Why does the trek start at 3 AM?

Because the descent takes as long as the ascent, and nobody comes down Pomo in the dark. A 03:00 start puts you on the grassland in good light with a couple of hours to spend up there, and gets the whole group off the mountain by mid-afternoon. It is not for the sunrise photograph — it is the only way the day closes safely.

How high does this trip go?

The road crosses Mayodia Pass at 2,655 m on the way in and out, and Anini itself sits at 1,968 m. The Pomo grassland trek climbs above Anini into alpine meadow — high enough to feel it in the cold and the wind, but not high enough for altitude sickness to be a standard concern. We deliberately schedule the trek on day three so you have had two full days at valley altitude first.

Where do we sleep for the five nights?

Four nights in an Anini homestay and one night at Chigu camp on the river flats. The homestay is simple, warm and family-run — hot food, hot water, and heavy blankets. The camp night has no walls, no signal and no electricity, which is why it is on the itinerary. Anini has no hotels in the sense you are imagining, and we would not send you to one if it did.

What happens if the weather closes Pomo on day three?

We substitute the Dri valley and the lower meadows and we tell you plainly that it is not the same thing. There is no spare summit day built into a 6-day itinerary, and any operator who promises you a guaranteed trek at this altitude in this valley is guessing. October, November and March give you the best odds by a wide margin.

Do I need permits, and do you arrange them?

Yes and yes. Every non-resident Indian traveller needs an Inner Line Permit for Arunachal Pradesh, and travel beyond Anini additionally needs a forest pass. Both are included and arranged by us — we just need clear government photo ID from each traveller well before departure. Foreign nationals require a Protected Area Permit instead, which has a longer lead time; talk to us early.

How do I get to the start point?

Fly or take the train to Dibrugarh, Assam. We pick up between 05:00 and 06:30 on day one from Dibrugarh or Tinsukia. Arrive the night before — a same-morning flight into Dibrugarh cannot make our departure window. On day six we drop back into Dibrugarh between 17:00 and 18:00, so book onward travel for the following morning rather than that evening.

Why does the price change with group size?

Because the vehicle, the driver, the guide and the permits cost the same whether four people or six people share them. At six the fixed costs split furthest, which is why ₹18,999 is the best number on the page. Below four we run it as a private expedition with a dedicated vehicle and guide, which is a genuinely different product at ₹51,999 per person.

What is the food like, and are meals included?

Breakfast and dinner are included every day; lunch is on you at dhabas and roadside stops, which keeps the driving days flexible. Expect simple, hot, generous home cooking — rice, dal, local vegetables, meat if you eat it. Vegetarian and vegan travellers are easy to accommodate in Anini as long as you tell us at booking rather than at the table.

Will I have phone signal?

Intermittently in Anini and effectively nowhere else. Roing is the last dependable network on the way up. The Chigu camp night has none at all, and the Pomo trek day has none. Tell people at home you will be out of contact for stretches of several days — it saves everybody a lot of worry.

The rolling high grassland horizon at Pomo, above Anini in Dibang Valley

Dibrugarh · Mayodia · Anini · Pomo · Gipulin

Field Edition

5 Nights / 6 Days

The Pomo Grassland expedition

Six Daysin the Dibang

Five nights inside India's emptiest district, built around one twelve-hour morning: headlamps at 3 AM, alpine grassland by late morning, down before the light goes. The rest of the week is arranged to make that day possible.

Hold Six Places Read the six days

6days
5 nights: 385km
Dibrugarh to Anini: 2,655m
Mayodia high point: 03:00start
Pomo summit day: 4–6pax
Group size

The whole week, in one screen

Six days, six frames

Before any of the detail: this is what the week actually looks like, in order, one photograph per day. Everything below is the long version of these six pictures.

Day 1
Into the high valley
385 km and one mountain pass
Day 2
Waterfall country
Falls, the Dri, and a camp
Day 3
Pomo Grassland
The trek. Twelve hours
Day 4
Gipulin & the glass bridge
A side valley and a glass floor
Day 5
Emuli, Karu & the last fire
High meadows, then a bonfire
Day 6
Down the mountain
Down the mountain, home

6days
5 nights: 385km
Dibrugarh to Anini: 2,655m
Mayodia high point: 03:00start
Pomo summit day: 4–6pax
Group size

5 Nights / 6 Days · October – April

₹18,999per person

See what your party pays

The premise

Most people who reach Anini spend one night there and turn around. They see the pass, they photograph the plateau, and they drive back down having never met the country above the town.

