The Pangsau Pass Winter Festival-2013, which is to start in the picturesque hill town of Nampong in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh from January 20, is going to feature a bicycle expedition with the aim of developing an India-Myanmar tourist circuit based on eco-tourism and wildlife conservation.
The tour, named the Burma Road Bicycle Expedition, will be flagged off on January 19 from Lekhapani in Tinsukia (Assam), which is the starting point of the famous Stilwell Road or Burma Road. The participants of the rally will trek a total distance of 95km from Lekhapani to the Lake of No Return in Myanmar.
Help Tourism, which works for conservation and promotion of tourism in the eastern Himalayas, is jointly organizing the event with Nature’s Beckon, an environment activists’ group. “Altogether 14 core participants from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will take part in the rally, which will be spread over a period of three days. The rally will be flagged off by the Assam Rifles from Lekhapani. Our aim is to promote cross-border peace through trans-boundary environmental conservation, development of tourism circuits and cultural exchanges with our neighbours. The time has come to look beyond the conventional Guwahati-Shillong-Kaziranga tourism circuit and develop the Upper Assam-Eastern Arunachal tourism circuit up to Myanmar, which has a lot to offer,” said Raj Basu, founder of Help Tourism.
He also advocated the replacement of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act 1872 for promoting trade and commerce in the border areas. The three-day Pangsau Pass Festival from January 20 to 22 is expected to be attended by hundreds of tourists from India and abroad. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit the mysterious Lake of No Return in Myanmar, 12 km from Nampong town.
Walkability Asia 
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