
Longest journey
11 days
Highest point
4,633 m
A crowd seated on the grass before a bamboo stage in the Ziro paddy fields during the music festival

Most requested departureArunachal Pradesh · Lower Subansiri

Ziro Festival of Music Tour

Four days of music on bamboo stages built in a working paddy field, hosted by the Apatani in one of the most striking valleys in the eastern Himalaya.

Dates
23 – 28 September 2026
Duration
5 days / 5 nights
Starts from
Guwahati
Vehicle
Force Urbania
Permit
Inner Line Permit
Highest point
5,020 ft
A batch and their hosts in a hillside clearing, everyone wearing the white khada scarves they were welcomed with

Fixed departuresArunachal Pradesh · West Kameng & Tawang

Tawang Group Departure

Our most-run road, set to fixed dates: Sangti Valley, Sela Pass, Tawang and the Bumla trijunction in six days. Eight batches between October and May, and it only gets better the more of you there are.

Dates
Monthly, October 2026 – May 2027
Duration
6 days / 5 nights
Starts from
Guwahati
Group size
Minimum 5
Permit
Inner Line Permit; separate army permit for Bumla
Highest point
15,200 ft

Arunachal Pradesh

Frontier Himalaya

High passes, long driving days and valleys that sit within sight of the McMahon Line. These need permits, patience and a driver who has done the road before.

A batch and their hosts in a hillside clearing, everyone wearing the white khada scarves they were welcomed with

Arunachal Pradesh · West Kameng & Tawang

Tawang Group Departure

6 days / 5 nights

Starts from Guwahati

Monthly, October 2026 – May 2027

Our most-run road, set to fixed dates: Sangti Valley, Sela Pass, Tawang and the Bumla trijunction in six days. Eight batches between October and May, and it only gets better the more of you there are.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Sangti Valley
  3. Sela Pass
  4. Tawang
  5. Bumla Pass
  6. Dirang
  7. Bomdila
Highest15,200 ft
SeasonOctober – May
PaceEasy–Moderate
PermitsInner Line Permit; separate army permit for Bumla

The winter batches run through the snow season, which is what most people come for. Sela can shut for a day at short notice after heavy fall.

  • Sela Pass at 13,681 ft, and Jaswant Garh below it
  • Tawang Monastery, the largest in India
  • Bumla Pass on the India–China trijunction
  • Sangti and Chug valleys

WhatsApp us for full details.

Tawang Monastery's white and gold buildings spread along a forested ridge above the town

Arunachal Pradesh · West Kameng & Tawang

Tawang Tour

From 6 days / 5 nights

Starts from Guwahati

The route that made West Arunachal famous — over Sela Pass to the largest monastery in India, and up to the Bumla trijunction where the road simply stops.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Bhalukpong
  3. Dirang
  4. Sela Pass
  5. Tawang
  6. Bumla Pass
  7. Shergaon
Highest15,200 ft
SeasonMarch – June, September – November
PaceEasy–Moderate
PermitsInner Line Permit; separate army permit for Bumla

Sela Pass can close at short notice after heavy snow between December and February.

  • Tawang Monastery, the largest in India
  • Sela Pass at 13,681 ft and Jaswant Garh
  • Bumla Pass on the India–China trijunction
  • Sangti and Chug valleys
The town of Mechuka under fresh snow, coloured roofs spread across the valley below snow ranges

Arunachal Pradesh · Shi Yomi

Mechuka Tour

From 6 days / 5 nights

Starts from Dibrugarh

A wide glacial valley 29 km from the border, reached by two hard days on the Siang road. Fewer visitors reach Mechuka in a year than reach Tawang in a week.

  1. Dibrugarh
  2. Aalo
  3. Mechuka
  4. Dorjeeling
Highest6,234 ft
SeasonOctober – April
PaceModerate
PermitsInner Line Permit

The Siang road is slow and slide-prone through the monsoon; we do not run this route June to August.

  • Samten Yongcha, a Memba monastery over 400 years old
  • Yargyapchu river and the valley's hanging bridges
  • Dorjeeling village and the Siang valley drive
  • Memba and Ramo culture, largely unchanged
A clear green river pool below steep conifer forest in the Dibang valley, under heavy cloud

Arunachal Pradesh · Dibang Valley

Anini Tour

From 6 days / 5 nights

Starts from Dibrugarh

Dibang Valley is India's least densely populated district. The road climbs through Mayodia Pass — snowbound in midwinter — into Idu Mishmi country.

