620 village road breckenridge co Paradise ASSAMESE $$ (1st fl, GNB Rd; mains 100-200) Well known for its authentic Assamese cuisine,

While each of these hotels have good restaurants, the cosy Dragon Restaurant (Old Market; 620 village road breckenridge co mains 60-150) is the town s best eatery with freshly made local dishes such as churpa ( 150), a fermented cheese broth with fungi and vegetables that tastes much better than it sounds. Also don t miss the Tibetan tea. An acquired taste if ever there were one.

Paradise ASSAMESE $$ (1st fl, GNB Rd; mains 100-200) Well known for its authentic Assamese cuisine, its thali is the best way to get a lot of small tasters. Assamese food is not a lip-tingler like typical Indian food and for some this cuisine can seem rather bland, but it s the subtleties you re after rather than the heat.

Tripura s most iconic building, 620 village road breckenridge co the 1930 Neermahal, is a long, red-and-white water palace (admission/camera/video 10/10/25; h8.30am-4pm, until 4.30pm Apr-Sep), which is empty but shimmering on its own boggy island in the lake of Rudra Sagar. Like its counterpart in Rajasthan s Udaipur, this

snowmass mammoth The inconveniently located APST bus station (take an autorickshaw) has services to Along ( 220, seve

The inconveniently located APST bus station (take an autorickshaw) has services to Along ( 220, seven hours, 6am and 12pm) and Itanagar ( 170, 10 hours, 5.30am and 6am). Sumos run to Along ( 220, seven hours, 6am and noon) and Itanagar snowmass mammoth ( 300, six hours, 6am). The road to Along is in a dreadful state be prepared for a very long and rough day. Sumos also run to Tuting ( 800) but only when demand warrants it. Ferries (Indian/foreigner 20/100, vehicle 1200; 8.30am & 9.15am) drift lazily down the Brahmaputra to Dibrugarh in Assam from Majerbari Ghat (sumos take one hour from Pasighat, depart at 6am and cost 120). Ferry tickets are sold by Otta Tours & Travel at the sumo stand.

1 Sights Ujjayanta Palace PALACE (admission 5; h5-7pm) Agartala s indisputable centrepiece is this striking, dome-capped palace. Flanked by two large refl ecting ponds, the whitewashed 1901 edifice was built by Tripura s 182nd maharaja. It looks particularly impressive floodlit at night, but for security reasons only the gardens are open to the public.

583 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES AR OUND S H ILLO NG CROSSING INTO BANGLADESH FROM DAWKI Border Hours The border is open from 6am to 5pm. Foreign Exchange There s no official exchange booth but ask at the Bangladesh customs snowmass mammoth offi ce. Onward Transport The border post is at Tamabil, 1.7km from Dawki market (taxis are 40-50). Coming from Bangladesh, beware that Tamabil has no Sonali bank, so prepay your Tk300 Bangladeshi departure tax in Sylhet or in Jaintiapura. There are frequent Tamabil Sylhet minibuses. rooms but no hot water. More rooms were under construction at the time of research. A daily bus leaves nearby Laitkynsew village for Shillong ( 40, 6am). Going the other way it leaves Shillong at 1pm. Otherwise a taxi from Cherrapunjee costs 250 to 300.

chalet alta Shri Govindajee Mandir & Around HINDU TEMPLE The 1776-built Shri Govindajee Mandir, with two rather

Tucked conveniently behind the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) Bus Station (AT Rd), Solicitor Rd has half a dozen reasonable hotels. The Hotel Janata Paradise (%9435659461; Solicitor chalet alta Rd; d 300) isn t quite as beautiful as the manager told us, but at this price you can t be too hard on the daffodil-yellow rooms. Its restaurant (h11am-4pm & 8-9pm) serves excellent-value 10-dish Assamese thalis chalet alta (from 40).

Shri Govindajee Mandir chalet alta & Around HINDU TEMPLE The 1776-built Shri Govindajee Mandir, with two rather suggestive domes, is a neo- Vaishnavite temple with Radha and Govinda as the presiding chalet alta deities. Afternoon puja (offerings, prayers) is for one hour at 4pm in winter and 5pm in summer.

oHotel chalet alta Mona Lisa (%2320416; Mancotta Rd; r 600-1500; a), part Africa, part Cuba and possibly even a little slice of India, is a superb budget hotel with character. It s set back from the main road and everything chalet alta is kept ticking along smoothly thanks to the lovely old man running it.

Ahom artefacts and nearby Assam Tourism (h10am-5pm Mon-Sat, closed 2nd & 4th Sat) in the good-value Tourist Lodge (%2321579; MG Rd; s/d 578/683), which has tiled floors, mosquito nets and enthusiastic staff who know how to use cleaning products.

