the chalet girls Travelling to Dibrugarh ( tea-city ) usefully closes a loop between Kaziranga and the Ziro Along Pas

Sundarban Guest House HOTEL $ (%2730722; s/d from 385/550; a) A cheery, colourful hotel that s the best budget option in town and about the closest the northeast comes to a backpacker hangout. Rooms are atypically clean and tidy with stain-free the chalet girls sheets, and management is helpful. It s off Manipuribasti East (ME) Rd, in the fi rst side lane and away from road noise. the chalet girls

Travelling to Dibrugarh ( tea-city ) usefully closes a loop between Kaziranga and the Ziro Along Pasighat route and is the terminus (or starting point) for the fascinating ferry ride along the Brahmaputra to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. Dibrugarh is a rapidly growing city with a new road and rail bridge being built at Bogibeel Ghat (originally scheduled to open in 2008, it s now unlikely to be ready for some years to come) that will extend the railway system to north of the Brahmaputra.

From the main bus station (Mancotta Rd) both ASTC and private buses depart for Sivasagar ( 51 to 69, two hours, frequent 6am to 9am), Jorhat ( 130, three hours, frequent 6am to 9am), Tezpur ( 260, six hours) and Guwahati ( 380, 10 hours).

lone eagle resort Shillong Sights 1 Pinewood Hotel.D2 Sleeping 2 Baba Tourist Lodge.A2 3 Earle Holiday Home.B2 4 Silk

Shillong Sights 1 Pinewood lone eagle resort Hotel.D2 Sleeping 2 Baba Tourist Lodge.A2 3 Earle Holiday Home.B2 4 Silk Route.A3 Eating 5 Broadway.A2 6 City Hut Dhaba.B2 7 La Galerie.A2 Drinking Cloud 9.(see 7) Information 8 Cultural Pursuits lone eagle resort Adventures. A1 9 Government of India Tourist Office.A2 10 Meghalaya Tourism.B2 Transport 11 Deep.B2 12 Khasi Hills Tourist Taxi Cooperative.B3 lone eagle resort 13 Network Travels Counter.A2 14 Shared taxis to Guwahati airport.B3 Shillong Sights 1 Pinewood Hotel.D2 Sleeping 2 Baba Tourist Lodge.A2 3 Earle Holiday Home.B2 4 Silk Route.A3 Eating 5 Broadway.A2 6 City Hut Dhaba.B2 7 La Galerie.A2 Drinking Cloud 9.(see 7) Information 8 Cultural Pursuits Adventures. A1 9 Government of India Tourist Office.A2 10 Meghalaya lone eagle resort Tourism.B2 Transport 11 Deep.B2 12 Khasi Hills Tourist Taxi Cooperative.B3 13 Network Travels Counter.A2 14 Shared taxis to Guwahati airport.B3

The two main villages are Kamalabari, 3km from the ferry port and Garamur, 5km further north. The most interesting, accessible satras are the large, beautifully peaceful Uttar Kamalabari (1km north, then 600m east of Kamalabari) and Auniati (5km west of Kamalabari), where monks are keen to show you their little museum (Indian/ foreigner/camera/video lone eagle resort 5/50/50/200; h9.3011am & 12-4pm) of Ahom royal artefacts. The best chances of observing chanting, dances or drama recitations are around dawn and dusk or during the big Ras Mahotsav Festival lone eagle resort (third week of November).

goldenwoods condominiums at powderhorn resort The Pinewood Hotel (Rita Rd), a 1920s tea- growers retreat, is particularly representative and looks

tural and natural history ephemera. Tribal costumes, royal clothing, historical polo equipment, stuffed carnivores in action and pickled snakes compete with a two-headed calf for the attention of visitors.

The Pinewood Hotel (Rita Rd), a 1920s tea- growers retreat, is particularly representative and looks great at night. The 1902 All Saints Cathedral (Kacheri Rd) would look perfect pictured on a biscuit tin. Located nearby, the turreted Das-Roy House (closed to the public) lurks behind a traffic goldenwoods condominiums at powderhorn resort circle that harbours five forgotten goldenwoods condominiums at powderhorn resort Khasi monoliths as well as a mini Soviet-style globe monument.

1 Sights Kamakhya Mandir HINDU TEMPLE (admission for no queue/short queue/queue 500/100/free; h8am-1pm & 3pm-dusk) goldenwoods condominiums at powderhorn resort While Sati s disintegrated body parts rained toes on Kolkata (see p443), her yoni fell on Kamakhya Hill. This makes Kamakhya Mandir important for shakti (sensual tantric worship goldenwoods condominiums at powderhorn resort of female spiritual power). Goats, pigeons and the occasional goldenwoods condominiums at powderhorn resort buffalo are ritually beheaded in a gory pavilion and the hot, dark inner womblike sanctum is painted red to signify sacrificial blood. The huge June/ July Ambubachi Mela celebrates the end of the mother goddess menstrual cycle with even more blood.

zemkamps chalet Tripura s low-key capital, with its small- town atmosphere, feels like an India of yesteryear. The p

Umananda Mandir HINDU TEMPLE (Peacock zemkamps chalet Island) The temple complex zemkamps chalet sits on a small forested river island, accessed by a 15-minute ride on a ferry ( 10 return, half hourly 8am to 4.30pm) from Kachari Ghat, which itself offers attractive afternoon river views. The Shiva temple, which sits atop the island, is less interesting than the boat ride out to it.

