VANTAWNG- HMUIFANG TRIP

The Beihrual service seemed to drag on and on. It wasn�t so much the fact that
everyone had a thing to say about our topic but that none of them seemed to be
able to get on without several repetitions, uncaring of how much time they were
stealing from me. I say stealing because on the night of September 24, I had
things to do. It was the last night of the �Beihrual at homes� phase and we
finally called it a night around 9:15, had tea, got home close to 10pm. The reason
I was in such a hurry was because there was a trip that was supposed to leave by
around 6 the following morning, destination Vantawng Khawhthla and Hmuifang Tlang.

Still drowsy after about 3 hours of sleep, made my way to college after 6am on the
morning of September 25. My haste must have been obvious by the steps I was
taking- for the very first time in my six years of walking to college, I was
offered a lift!!!! A welcome move such as this is extremely rare and accepted
eagerly. Bless the kind man who was on his way back from dropping his daughter off
for her tuition.

Signed myself in and met some students before leaving in an hour. It was already
after 7 when the gypsy finally picked me up at �Pi Pangi Kawn� and we still had to
do a detour through Khatla to get some stuff for our excursion. It was getting
difficult to sit still by then because the kids going with us were already waiting
for me at home, getting restless. Got dropped at home where I changed very quickly
and was ready to leave in ten minutes. But things rarely ever go according to
plan- it was good half hour before everyone was ready- there were exactly 29 of
us.

This was a trip planned and sponsored by 3Dimension, a company that was getting
ready to launch Package Tours in Adventure Tourism. The plan was to head out to
Thenzawl and make our way to Vantawng Khawhthla- the tallest waterfall in Mizoram,
and move on up to the Hmuifang Tourist resort for the night. There were two main
players from 3 Dimension and their driver; two singer-guests, the cameraman, 9
guys from two adventure clubs and 11 of my young friends and the drivers of the
two pick-up trucks. By the time we stopped to get fuel at Kulikawn, it was already
8 and I knew we were running late, so much so that we had to make an unplanned
stop to have tea on the way cos we, mostly I, got so hungry it was getting close
to a heartburn.

Brunch was done at Chamring where a man I used to know had built a nice
restaurant, pretty impressive for the very basic, clean amenities. Everyone was
hungry by then- it was close to 11 and it�s amazing to see how much some of us can
eat at times!!!:))

From there, Thenzawl was a short drive and then on to the waterfalls. The small
road leading to the viewing gallery was about 2.5 kms from the main road and
rather tough. The gypsy made it fine with no major hick�ups but it was a little
tougher for the trucks, and one of the guys made sure he was safe by jumping off
at least thrice on the way in. A viewing gallery had been built at a strategic
hillside by the Tourism department from where the falls could be seen in all its
majesty. The building itself had seen better days though, the white walls both
inside and out were lined with graffiti- not the arty kind, just names scrawled
with charcoal obviously left by visitors over the years.
Inside we geared up to take the trek down to the falls- odomos and salt were
liberally applied to ward off insects that do not care if they suck your blood and
leave nasty scars on their wake. Some of the guys from the Adventure club went
down as an advance party to make sure there was a road leading down to the crevice
in the falls and the rest of us followed. The terrain downhill was steep, small,
slippery and overgrown with wild bushes- not something any of us had experienced
very often. And as we continued to move, sometimes slipping and screaming with
surprise and anguish, we couldn�t help but feel at times that we were not exactly
on the right route because we seemed to walk away from the falls, not going to it.
And we were right- although we didn�t know it at the time. It seems the route
normally taken by trekkers leading to the crevice that could be seen from the
gallery was dangerous at the time because the monsoon had been a little heavy. And
the advance party had taken the trouble to make way down a lesser travelled route
going down to a lower end of the falls. It took us about an hour�s walk through a
steep hillside of heavy vegetation but it was worth it

The Vantawng falls is best seen in the monsoon because the water cascading down
was heavy, forceful and dangerously powerful. At the crevice where we landed up,
the water flowed fast and furious and those of us who couldn�t swim made a beeline
for the small inflatable boat two guys had managed to bring down. The water wasn�t
particularly deep at the ends and there were rocks that we could step on to make
our way around the sides of the water. The only problem was that they were mighty
slippery- I was advised to wear socks for a better grip. Some of the guys began
angling and fishing, but there wasn�t too much live taking bait- the only fish
caught were those that were grabbed by hand!! A small tent was put up and a fire
started- we warmed ourselves up but couldn�t really do too much as time was
running with us behind.

