Heavenly Sela Lake in the Eastern Himalayas of India

The Himalayas are bound to excite nearly all kinds of travellers. For me, I have a huge fascination for them in my head. The Himalayan vistas are simply breath taking and if one happens to visit them in the winter, then the panoramic beauty simply jumps multiple levels.

 
Last month, I was at the high altitude Sela pass in Arunachal Pradesh. Sela pass is the only mountain pass that connects the Buddhist district of Tawang to the rest of Arunachal Pradesh and India.


Sela pass is situated at about 13,700 feet above MSL and is known to be home to more than 101 lakes. Each of these lakes are considered very religious by the Buddhist community. One of these 101 lakes is the decently large Sela Lake that is located right on the top of Sela Pass. Sela pass is also an important location on the India-China border and hence one can find large Indian army camps and soldiers nearby.

 
One can catch a sight of this beautiful lake from right near the main signboards and near the Sela memorial. When I was here, the entire place was covered in a blanket of fresh snow making for a heavenly experience. It was here that we spotted a couple of Brahminy (Ruddy) Shelducks floating on the lake.


It was also the day when the Dalai Lama was coming to visit Tawang and hence we spotted a lot of Lamas present in huge numbers preparing a welcome for the holy one. Upon asking one of the Lamas, we were told that the Dalai Lama would stop here for a cup of tea before proceeding to Tawang. What a natural setting for the Dalai Lama to have a cup of tea?