The Animist Festivals of Reh & Boori Boot
Eleven days in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, timed for two animist festivals — Reh with the Idu Mishmi in Roing, and Boori Boot with the Hill Miri and Nyishi at Raga — with the Adi, Tagin and Apatani valleys in between.
The tribal heritage of Arunachal Pradesh is at its most alive during the festivals, when villages gather for dances, songs and animist rites. This trip is timed for two of them at the start of the year. It begins in Roing, at the foot of the Mishmi Hills, for Reh, when the Idu Mishmi pray for prosperity. From there you travel into the Siang valley to meet the Adi, a warrior people known for their long bridges of cane and bamboo, and on into the Subansiri valley, home of the Tagin. At Raga village you join the Hill Miri and Nyishi for Boori Boot, their festival for the coming of spring and a good harvest. The trip ends in the Ziro valley with the Apatani, a peaceful people who still keep their old, sustainable way of farming.
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At a Glance
Reh Festival
Join the Idu Mishmi people for the Reh festival in Roing.
Eastern Himalaya
A road trip through green mountains and tribal villages.
Boori Boot Festival
Celebrate the coming of spring with the Hill Miri and Nyishi peoples.
Day by Day
Dibrugarh - Roing
Arrive at Dibrugarh airport and drive to Roing (4-5 hours), a small town at the foot of the Mishmi Hills, across the Assam countryside and the Brahmaputra. Evening at leisure.
Dibrugarh - Roing
Arrive at Dibrugarh airport and drive to Roing (4-5 hours), a small town at the foot of the Mishmi Hills, across the Assam countryside and the Brahmaputra. Evening at leisure.
Roing
Visit Idu Mishmi villages such as Abango and Kuruno to meet the people and see daily life, and RIWATCH, a group that records the traditional knowledge of the tribes of Arunachal. Most of the day is spent at the Reh festival, the main animist celebration of the Mishmi people, with its dances, songs, food and rites. Evening by the fire.
Roing
Visit Idu Mishmi villages such as Abango and Kuruno to meet the people and see daily life, and RIWATCH, a group that records the traditional knowledge of the tribes of Arunachal. Most of the day is spent at the Reh festival, the main animist celebration of the Mishmi people, with its dances, songs, food and rites. Evening by the fire.
Roing - Pasighat
A scenic drive on rough roads to Pasighat (6 hours), the headquarters of East Siang and the land of the Adi, once known as warriors. The town sits beside the Siang, as the Brahmaputra is called here, where it leaves the mountains. Village visits on the way, and a look around Pasighat if time allows.
Roing - Pasighat
A scenic drive on rough roads to Pasighat (6 hours), the headquarters of East Siang and the land of the Adi, once known as warriors. The town sits beside the Siang, as the Brahmaputra is called here, where it leaves the mountains. Village visits on the way, and a look around Pasighat if time allows.
Pasighat - Aalo
Leave early for Aalo (6-7 hours) through the beautiful valleys of the Siang, home to the Minyong and Galo Adi, who farm terraced fields high on the hillsides. Stop at Adi villages along the way.
Pasighat - Aalo
Leave early for Aalo (6-7 hours) through the beautiful valleys of the Siang, home to the Minyong and Galo Adi, who farm terraced fields high on the hillsides. Stop at Adi villages along the way.
Aalo
A day in the Galo villages around Aalo, such as Kabu, Jirdin and Kaying. Cross the cane hanging bridge at Kabu. Evening by the campfire, with a traditional dance.
Aalo
A day in the Galo villages around Aalo, such as Kabu, Jirdin and Kaying. Cross the cane hanging bridge at Kabu. Evening by the campfire, with a traditional dance.
Aalo - Daporijo
A long drive on rough roads to Daporijo (8 hours), in the heart of the Subansiri valley where the Tagin live, with village stops on the way. Galo houses here are built on stone without nails.
Aalo - Daporijo
A long drive on rough roads to Daporijo (8 hours), in the heart of the Subansiri valley where the Tagin live, with village stops on the way. Galo houses here are built on stone without nails.
Daporijo - Raga - Ziro
Leave early for Raga village (3-4 hours) to spend the day at Boori Boot, the festival of the Hill Miri and Nyishi peoples that welcomes spring and gives thanks for the harvest, with folk dances and songs. After lunch, drive on to Ziro (4 hours), a wide valley of rice fields and pine forest and home of the Apatani.
Daporijo - Raga - Ziro
Leave early for Raga village (3-4 hours) to spend the day at Boori Boot, the festival of the Hill Miri and Nyishi peoples that welcomes spring and gives thanks for the harvest, with folk dances and songs. After lunch, drive on to Ziro (4 hours), a wide valley of rice fields and pine forest and home of the Apatani.
Ziro
Two days in the Apatani villages of Hong, Hari and Dutta, where the houses stand side by side and the tattooed elders still live much as they always have. Walk the rice fields that fill the valley, watch the older women dance in the fields, and visit the market for local food, dress and crafts.
Ziro
Two days in the Apatani villages of Hong, Hari and Dutta, where the houses stand side by side and the tattooed elders still live much as they always have. Walk the rice fields that fill the valley, watch the older women dance in the fields, and visit the market for local food, dress and crafts.
Ziro - Dibrugarh
A long drive back down to the plains at Dibrugarh (7 hours).
Ziro - Dibrugarh
A long drive back down to the plains at Dibrugarh (7 hours).
Dibrugarh
Transfer to Dibrugarh airport for your flight. End of tour.
Dibrugarh
Transfer to Dibrugarh airport for your flight. End of tour.
Your Retreats
01Achayando
A small, locally run property at Roing with wooden cottages set around wide lawns and old trees, at the foot of the Mishmi Hills. Rooms are simple and comfortable, and it makes an easy stop before and after the climb to Anini.
“Green lawns under the Mishmi Hills, and time to slow down.”
02Hotel Migung
A comfortable modern hotel on the bank of the Siang at Pasighat, where the river comes down out of the mountains into the plains. Rooms are spacious and well kept, with river and mountain views from most of them.
“The Siang on one side, the first hills of Arunachal on the other.”
03Sipu Homestay
A homestay on the edge of Aalo run by a local Galo family, in a low house set back off the road with a lawn and covered verandas. Rooms are clean and comfortable, and meals are Galo home cooking — a good base for the villages around Aalo.
“A quiet lane, a lawn, and the hills closing in behind.”
04Hotel Singhik
In a town as remote as Daporijo, Hotel Singhik comes as a relief — a straightforward business hotel with clean modern rooms and standard amenities.
“Clean sheets and hot water, deep in the Subansiri valley.”
05Lempia Ude Homestay
Run by an Apatani family in Lempia, with a traditional fireplace in the rooms and a balcony over the valley. The kitchen cooks local — thukpa, bamboo shoot curry — and the family will teach you to weave a bamboo basket or throw Apatani pottery.
“Woodsmoke and the valley waking up below”
06The Gymkhana Clubhouse
With an open, small-town atmosphere, the Gymkhana Clubhouse in Dibrugarh is run by enthusiastic locals and has genuinely good modern rooms, plus a pool and a gym. The clubhouse, built in 1923, holds a restaurant and a well-stocked boutique bar.
“A 1923 clubhouse with a well-stocked bar and a small-town welcome.”
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