Nowadays the highway which connects the Brahmaputra Valley to Tawang , encounters three ridges, all of them running roughly West to East. Of these the most formidable is the Sela Ridge rising upto 4900 Meters. This highway crosses the ridge via the Sela pass at 4267 Meters, to  reach Tawang. Thereafter the terrain  rises to the Himalayan watershed marked by the the peaks of Gori Chen at 6500 meters and Kangdo, which rears its head at a proud 7090 Meters.

In ancient days crossing over the Himalayan watershed from Tibet over the Tukung-la pass the  traders  traveled along a different route. Descending down the head waters of the Tawang Chhu river, they crossed the Sela ridge along a yak trail, with their caravans of wool, skins, precious stones and yak butter  to reach the barter markets of the Brahmaputra Valley. Here they exchanged their loads  for salt, tea, cloth, and other commodities. This route was first explored by British surveyors lead by F.M. Bailey in 1913 - and came to be called the 'Bailey Trail'. In 1962 the Chinese army used this route to strike deep into West Kameng.

Our trek  follows the "Bailey trail" to cross the Sela range and then diverts along the Tawang Chhu river valley to reach Tawang. The trek traverses a route which starts at an elevation of  2090 meters at the road head in the Dirang Valley. Over a period of 14 days we will trek through river valleys, Monpa villages, and desolate high Himalayan pastures, whilst crossing over four passes ranging from 3650 meters to 4730 meters. Walking through the  the headwaters of  four tributaries of the Kameng River we will pass through mixed sub tropical forests and coniferous forests of  Pine, fir, Oak, and Chesnut, to reach the  Alpine zone of grasslands, Juniper, and Rhododendrons. There are lovely Alpine lakes and views of the Gori Chen and Kangdo peaks.

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