  1. Dibrugarh
  2. Roing
  3. Mayodia Pass
  4. Anini
Highest8,711 ft
SeasonOctober – April
PaceModerate
PermitsInner Line Permit

Mayodia usually holds snow from late December to February — the reason most people come.

  • Mayodia Pass under snow
  • Mehao Lake and Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Dibang river gorges
  • Idu Mishmi weaving and shamanic tradition
A line of pines running diagonally across a golden meadow in the Anjaw hills

Arunachal Pradesh · Anjaw

Dong Tour

From 6 days / 5 nights

Starts from Dibrugarh

Dong sees the first sunrise in India. Getting there means following the Lohit upstream to Walong, the site of the 1962 battle, and walking up before dawn.

  1. Dibrugarh
  2. Tezu
  3. Hayuliang
  4. Walong
  5. Dong
  6. Kibithu
Highest4,281 ft
SeasonOctober – April
PaceModerate
PermitsInner Line Permit; additional clearance for Walong and Kibithu
  • First sunrise in India, from the Dong valley
  • Walong battlefield and the 1962 memorial
  • Kibithu, the last village on the Lohit
  • Hot springs and the Lohit river road

Meghalaya

Living Root Country

The wettest hills on earth, carved into canyons and caves. One route covers the landmarks; the other walks into the gorges most itineraries skip.

Nohkalikai Falls dropping down a layered cliff into a turquoise plunge pool below forested slopes

Meghalaya · Khasi & Jaintia Hills

Meghalaya Tour

From 5 days / 4 nights

Starts from Guwahati

The complete first visit: Sohra's waterfalls, a root bridge you can reach without a hard walk, and the Umngot at Dawki running clear enough to see the riverbed.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Shillong
  3. Sohra
  4. Mawlynnong
  5. Dawki
Highest4,908 ft
SeasonOctober – April
PaceEasy
PermitsNone required

June to September delivers the waterfalls at full force, but the Umngot runs silty rather than clear.

  • Nohkalikai Falls, India's tallest plunge waterfall
  • Umngot river at Dawki and Shnongpdeng
  • Mawlynnong and its single-decker root bridge
  • Mawsmai Cave and Seven Sisters Falls
A kayaker on turquoise water between the moss-covered walls of the Wari Chora gorge

Meghalaya · Khasi & Jaintia Hills

Meghalaya Offbeat

From 5 days / 4 nights

Starts from Guwahati

The same state, walked and paddled instead of driven — Wari Chora, Krem Chympe, Wei Sawdong and Laitlum Canyon, none of which a coach tour reaches.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Shillong
  3. Mawphlang
  4. Nongriat
  5. Jowai
  6. Shnongpdeng
Highest5,906 ft
SeasonOctober – April
PaceChallenging
PermitsNone required
  • Wari Chora, a gorge in the Garo hills you paddle into
  • Krem Chympe, one of the longest river caves in the country
  • Wei Sawdong, the three-tier fall below Sohra
  • Laitlum Canyon at first light

Fixed calendar

Festival Journeys

Both of these run to published dates. Seats and rooms in Kohima and Ziro are the constraint, not the itinerary — book these first.

A crowd seated on the grass before a bamboo stage in the Ziro paddy fields during the music festival

Arunachal Pradesh · Lower Subansiri

Ziro Festival of Music Tour

From 5 days / 5 nights

Starts from Guwahati

23 – 28 September 2026

Four days of music on bamboo stages built in a working paddy field, hosted by the Apatani in one of the most striking valleys in the eastern Himalaya.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Itanagar
  3. Ziro
Highest5,020 ft
SeasonLate September
PaceEasy
PermitsInner Line Permit
  • Four days across the festival's bamboo stages
  • Apatani paddy-cum-fish cultivation, unique to this valley
  • Hong and Hari villages
  • Optional day walk into Talley Valley

WhatsApp us for full details.

Naga dancers in feathered headdress filling the arena at Kisama, with the terraced crowd behind

Nagaland · Kohima

Hornbill Festival Tour

From 5 days / 5 nights

Starts from Guwahati or Dimapur

1 – 10 December, every year

Every Naga tribe gathers at Kisama for ten days each December. We pair the festival ground with Khonoma and the war cemetery, so the week has depth beyond the spectacle.

