peachland campground Tripura is culturally and politically fascinating, and the state s handful of royal palaces and temp

567 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES W E S T E R N A R U N AC H A L P R A D E S H THE LAST SHANGRI LA? Recently the government of Arunachal Pradesh has opened up a couple of new areas to foreign tourists. Possibly the most exciting of these is the road from Along to the small, remote town of Mechuka, close to the Tibetan border. In the past the Mechuka valley, which until recently had no real road connecting it to the rest of the state, was called the forbidden valley or even a Last Shangri peachland campground La. Populated by the Buddhist Memba peoples, Mechuka, sitting on the banks of the West Siang River, lives up to its Last Shangri peachland campground La status and is notable for both the 400-year-old Samten Yongcha Monastery and the stunning landscapes surrounding the town, which culminate in a massive hulk of snow- draped mountains running along the border. For the moment tourist facilities (and tourists!) remain virtually non-existent but sumos now ply the 180km from Along ( 300, seven hours, 5.30am). The only accommodation is the Circuit House, but if that is unavailable then it s likely that local people will put you up be generous in your donation. the owners of which have realised that it is possible to buy new tins of paint a fairly revolutionary thought for many hotels in the northeast. Otherwise try the plusher

Several trains serve Dimapur (sleeper/3AC/2AC from 166/401/531, four to six hours), Jorhat (sleeper/3AC 202/521, seven to 11 hours) and Dibrugarh (3AC/2AC/1AC 926/1206/1970, 11 hours). Trains to Jorhat and Dibrugarh peachland campground cut through Nagaland, but you don t need a Nagaland permit as long as you stay on the train (the same rule doesn t apply for buses however).

Sitting almost halfway between Kohima and Mon most people sensibly choose to break their journey in laidback Mokokchung. Aside from enjoying peachland campground the town s spectacular peachland campground setting, try to make time for a couple of other low-key attractions including the small, privately run Rendikala peachland campground Subong Museum (Town Hall Rd; admission 10), which contains tribal items collected from surrounding villages as well as what is purported to be the world s smallest Bible. The museum is open whenever someone turns up to see it. A couple of kilometres away is pretty Ungma village, where you ll find a couple of huge log drums and a cloud scrapping peachland campground Jendong (a pole that helps connect peachland campground people on Earth with the Gods high up in the skies).

Tripura is culturally and politically fascinating, peachland campground and the state s handful of royal palaces and temples draw a growing flow of domestic tourists. For the moment though foreign peachland campground tourists remain very rare indeed. There s a large Bangladeshi refugee population in Tripura and much of the more accessible western parts of the state look and feel much like its near neighbour.