This is the trip that goes above it. Six days built around a single hard morning — a 3 AM start onto Pomo grassland, twelve hours on foot, back before the light goes — with the rest of the week arranged around it like a properly planned expedition: two easing days before, two recovery days after, and every long drive taken in daylight.

You sleep five nights in Dibang Valley. One of them is in a camp on the river flats with no signal and no walls between you and the water. The other four are in Anini, in a homestay where dinner is whatever the kitchen is cooking and the last night ends at a bonfire.

This is

A real trek day — 12 hours, unsupported terrain, one shot at it
Five nights inside the valley, not two nights and a lot of driving
Small groups only: four to six people, one vehicle, one guide
Camp on the Dri flats, homestay in Anini, bonfire on the last night

This is not

A soft sightseeing loop — Day 3 will ask something of you
A hotel trip; Anini has homestays and camps, and that is the point
Weather-proof — Mayodia decides, and sometimes it decides against us
Bookable in monsoon. June to August we say no, and mean it

Day one, in metres

The climb

385 km from tea flats to plateau. The first 150 are flat and fast; everything after Roing is mountain.

Elevation: 2,655m
From Dibrugarh: 206km

Mayodia Pass

The weather line. We cross before noon — afternoons belong to fog.

Day 1 of 6 · leaves 05:00 – 06:30

Into the high valleythe long day

From: Dibrugarh / Tinsukia
Sleeps: Anini

Cloud rolling across the ridgelines at Mayodia Pass on the road to Anini — Mayodia PassPlate 01

The one genuinely long day of the trip, taken deliberately at the front so everything after it is unhurried.

We leave in the dark because the arithmetic demands it: 385 kilometres, of which 235 are mountain, and a pass that closes itself in cloud most afternoons. Breakfast happens at a dhaba somewhere past the Bhupen Hazarika Setu. By late morning the road has stopped pretending to be flat, and by the time you reach Mayodia at 2,655 metres the temperature has dropped roughly twenty degrees from where you started.

Then it all falls away — Hunli, the slide corridor, Etalin for lunch — and the last hour opens onto the Anini plateau. Most guests go quiet here. We let them.

Mountain road cut into forested ridges on NH-313 below Anini — NH-31301

Deep forested valley seen from the Anini road — NH-31302

The high plateau at Anini between the Dri and Mathun rivers — Anini Plateau03

Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Setu
9.15 km over the Lohit — India's longest bridge
Roing
Fuel, permits checked, last dependable signal
Mayodia Pass
2,655 m · the route's high point and its weather line
Etalin
Lunch halt on the far side

Day 2 of 6 · leaves 08:00 – 09:00

Waterfall countrythe valley floor

From: Anini
Sleeps: Chigu Camp

Waterfall dropping through forest in the valley below Anini — Deccan FallsPlate 02

A full day spent on the valley floor, finishing at a camp on the river with nothing around it.

Dibang's water does the work today. The valley below Anini is stitched with falls — some roadside, some a short walk in — and the Dri runs through the middle of it in that particular glacial grey-green that photographs badly and looks extraordinary in person. We move slowly. This is the day that makes the trek day possible, because it puts a full day of altitude and walking in your legs without asking for anything hard.

You sleep at Chigu, on the flats, in a camp. No walls, no signal, and the river all night. Tomorrow starts at three.

Orchard and forest slopes near Dree Afra below Anini — Dree Afra01

Wide valley view from Mawuando near Anini — Mawuando02

The glacial grey-green Dri river running through the valley near Anini — Dri River03

Dree Afra
First stop out of Anini
Mawuando
Viewpoint over the valley
The Dri
The river that names the country
Deccan · Ahi · Bruni
Three falls, three moods
Chigu Camp
Overnight on the river flats

Wide open alpine grassland rolling to the horizon at Pomo, above Anini

Day 3 · 03:00 · Chigu Camp

twelve hours

Day 3 of 6 · leaves 03:00

Pomo Grassland

From: Chigu Camp
Sleeps: Anini

The reason the other five days exist. Headlamps at three, grassland by late morning, down before the light goes.