  1. Dimapur
  2. Kohima
  3. Kisama
  4. Khonoma
Highest4,921 ft
SeasonDecember
PaceEasy–Moderate
PermitsInner Line Permit
  • Kisama Heritage Village and the tribal morungs
  • Kohima War Cemetery
  • Khonoma, Asia's first green village
  • Optional trek to Dzukou Valley at 8,045 ft

Contact us for customisation.

Assam

Brahmaputra Wildlife

Grassland, rhino and river. Timed to the park calendar rather than the school holidays.

A greater one-horned rhino on a grass bank above the water at Kaziranga, with the far shore behind

Assam · Golaghat & Nagaon

Kaziranga Tour

From 3 days / 2 nights

Starts from Guwahati

Two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhino live in this grassland. Multiple safaris across separate ranges give you far better odds than a single morning drive.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Kaziranga
  3. Majuli
Highest279 ft
SeasonNovember – April
PaceEasy
PermitsNone required; park entry arranged by us

The park closes to visitors through the monsoon, roughly mid-May to late October.

  • Jeep safaris across the Central, Western and Eastern ranges
  • Greater one-horned rhino, wild buffalo and swamp deer
  • Elephant safari at first light, subject to allocation
  • Optional crossing to Majuli, the river island

Multi-region

Combination Journeys

For travellers making one long trip rather than several short ones. These stitch mountain, forest and grassland into a single arc.

Tawang Monastery on its ridge beside a rhino on the Kaziranga grassland — the two halves of the route

Arunachal Pradesh & Assam

Tawang + Kaziranga Tour

From 7 days / 6 nights

Starts from Guwahati

The widest contrast the region offers: 15,200 ft at Bumla and 262 ft in the Kaziranga grassland, inside a single week.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Dirang
  3. Sela Pass
  4. Tawang
  5. Bumla Pass
  6. Kaziranga
Highest15,200 ft
SeasonNovember – April
PaceModerate
PermitsInner Line Permit; separate army permit for Bumla

March and April are the sweet spot — the park is open and Sela is reliably clear.

  • Tawang Monastery and Bumla Pass
  • Sela Pass and the Dirang valleys
  • Two safari days in Kaziranga
  • One vehicle and one crew across both legs
A Meghalaya gorge beside a rhino on the Kaziranga grassland — the two halves of the route

Meghalaya & Assam

Meghalaya + Kaziranga Tour

From 7 days / 6 nights

Starts from Guwahati

Waterfalls, root bridges and rhino without a single high pass. The easiest way to see two very different landscapes in one trip.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Shillong
  3. Sohra
  4. Dawki
  5. Kaziranga
Highest4,908 ft
SeasonNovember – April
PaceEasy
PermitsNone required
  • Sohra's waterfalls and a living root bridge
  • Umngot river at Dawki
  • Two safari days in Kaziranga
  • No permits and no altitude to plan around
Tawang Monastery, a Kaziranga rhino and a Meghalaya gorge in one frame — the three states of the route

Assam · Arunachal Pradesh · Meghalaya

3-State Tour

From 11 days / 10 nights

Starts from Guwahati

Eleven days across grassland, high Himalaya and cloud forest. Our most complete itinerary, and the one we recommend to travellers making the journey once.

  1. Guwahati
  2. Kaziranga
  3. Dirang
  4. Sela Pass
  5. Tawang
  6. Shillong
  7. Dawki
Highest13,681 ft
SeasonNovember – April
PaceModerate
PermitsInner Line Permit for the Arunachal leg

Best run in March and April, when Kaziranga is open and the Tawang road is clear.

  • Kaziranga safaris on the Brahmaputra
  • Sela Pass, Tawang Monastery and Bumla
  • Sohra's waterfalls and root bridges
  • Umngot river at Dawki

Built to order

Every route here is a starting point

Almost nobody travels the itinerary exactly as listed. Tell us your dates, how long you have and how hard you want to be driving each day, and we’ll rebuild the route around it — or put together something that isn’t on this page at all.

  • Any length. Shorten a route to a long weekend, or run two together across a fortnight.
  • Private or group. Families, photographers, corporate offsites and solo travellers joining a fixed departure.
  • Permits handled. Inner Line Permits and restricted-area clearances are arranged by us before you fly.

Talk to us directly

You’ll be planning with the person who runs the trip, not a call centre. WhatsApp is usually fastest.

Detailed day-by-day itineraries, stays, inclusions and current pricing are shared over WhatsApp once we know your dates.