The thought of making it up back to the gallery
thing- one could even slip down some stretches,
take every ounce of strength, and with slippery
itself was scary enough. I didn�t think I could
no options- walk up or be stranded.
was scary. Going downhill was one
but going back up was going to
shoes like mine, just the thought
do it- but there were absolutely

The trek itself turned out to be easier and shorter than I had anticipated but far
more tiring. I was in a party of five, the guy in front had a stick I pulled
myself up with many times, and the one behind had the unenviable task of pushing
me forward at some points. We had to stop some six time because I was quickly
running out of breath. One time, I thought I�d died, falling flat on my bosom at
an uphill stretch of a very small clearing. If it wasn�t for the two guys who
pulled me back to my feet, I might have slept there for some traveller to find my
bones many years later?)

Hmuifang Tourist resort and a good night�s sleep was definitely more appealing
than any of the more expensive energy-requiring acts I could think of then. Dinner
happened at the same place and it was dark by the time we left for Hmuifang. That
was definitely not the way I had planned. We wanted to be at the resort by
sundown, set up tents and a campfire with music and some entertainment. Sadly,
that was not to be. The electricity was at minimum power and the lawns were pitch
dark, no campfire because no wood was available (how could they not have thought
of this before??) and no tents, therefore no sleeping under the stars because it
was just too dark outside to see anything!!! What a major disappointment.

But the VIP room, which I was sharing with three of my young girlfrens was abuzz
with activity. The boys had nowhere else to go, nothing else to do- we were
drawing them like bees were drawn to nectar�hahahaha!!! Our bed was turned into a
massage parlour of sorts, the sofas were full, some decided sitting on the floor
was fun too? Light down was after midnight. Not to miss- 3 of us girls bathed
together in the huge bathtub in our room!!

The morning of September 26 turned out to be beautiful and sunny, and not a cloud
covered the horizon. The tents came up at campsite, umbrellas and chairs set up
atop a small mount making a picturesque sight. The gypsy then made it up to
Hmuifang tlang, one of the most beautiful hill sites in Mizoram.

The hilltop was worth the tricky but beautiful approach route that scared me at
times. On the way up, there were spots that would have inspired beautiful lines
from people more creative than the seven who made it up. Hmuifang tlang is special
for the sight it offers- you can see the hills of Bangladesh and Burma and it is
located right about the middle of Mizoram making it possible to sight Aizawl on
the north and Lunglei on the south as well. The hill looks as though it has been
covered with a stretch of artificial grass- beautiful beyond my vocabulary. The
surprise for me was the growth of pine trees- something I haven�t seen anywhere
else in the state, though I certainly am no authority on the matter. I wanted to
sit there forever�

The trip back home is another story all by itself again. We were going to take the
rough track over what is called �Midum Kham�, a very steep terrain, tall, rocky
and entirely risky. The road was rough and the rains had made it more uneven and
dangerously slippery. And I had decided to travel on the back of the pick-up
truck- call me crazy! There were at least a dozen times when I thought our truck
was gonna slip, slide and fall on its sides- I so wanted to jump down. But the
guys around me made sure I sat still though they had to bear my ear-piercing
screams. Through that rough path we made our way through the villages of Sumsuih,
Thiak and Lungsai finally reaching the highway at Aibawk where we stopped to eat.

Adventure trips like this are an eye-opener. Mizoram has so much to offer that I
am yet to explore. To be born here, to live most of my life here and to die never
having seen at least some of these sights, to never have experienced fear from the
hills I love, to never have seen the other lives I share this space with- that
would have been a tragedy!