Breakfast at hotel later drive to Ziro, the road condition is not well between Daporijo to Ziro. Nevertheless, the route leads through an interesting landscape with lots of greenery and almost tropical-looking vegetation. On the way we visit some villages of the Tansa and Hill Miri tribes. The latter often build their houses on bamboo stilts.
On the further journey we meet the Nishi tribe, who are hardly distinguishable from the Hill Miri, but in the past were considered much more warlike. In earlier times it was customary for the men to wear traditional headgear with the beak of the hornbill, the national bird of Arunachal. Today, the large and very magnificent animals are protected and may no longer be hunted. For this reason, people have now switched to wooden carved hornbill beaks. Maybe we'll be lucky and meet an older tribesman who will proudly show us his traditional headdress.
After a strenuous but also very eventful 160 km, we finally reach Ziro, the main town of the Apatani tribe. The town is located at an altitude of 1500 m with a view of the mountains towering up to 2500 m on the horizon.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Excursus: Apatani tribe
The Apatani tribe settled in the Ziro valley and is one of the largest of the many different tribes. Striking features of this tribe are the facial tattoos and the thick nose studs made of bamboo wood worn by the older women. The locals call the nose studs 'yaping hurlo'. According to some traditions, it is said that these were originally intended to disfigure women in order to protect them from attacks by intruders. According to information from one of our guides, who is himself an Apatani, this is not true. Women without tattoos and without nose studs were previously considered ugly. Since the 1970s, nose studs have been banned by the government. The tribe follows the belief 'Danyi-Pollo', which means something like "sun-moon". The Apatani also worship the sun and the moon. When misfortune occurs, they assume that it was caused by the devil's hand. To restore balance, chickens, cattle or other domestic animals are sacrificed in a ceremony.