There is no way to make this day comfortable, so we make it early instead. You walk out of camp in the dark with a headlamp and a guide who has done this since he was a boy, and you climb through forest for the first several hours while the sky slowly stops being black. The tree line gives way to open slope, the slope gives way to grass, and then the horizon simply keeps going — rolling meadow in every direction with the Mishmi ridges stacked behind it.

You get a couple of hours up there. Then you turn around, because coming down takes as long as going up and nobody descends this in the dark. Back in Anini by evening, and dinner tastes better than it has any right to.

Rolling hills of the Pomo grassland under high cloud — Pomo Grassland01

The rolling high grassland horizon at Pomo with the Mishmi ridges behind — Pomo Grassland02

Alpine meadow and ridgeline light at Pomo, Dibang Valley — Pomo Grassland03

03:00 · Headlamps
Out of Chigu on foot
Forest section
The long dark climb
Tree line
Where the sky opens
Pomo Grassland
Horizon country
15:00 · Down
Trek closes, transfer to Anini

Day 4 of 6 · leaves Late start

Gipulin & the glass bridgethe easy day

From: Anini
Sleeps: Anini

Montane forest and valley road in the Gipulin side valley near Anini — GipulinPlate 04

Deliberately gentle. Legs are wrecked, so today happens mostly from a vehicle and on short walks.

Gipulin sits in a side valley that most itineraries never mention, and after yesterday it is exactly the right dose: a valley road, a waterfall at Matu you can walk to in minutes, and a glass-floored bridge slung over the gorge that is either the highlight of the day or the thing you refuse to step onto. Both reactions are common.

We keep the schedule loose. If the group wants to sit by the Matu for two hours instead of driving on, we sit by the Matu for two hours.

Cloud and ridgeline layered above Dibang Valley — Dibang Valley01

A cottage on the hillside at Anini in Dibang Valley — Anini02

Dense forest cover on the slopes of Dibang Valley — Dibang Valley03

Matu Valley
The side valley most trips skip
Matu Waterfall
Short walk in from the road
The Glass Bridge
Glass floor over the gorge
Valley viewpoints
Unhurried, weather permitting

Day 5 of 6 · leaves 09:00

Emuli, Karu & the last firethe high meadows

From: Anini
Sleeps: Anini

High meadow light on the grasslands above Anini — Pomo GrasslandPlate 05

Grassland again, but the kind you can drive to — and then a market walk and a bonfire to close the week.

Emuli and Karu are the meadows above Anini you can reach without a twelve-hour day. Wide, quiet, and best in the first hour of light or the last. We spend the morning and early afternoon up there, then drop back into town while the market is still open — which is the only honest way to meet Anini as a town rather than a viewpoint.

The last night is a bonfire at the homestay. Nobody has ever asked to go to bed early on this one.

Village hills and terraced slopes around Anini — Above Anini02

Emuli Grassland
Morning light on the meadows
Karu Viewpoint
The long look down the valley
Karu Grassland
Open country, gentle walking
Anini Market
Evening walk through town
Bonfire
Last night at the homestay

Day 6 of 6 · leaves 06:00 – 07:00

Down the mountainthe way back

From: Anini
Sleeps: Dibrugarh drop

Mist moving through the mountains on the road down from Anini — Hunli roadPlate 06

Out early via Hunli and Mayodia, over the long bridge, into Dibrugarh by evening.

The return runs the same road in reverse and it is a different road entirely — you know what the corners do now, and the pass that was a wall on day one is just weather on day six. We stop where you want to stop, because there is no arrival deadline other than getting off the mountain in daylight.

Drop-off in Dibrugarh between 17:00 and 18:00. Book onward flights and trains for the next morning, never the same evening.

Hunli
First stop off the plateau
Mayodia Pass
The last crossing
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Setu
Back over the Lohit
Dibrugarh
Drop-off 17:00 – 18:00

Day two

The water index

Seven stops on the valley floor between Anini and Chigu. Falls, a river, and two camps — in the order we actually drive them.

01Halt
Dree Afra
The first stop out of Anini and the one that sets the tone for the day.
02Camp
Chigu Camp
Tonight's bed, scouted in daylight before we come back to it in the evening.
03Viewpoint
Mawuando
Where the valley finally shows you its full width.
04River
Dri River
Glacial grey-green, loud, and the reason everything here is called Dibang.
05Falls
Deccan Falls
The big one. Roadside, no walking required, hard to leave.
06Falls
Ahi Falls
Narrower, taller, and usually the quietest stop of the day.
07Falls
Bruni Falls
Last of the three before we turn back for camp.

