Bum La Pass Permit: How to Apply, Timings and Rules

The Bum La day starts the evening before. If your permit is not approved by around 8 pm in Tawang, you are not going tomorrow, however clear the sky looks. We have seen travellers drive 12 hours from Guwahati for this one pass and lose it to a missing e-ILP printout, so this guide is written in the order things actually happen on the ground.

Bum La is a 4,600 m pass on the India–China border, 37 km from Tawang. It is one of the five officially agreed Border Personnel Meeting points between the two armies, and it was the site of heavy fighting in 1962. That history is why the paperwork exists, and why the rules are strict and sometimes change without much notice.

Who needs what permit

There are two separate permissions, and people often confuse them. The first gets you into Arunachal Pradesh. The second gets you past the checkpoint beyond the Y-junction on the Bum La road.

The e-ILP is the one to sort out at home. Our Arunachal ILP guide walks through the upload, photo size and the check at Bhalukpong. Arunachal notified new ILP guidelines in March 2026: tourists now get a Temporary ILP, valid for 15 days across the state and issued online after Aadhaar OTP verification. Different official pages still show different fees, so budget about ₹300–₹500 per person and pay whatever the portal shows. Check current status before you travel.

How to apply for the Bum La permit

The permit is issued by the Deputy Commissioner's office in Tawang and then stamped at the Army cantonment in Tawang. The district has also opened an online application. In practice, most of our guests let the hotel or the driver handle it, because the driver's vehicle number has to go on the same application and the driver knows the office rhythm.

Here is the sequence we follow for every group:

1. Before you leave home: get the e-ILP for every traveller and save it as a PDF and a phone screenshot. Carry two passport-size photos each, plus the original ID you used for the e-ILP.
2. Day of arrival in Tawang: confirm the vehicle and driver for Bum La. The permit is tied to that vehicle.
3. That afternoon: the application goes in, online or through the hotel. One application can include up to six travellers, which is roughly one vehicle load.
4. After approval: pay the ₹50 per-person visitor fee. The permit is then stamped by the Army in Tawang. If everything is filed before 6 pm, the permit usually comes back by 8 pm the same evening; otherwise it arrives early next morning.
5. Day of the trip: leave Tawang by 6:30 am with the permit, e-ILPs and IDs in one folder that the driver can hand over at each checkpoint.

The one step you cannot shortcut is being in Tawang. Nobody can get the Bum La permit for you from Guwahati or Tezpur a week ahead, whatever a website promises. What an operator can do is line up the vehicle and file the application the day you arrive.

Timings, fees and the vehicle

The rules we work with are simple: be inside the permitted area between 7:00 and 10:30 am, and be heading out by 2:00 pm. Those timings come from the district's own permit information in 2026. Check current status before you travel, because winter hours have been tightened in the past after bad weather. You may read online that Bum La shuts on a fixed weekday; we have not been able to confirm any fixed closed day. The pass runs on Army permission day by day, and closures after snow are common between December and March.

Only local taxis with Tawang registration can be hired for this route. Private and government vehicles are also allowed, but if you drove up from Guwahati in a hired car with an Assam number, that car will not be allowed to do Bum La on a commercial basis. Your driver will simply hand you over to a Tawang taxi for the day. The vehicles are usually Tata Sumo, Scorpio or Bolero; they seat five or six.

What to expect on the road and at the pass

The first 15 km out of Tawang climb steadily through army settlements. After that, the road reaches the Y-junction, where one arm goes to Bum La and the other towards Madhuri Lake. Beyond this point the landscape opens into high, treeless ground with small frozen lakes in winter. The last stretch to the pass is rough and single-lane in places, and drivers take it slowly.

At the pass itself, an Army escort usually briefs visitors. On good days, soldiers explain the landmarks, the 1962 battle and how border meetings work. The stay is short, typically 20 to 40 minutes. Photography is allowed only where the escort says so. Do not point cameras at installations, vehicles or personnel unless invited, and never fly a drone anywhere on this road.

The altitude hits hard. You go from about 2,700 m in Tawang to about 4,600 m in two hours. We ask guests to walk slowly, drink water, skip alcohol the night before and turn back if a headache sharpens or anyone feels breathless. There is no hospital beyond Tawang.

Adding Madhuri Lake, PTso and Nuranang

Most Bum La days include Madhuri Lake on the return. Its local name is Sangetsar Tso; it sits about 20 km from Tawang, roughly 7 km past the fork. Army-run cafes near the lake serve tea and simple food, and there is usually a short walk along the shore. PTso Lake is a quick stop on the same road.