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

Sumos leave New Market at 6am for Itanagar ( 450, 12 hours) and Ziro ( 300, six hours). The bus station has a lackadaisical 7am service to Along ( 150, six hours) on alternate days depending on when the bus returns from Along.

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 eco chalet 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.

chalet pronunciation Silk Route HOTEL $$ (%2503301; www.hotelsilkroute.com; Keating Rd; s/d from 1200/1440; W) This small

oHotel Gakyi Khang Zhang (%224 647; r from 1320), a couple chalet pronunciation of kilometres out of town on the road to the monastery, offers far and away the best rooms in town colourful sky-blue affairs chalet pronunciation with polished wooden floors. There s a decent restaurant (mains 80-120) and the staff are great fun. It also has good monastery views, a generator and, most bizarrely, a lounge chalet pronunciation bar/nightclub complete with throbbing strobe lights!

Remote, culturally magical and scenically spectacular, Tawang is the archetypical Shangri La and a mountain-hopping journey through this, the lands of the Monpa (a people of Buddhist-Tibetan origin) to the gates of the famous Tawang chalet pronunciation Monastery chalet pronunciation is one of the northeast s greatest adventures.

Silk Route HOTEL $$ (%2503301; www.hotelsilkroute.com; Keating Rd; s/d from 1200/1440; W) This small hotel has memorably colourful rooms kept ship-shape by the enthusiastic cleaners. The stylish bathrooms contain big rain showers. It s popular, so book ahead.

Tourist Lodge HOTEL $ (%221016; Jenkins Rd; s/d from 473/525) Facing Chitralekha Udyan, chalet pronunciation 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 chalet pronunciation and the cleanliness of their hotel. This place offers good-value spacious rooms with bathrooms (some squat toilets) and mosquito nets.

french massif Imphal War Cemetery HISTORIC PARK (Imphal Rd; h8am-5pm) This peaceful and well- kept memorial contai

Imphal War Cemetery HISTORIC PARK (Imphal Rd; h8am-5pm) This peaceful and well- kept memorial contains the graves of more than 1600 British and Commonwealth soldiers killed in the battles that raged around Imphal in 1944. Off Hapta Minuthong Rd is a separate Indian War Cemetery french massif (h8am-5pm).

Hotel Prag Continental HOTEL $$ (%2540850; www.hotelpragcontinental.com; french massif MN Rd; s/d from 1180/1725; a) The spacious and well-furnished rooms with wooden floors on offer at this hotel are as spotless as the aquarium full of brightly painted fi sh that sits in the reception. The staff are attentive and discounts easy to come by. It s on a quieter side street and has a good restaurant. french massif

mountainside grill mammoth Hotel Clover HOTEL $$ (%2305736; www.davids-hotel-clover.com; G-16 Chanmari; s/d from 750/1500; iW)

DON T MISS There aren t all that many places left in the world where the maps may as well have blank spaces mountainside grill mammoth on them, snow- capped mountains remain unnamed and unclimbed, forests are filled with creatures that scientists have yet to lay eyes upon and hill tops are crowned with unmolested tribal villages, but northeast India is one such place. As the region slowly opens up, don t miss this opportunity for genuine, undiluted adventure. mountainside grill mammoth Areas that are safe yet largely unexplored by tourists include almost all of rural Mizoram, large tracts of Tripura (check the security situation first), the furthest reaches mountainside grill mammoth of Nagaland and, best of all, huge chunks of steamy forests, alpine meadows and high Himalayan wildernesses have finally started opening up in Arunachal Pradesh. Top Festivals

Hotel Clover HOTEL $$ (%2305736; www.davids-hotel-clover.com; G-16 Chanmari; s/d from 750/1500; iW) Dolly, your host for the evening, should win an award as one of India s friendliest hotel receptionists. Rooms are equally friendly and as full of character with colourful, art-adorned walls.

Bustling Jorhat is the junction for Majuli Island. Gar-Ali, Jorhat s commercial street, meets the main east west thoroughfare Assam Trunk (AT) Rd (NH37) in front of a lively central market area. AT Road is also home to an SBI ATM and the Netizen Cyberspace ( 20 per hr; h9am-8pm)

Khwairamband Bazaar MARKET (Ima Market; h7am-5pm) This vast all-women s market (well, we saw one male vendor perhaps appropriately he was selling mountainside grill mammoth headphones!) is run by some 3000 ima (mothers). Divided by a road, one side sells vegetables, fruit, fish and groceries mountainside grill mammoth while the other deals in household items, fabrics and pottery. It s easily one of the largest markets in the northeast.