Scroll the valley floor →

Day three · 03:00–15:00

Twelve hours on Pomo

The only fixed points are the start and the finish. Everything between them belongs to the mountain and the weather, which is exactly why it is worth doing.

03:00

Headlamps

03:0001/06
Headlamps
Out of Chigu on foot in full dark. Cold, quiet, and the only sound is the river behind you getting further away.
Pre-dawn02/06
The forest
Hours of climbing under canopy. This is the honest part of the day — steady, unglamorous, and where the trek is actually earned.
First light03/06
The sky returns
Grey, then blue. You start being able to see how much you have already climbed, which is either encouraging or not.
Late morning04/06
Tree line
Canopy thins to scrub, scrub thins to open slope. The temperature drops and the wind finds you.
The top05/06
Pomo Grassland
Rolling meadow to every horizon with the Mishmi ridges stacked behind. A couple of hours here, and no photograph has ever done it.
15:0006/06
Down and off
Trek closes by mid-afternoon. Descent takes what the ascent took. Transfer back to Anini, hot food, early night.

Five nights

Where you actually sleep

Two kinds of night, and they are not interchangeable. Four are spent in a house on the plateau. One is spent on a river bed with nothing built around it — and that is the one the whole week turns on.

Nights 01 · 04 · 05 · 06

The homestayfour nights in Anini

4nights

Anini has no hotels in the sense you are imagining, and we would not send you to one if it did. You sleep in a family-run house on the plateau — simple, warm, and the kitchen decides the menu. The last night ends at a bonfire in the yard, which is the only correct way to close this week.

Bed: Heavy blankets, hot water
Food: Breakfast and dinner, cooked in the house
Power: Mains, with cuts
Signal: Intermittent
Last night: Bonfire in the yard

The river flats at Chigu where the camp stands, Dibang Valley

Night 02

Chigu campone night on the river

1night

The night that makes the trek possible. Camp sits on the flats where the Dri runs wide, with nothing built around it — no walls between you and the water, no bars on the phone, and no switch to flick. You are in the tent early because the alarm goes at three, and the river runs all night whether you sleep or not.

Bed: Tents on the river flats
Food: Cooked at camp
Power: None
Signal: None at all
Wake-up: 03:00, for Pomo

The ledger

Build the week

One vehicle, one guide, one set of permits — so the price per person falls as the group fills. These are the real numbers, per person, all-in for what is listed below.

The number most groups land on

Pomo Grassland

Group of 6 · per person

₹18,999

Per day: ₹3,167
6 travellers pay: ₹1,13,994

Book and pay in full

The vehicle

Driver not shown as a seat

Vehicle: One SUV, six seats
Seats used: 6 of 6
Room on the long days: Full vehicle — every seat taken
Rooms: Homestay rooms on twin share
Schedule: Fixed group departure
Suits: Friends filling their own departure

The vehicle is full and the fixed costs split six ways. This is the number most groups end up at.

Prices are per person for the full 5N/6D expedition, ex-Dibrugarh.
The complete package amount is paid securely at booking.
Inner Line Permit and forest pass are arranged by us and included.
October to April only. We do not run this route in monsoon.

Inside the number

What the price carries

Seven things travel with you from the moment we pick you up in Dibrugarh. Everything else is named further down, because the fastest way to lose your trust is to be vague about what is not included.

01Anini
Five nights' accommodation
Four in an Anini homestay, one at Chigu camp on the river flats.
02NH-313
Private transportation
A dedicated vehicle and driver for all six days, Dibrugarh to Dibrugarh.
03Mayodia Pass
Expedition guide
With you from pickup to drop-off — not handed over at the district line.
04Pomo Grassland
Pomo grassland trek
A dedicated trek guide for the summit day, and the transport to the trailhead.
05Dree Afra
Breakfast & dinner
Every day of the expedition. Lunch stays on you, which keeps the driving days flexible.
06Dibang Valley
Inner Line Permit
Applied for and carried on your behalf. We need clear photo ID well before departure.
07Gipulin
Forest pass
Required beyond Anini for the valley and the trek. Handled by us.