Tripura s low-key capital, zemkamps chalet with its small- town atmosphere, feels like an India of yesteryear. The pace of life is much slower than in the towns and cities of the Indian heartlands and people are much more likely to swerve across the street to wish you a good day than to try and sell you something. The old quarter, which centres on the Ujjayanta Palace, has some impressive town gates and pretty tanks and gardens. Durga puja is celebrated with huge pandals (temporary temples built from wood and cloth).

suisse chalet aruba oHeritage Hotel HERITAGE HOTEL $$ (%9774416649; www.theheritage.in; Offi cers Hill; r/ ste 1800/3500

HEAD HUNTERS Throughout northeastern India and parts of western Myanmar the Naga tribes were long feared for their ferocity in war and for their sense of independence both from each other and from the rest of the world. Intervillage wars continued as recently as the 1980s, and a curious feature of many outwardly modern settlements is their treaty stones recording peace settlements between neighbouring communities. It was the Naga s custom of headhunting that sent shivers down the spines of neighbouring peoples. The taking of an enemy s head was considered a sign of strength, and a man who had not claimed a head was not considered a man. Fortunately for tourists, headhunting was officially outlawed in 1935, with the last recorded occurrence in 1963. Nonetheless, severed heads are still an archetypal artistic suisse chalet aruba motif found notably on yanra (pendants) that originally denoted the number of human heads a warrior had taken. Some villages, such as Shingha Changyuo suisse chalet aruba in Mon district, still retain their hidden collection of genuine skulls. Today Naga culture is changing fast, but it was not a government ban on headhunting that put an end to this tradition but rather the activities suisse chalet aruba of Christian missionaries. Over 90% of the Naga now consider themselves Christian.

oHeritage Hotel HERITAGE HOTEL $$ (%9774416649; www.theheritage.in; Offi cers Hill; r/ ste 1800/3500; W) Back in colonial days this was the home of the deputy commissioner and, with roaring open fires taking the chill off a cold winter night and hunting trophies and tribal arts adorning the walls, it retains something of the flavour of those times.

620 village road breckenridge co Shillong Sights 1 Pinewood Hotel.D2 Sleeping 2 Baba Tourist Lodge.A2 3 Earle Holiday Home.B2 4 Silk

Shillong Sights 1 Pinewood Hotel.D2 Sleeping 2 Baba Tourist Lodge.A2 3 Earle Holiday Home.B2 4 Silk Route.A3 Eating 5 Broadway.A2 6 City Hut Dhaba.B2 7 La Galerie.A2 Drinking 620 village road breckenridge co Cloud 9.(see 7) Information 8 Cultural Pursuits Adventures. A1 9 Government of India Tourist Office.A2 10 Meghalaya Tourism.B2 Transport 11 Deep.B2 12 Khasi Hills Tourist Taxi Cooperative.B3 13 Network Travels Counter.A2 14 Shared taxis to Guwahati airport.B3 Shillong Sights 1 Pinewood Hotel.D2 Sleeping 2 Baba Tourist Lodge.A2 3 Earle Holiday Home.B2 4 Silk Route.A3 Eating 5 Broadway.A2 6 City Hut Dhaba.B2 7 La Galerie.A2 Drinking Cloud 9.(see 7) Information 8 Cultural Pursuits Adventures. A1 9 Government of India Tourist Office.A2 10 Meghalaya Tourism.B2 Transport 11 Deep.B2 12 Khasi Hills Tourist Taxi Cooperative.B3 13 Network Travels Counter.A2 14 Shared taxis to Guwahati 620 village road breckenridge co airport.B3

Tourist Lodge HOTEL $ (%221016; 620 village road breckenridge co Jenkins Rd; s/d from 473/525) Facing Chitralekha Udyan, two blocks south of the bus station, the Tourist Lodge is unusual for a government-run hotel in that the staff do actually care about the well-being of their guests and the cleanliness of their hotel. This place offers good-value spacious rooms with bathrooms (some squat toilets) and mosquito nets.

Despite being an oil-service town, Sivasagar exudes a residual elegance from its time as the capital of the Ahom dynasty that ruled Assam for more than 600 years. The name comes from waters of Shiva , the graceful central feature of a rectangular reservoir dug in 1734 by Ahom Queen Ambika. Three typical Ahom temple towers rise proudly above the tank s partly wooded southern banks to the west Devidol, to the east Vishnudol and in the centre, the 33m-high Shivadol Mandir, India s tallest Shiva temple. Its uppermost trident balances upon an egg-shaped 620 village road breckenridge co feature 620 village road breckenridge co whose golden covering the British reputedly tried (but failed) to pilfer in 1823.

Forty-five kilometres north of Kohima is the small town of Tuophema, which can make a useful overnight 620 village road breckenridge co stop on the road to Mon if you leave Kohima late in the day. Although the town itself is nothing special, the

winter park village address Other enchanting gompas and anigompas (nunneries) offer great day hikes from Tawang, including ancie

All Dirang s commercial services are in New Dirang, with a strip of cheap hotels, eateries and sumo counters around the central crossroads. Tourist Lodge (%200176; d 825), a kilometre south and overlooking New Dirang, is a basic but friendly family hotel in an old-style hill house crowded winter park village address with potted plants. Nicer is the next-door Hotel Pemaling (%207265; winter park village address s/d 1815/2420), which has shiny rooms, excellent service and a very pleasant garden where you can enjoy the views towards the sometimes snow-bound Se La and the high Himalaya beyond.

Other enchanting winter park village address gompas and anigompas (nunneries) offer great day hikes from Tawang, including ancient if modest Urgelling Gompa where the sixth Dalai Lama was born. By road, it s 6km from Tawang town but closer winter park village address on foot downhill from Tawang Gompa. At the time of research construction was almost complete on a chasm-spanning winter park village address cable car that will link the monastery with an anigompa on the opposite side of the valley. There was no information available on whether it would be open to tourists.