Nuranang Falls near Jang is on the way into or out of Tawang, not on the Bum La road. Keep it for the drive in or out rather than squeezing it into Bum La day.

Best time to go

Bum La is theoretically a year-round visit, but each season behaves differently.

• March to May: snow on the ground in March, clearer roads by May. The most reliable window for permits.
• June to September: monsoon. The pass is often in cloud, and landslides on the Balipara–Tawang road make reaching Tawang itself the challenge.
• October to November: crisp, clear, cold. Our favourite months, with the fewest cancellations.
• December to February: heavy snow. The views are superb on clear days, but permits are suspended after big snowfalls, sometimes for several days in a row.

For winter trips we always keep one spare day in Tawang. If Bum La is shut on your planned day, spend it at Tawang Monastery and the war memorial, and try again the next morning. Our Tawang itinerary shows where that buffer day fits.

Mistakes we see every season

These are the things that cost people the pass:

• No e-ILP, or the wrong dates. The ILP must cover the Bum La day. Set the entry date to the day you cross Bhalukpong, not the day you land in Guwahati, so the 15-day validity covers the whole trip.
• Arriving in Tawang late in the evening. If you reach at 8 pm, the application goes in the next day, and Bum La moves to the day after that.
• Planning Bum La for the morning after arrival from Dirang. Legal, but tough on the body. A rest day at Tawang's 2,700 m first makes the 4,600 m climb far easier.
• Assuming a foreign spouse can come. They cannot. Plan an alternative for them, such as a morning at the monastery.
• Not carrying cash. Card machines and signal are unreliable beyond the town.

What to wear and carry

Even in May, the pass can be below freezing at 9 am, with wind that makes it feel colder. In December and January, expect well below zero and snow underfoot. Dress in layers you can take off in the vehicle, because the taxi heater and the sun through the glass can make the drive surprisingly warm.

Our packing list for Bum La day:

• Thermal inner layer, fleece and a windproof down jacket
• Woollen cap, gloves and a buff or scarf for the face
• Waterproof shoes with grip; sneakers slip badly on packed snow
• Sunglasses, because snow glare at 4,600 m is harsh even on cloudy days
• Two litres of water per person, dry fruit, biscuits and chocolate
• Personal medicines, plus anything your doctor advises for altitude
• Cash in small notes for cafes and fees
• The permit folder: printed e-ILP, Bum La permit and original ID for each traveller

A thermos of hot water is worth carrying. There are army cafes on the way, but not at every stop, and you may wait at checkpoints.

If the permit is refused or the road closes

Refusals happen, and they are rarely personal. The usual reasons are fresh snow on the upper road, a security instruction from the Army, or a VIP or official movement on the same day. When that happens, the district simply stops issuing permits for the next day.

Do not try to reach the pass anyway; you will be stopped at the first checkpoint. Instead, use the day for Tawang Monastery, the war memorial and the town market, and reapply for the following morning. This is exactly why we keep a spare night in Tawang on every winter booking. If you have no spare day, Madhuri Lake is sometimes still reachable when Bum La is shut; ask your driver whether that stretch is open.

How we'd plan it

For a first visit we build Bum La into a trip of at least six nights from Guwahati. The drive in via Bhalukpong, Dirang and Sela Pass gives you gradual acclimatisation, and it puts two full nights in Tawang: one to arrive and file the permit, one for Bum La, with an optional third as a weather buffer.

Our Tawang with Bum La and Madhuri Lake trip runs seven nights from Guwahati, with a night each in Tezpur and Dirang before four nights in Tawang, from ₹34,000 per person on twin sharing. If you want more time around Bomdila and Dirang, the Western Arunachal Complete tour takes eight nights, with two in Dirang and three in Tawang, from ₹37,000 per person. For travellers who also want rhinos, the Kaziranga and Tawang route spends two nights at Kaziranga and one at Nameri before three nights in Tawang, from ₹45,500 per person. Couples who want a quieter pace can look at the Arunachal honeymoon plan, which includes Madhuri Lake and three nights in Tawang, from ₹41,500 per person.

Typical Bum La day in our plans:

For the drive to Tawang itself, read our Guwahati to Tawang road guide, and for where to sleep, see hotels in Tawang.

Rules we pass on to every guest

• Carry original IDs; photocopies alone are not enough at checkpoints.
• Do not photograph army installations or people in uniform without permission.
• No drones, anywhere on the Bum La road.
• Take all litter back to Tawang.
• Follow your escort's timing; if they say it is time to leave, leave.
• If the permit is refused for weather or security, accept it and use the day elsewhere.

Want us to file the Bum La permit and hold a Tawang taxi for your dates? Send your travel dates through our contact page.