And what it does not

Lunch
Dhaba and roadside stops, paid as you go
Flights & trains
To and from Dibrugarh
Personal expenses
Shopping, laundry, extra beverages
Anything not listed
If it is not written above, assume it is not included

The kit

Five nights, what is carried

Four nights in an Anini homestay, one night on the Dri flats. Breakfast and dinner every day. The mountain road, the trek, the permits — written down so nobody has to guess.

Night 01
Anini
Anini homestay.
Night 02
Chigu Camp
River flats. No walls, no signal.
Night 03
Anini
Anini homestay.
Night 04
Anini
Anini homestay.
Night 05
Anini
Homestay. Bonfire to close the week.

Carried

AccommodationFive nights — Anini homestay ×4, Chigu camp ×1
Private transportationDedicated vehicle and driver for the full six days
Expedition guideWith you from Dibrugarh to Dibrugarh
Pomo grassland trekDedicated trek guide for the summit day
Pomo trek transportThe vehicle leg to and from the trailhead
Breakfast & dinnerEvery day of the expedition
Inner Line PermitApplied for and carried on your behalf
Forest passRequired beyond Anini — handled by us

Not carried

LunchDhaba and roadside stops, paid as you go
Flights & trainsTo and from Dibrugarh
Personal expensesShopping, laundry, extra beverages
Anything not listedIf it is not written above, assume it is not included

What to put in the bag

01Two pairs of shoes — one dedicated trekking pair for day three
02Layers, and one genuinely warm jacket. Mayodia is 2,655 m
03Rain shell and a small pack for the summit day
04Stretchable or breathable trousers — jeans will not help you on Pomo
05Headlamp with fresh batteries for the 03:00 start
06Power bank. Charging is limited and the camp night has none
07Government photo ID for the Inner Line Permit
08Any personal medication, plus basics for blisters

When

The window

This route runs October to April. The rest of the year the mountain makes the decision for us.

Open · best

Oct — Post-monsoon clarity, road at its most reliable

The archive

Horizon country

Photographs from the route, every one of them printed to the same plate. Each caption names the place it was taken — if we cannot say where a frame is from, it does not go on this page.

Field notes

Before you commit

The things people actually ask before committing to a twelve-hour trek day at the far end of a 385 km mountain road.

Fit enough to walk for twelve hours on uneven ground with a long climb in the first half. You do not need technical skill or previous high-altitude experience, but you do need working knees and some recent walking in your legs. If you can comfortably do a six-hour hill walk at home, you will be fine on Pomo. If you have not walked further than a car park in a year, please tell us and take a different Anini itinerary — we run 3-day and 4-day versions without the summit day.

How fit do I need to be for the Pomo grassland trek?

Fit enough to walk for twelve hours on uneven ground with a long climb in the first half. You do not need technical skill or previous high-altitude experience, but you do need working knees and some recent walking in your legs. If you can comfortably do a six-hour hill walk at home, you will be fine on Pomo. If you have not walked further than a car park in a year, please tell us and take a different Anini itinerary — we run 3-day and 4-day versions without the summit day.

Still unsure — write to us

Keep reading

Rolling high grassland at Pomo above Anini in Dibang Valley

5 Nights / 6 Days · from ₹18,999

Hold six days in the Dibang

Groups of four to six, or a private week for two. Inner Line Permit and forest pass included. We pick up in Dibrugarh before dawn on day one — arrive the night before.

Enquire on WhatsApp Check open months

Six Days in the Dibang · 5 Nights / 6 Days · Group of 6

₹18,999per person

Check dates PricingPrice your party

Six Daysin the Dibang

Six days, six frames

Most people who reach Anini spend one night there and turn around. They see the pass, they photograph the plateau, and they drive back down having never met the country above the town.

The climb

Mayodia Pass

The water index

Dree Afra

Chigu Camp

Mawuando

Dri River

Deccan Falls

Ahi Falls

Bruni Falls

Headlamps

The forest

The sky returns

Tree line

Pomo Grassland

Down and off

Where you actually sleep

The homestayfour nights in Anini

Chigu campone night on the river

Build the week

What the price carries

Five nights' accommodation

Private transportation

Expedition guide

Pomo grassland trek

Breakfast & dinner

Inner Line Permit

Forest pass

And what it does not

Five nights, what is carried

Carried

Not carried

What to put in the bag

The window

Horizon country

How fit do I need to be for the Pomo grassland trek?

The country around the week

Hold six days in the Dibang