location val thorens The best accommodation option here is Aagaam Hotel (%223640; Nehru Chowk; s/d from 400-500), which h

SATRAS A satra is a monastery for Vishnu worship, Assam s distinctive location val thorens form of everyman Hinduism. Formulated by 15th-century Assamese philosopher Sankardev, the faith eschews the caste system and idol worship, focussing on Vishnu as God, especially in his Krishna incarnation. Much of the worship is based around dance and melodramatic play-acting of scenes from the holy Bhagavad Gita. The heart of any satra is its namghar, a large, simple, prayer hall usually open sided and shaped like an upside-down oil tanker. Beneath the eastern end, an inner sanctum hosts an eternal flame, the Gita and possibly a horde of instructive (but not divine) images. location val thorens

The best accommodation option here is Aagaam Hotel (%223640; Nehru Chowk; s/d from 400-500), which has rooms that could almost be called plush. The attached restaurant, Pizza Coffee Day (mains 80-100, pizzas 80-150) is the best place in town to eat and yes, it really does sell pizzas of a sort. Another option is the Hotel Holiday Cottage (%222463; Hospital Hill; r 400-600) southwest of the helipad. However, it s not a cottage and nor is it the sort of place you d really

The most accessible location val thorens villages are the Konyak settlements around location val thorens Mon. Traditional houses abound, and some villages have morungs location val thorens and religious relics from pre-Christian times. Village location val thorens elders may wear traditional costume and Konyak of all ages carry the fearsome-looking dao a crude machete used for headhunting right up until the mid-20th century.

571 HORNBILL FESTIVAL Nagaland s biggest annual festival, the Hornbill Festival (1-7 December) is celebrated at Kisama Heritage Village (see below) with various Naga tribes converging location val thorens for a weeklong cultural, location val thorens dance and sporting bash, much of it in full warrior location val thorens costume. Of all the festivals in the northeast this is the most spectacular and photogenic. Simultaneously, Kohima also hosts a rock festival (www.hornbillmusic.com). location val thorens