map of grand lake Dhaba NORTH INDIAN $$ (Silpukhuri, GNB Rd; mains 120-180) This simple canteen-style restaurant serve

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

Dhaba NORTH INDIAN map of grand lake $$ (Silpukhuri, GNB Rd; mains 120-180) This simple canteen-style map of grand lake restaurant serves good North Indian staples as well as some token Chinese dishes. You can eat indoors or, if you prefer, out in the courtyard map of grand lake where the side portion of carbon monoxide comes free with the meal. They have a couple of other branches around town.

chalet eugenia houses above which rises a steep ridge topped with a timeless gompa. Heading the other way, just nor

houses above which rises a steep ridge topped with a timeless gompa. Heading the other way, just north of New Dirang, the valley opens out and its floor becomes a patchwork of rice and crop fields through which gushes chalet eugenia the icy blue river. A fun day could be spent walking along the footpaths between fields chalet eugenia and little hamlets.

SATRAS A satra is a monastery for Vishnu worship, Assam s distinctive 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) chalet eugenia images.

Calling the Tawang Valley a valley just doesn t do justice to its incredible scale; it s more a mighty gash in the earth ringed by immense mountains. Patchworking the sloping ridges of the lower hills is a vast sweep of fields chalet eugenia dotted with Buddhist monast chalet eugenia eries and Monpa villages.

mo s chalet Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked by a red, triple-spired temple and

Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked by a red, triple-spired temple and nearby clock tower. mo s chalet The market itself is a busy clash of peoples from across the borderlands as well as piles of colourful fruit and some other decidedly exotic food items. The good-value mo s chalet Hotel Blue Pine (%2211118; s 300-500, d 500-600) is here, with well-maintained rooms and a mix of common mo s chalet and private bathrooms. Don t mind the caged receptionist, he s quite tame and helpful.

The biggest, most cosmopolitan and, some might say, the most Indian city in the northeast, Guwahati is an essential mo s chalet stop on any northeastern mo s chalet tour. A casual glance might place Guwahati alongside any other Indian city but wander the back alleys around Jorpulkuri Ponds, away from the concrete mo s chalet jungle of the central business district, and you could almost mo s chalet imagine yourself in a village made up of ponds, palm trees, small single-storey traditional houses mo s chalet and old colonial-era mansions.

Like a practice run for Sivasagar, Gaurisagar has an attractive tank and a trio of distinctive 1720s temples Vishnudol, Shivadol and Devidol built by dancing girl queen Phuleswari. The more impressive is Vishnudol, not as tall as Sivasagar s Shivadol but sporting finer, but eroded carvings. Gaurisagar is on the main NH37 at Km501.5.

quebec chalet Despite being an oil-service town, Sivasagar exudes a residual elegance from its time as the capital

The modern glass tower Baliram Building, on the corner of Naren Bose (NB) and NC/SC Roads, contains several floors of good dining. The ground-floor stand-up-and-eat dosa house (h6am-9pm) has South Indian fare and cheap breakfasts. Semismart China Villa (meals from 120; h10am-10.30pm) offers quebec chalet Indian and Chinese food in AC comfort, while the rooftop Chat House (snacks from 30; h8am-9.30pm) has an open-sided, but roofed, terrace for cooling breezes, views, Indian snacks, noodles, pizzas and momos. quebec chalet

Arudupa Spur Cafe MULTICUISINE $$ (Arudupa Hotel; mains 120-160; quebec chalet hMon-Sat) Part of the Arudupa Hotel, this is one of Kohima s most happening restaurants and is always busy with young middle-class Nagas relaxing on the sofas and tucking into a menu that spans the globe. There s a cool soundtrack playing in the background and lots of heaters for cold winter nights.

Hotel Rajawas (%2323307; www.hotel rajawas.com; AT Rd; s/d from 687/860; ai) is a new, mirror-fronted hotel with a flowerfilled lobby, cheeky modern art on the walls and decent bathrooms. The deluxe rooms are the best bet (single/double 1144/1399). If you ve just trudged in from the mountains and jungles quebec chalet of Arunachal Pradesh you ll think its in-house restaurant quebec chalet (mains 120-160) is the best thing since sliced bread (or maybe cold dhal).

Despite being an oil-service quebec chalet town, Sivasagar exudes a residual quebec chalet 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 feature whose golden covering the British reputedly tried (but failed) to pilfer in 1823.

metropolitan rental condos irvine z Festivals Two main Mizo festivals, Chapchar Kut (Kut is Mizo for festival) and Pawl Kut celebrate

Other enchanting gompas and anigompas (nunneries) offer great day hikes from Tawang, including ancient if modest Urgelling metropolitan rental condos irvine Gompa where the sixth Dalai Lama was born. By road, it s 6km from Tawang town but closer on foot downhill from Tawang Gompa. At the time of research construction was almost complete on a chasm-spanning 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.

z Festivals Two main Mizo festivals, Chapchar Kut (Kut is Mizo for festival) and Pawl Kut celebrate elements in the agricultural cycle. Chapchar Kut takes place towards the end of February and signals the start of the spring sowing metropolitan rental condos irvine season, and Pawl Kut is held at the end of November to celebrate the harvest. In both festivals, participants don national metropolitan rental condos irvine costume and celebrate with folk dancing and song.

vail vs park city (http://tripura.nic.in/museum/welcome.html; Post Offi ce Circle; admission 2; h10am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-

(http://tripura.nic.in/museum/welcome.html; Post Offi ce Circle; admission vail vs park city 2; h10am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-Sat) has a variety of tribal displays plus some interesting musical instruments made from bamboo. The new Tripura State Tribal Museum (Lake Chowmuhani; admission free; h10am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-Sat) has further displays of tribal dress.

KV Paradise MONUMENT (Durtlang; admission 5; h10am-9pm Mon-Sat) V is for Varte who died in a 2001 motor accident. K is for her husband Khawlhring who has since lavished his entire savings and energy creating a three-storey mausoleum to her memory. The marble fountain-patio has wonderful panoramic views. The site is 8km from Zarkawt, 1km off the Aizawl-Silchar road via an improbably narrow dirt lane.

374 bird species have been recorded in the park, including such rarities as the whiterumped vulture (which may now be extinct in the park), greater spotted eagle and the white-winged duck. Of the big mammals, wild elephants are present as are numerous deer species and a few rarely seen tigers. However, for many mammal-spotting vail vs park city naturalists, the park s most exciting resident is the critically endangered dwarf hog, which, after many years of absence has recently been returned vail vs park city to the wild thanks to a successful captive breeding project run by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (www.durrell.org). Park fees include the compulsory armed guard. Access is from Potasali, 2km off the Tezpur Bhalukpong road (turn east at one-house hamlet Gamani, 12km north of Balipara).

1 Sights Kamakhya Mandir HINDU TEMPLE (admission for no queue/short queue/queue 500/100/free; h8am-1pm & 3pm-dusk) 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 of female spiritual power). Goats, pigeons and the occasional buffalo are ritually vail vs park city 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.

malaysia water chalets Hotel Arini HOTEL $$ (%2301557; Upper Khatla; s/d from 800/1200; W) Only a small red sign announces

Hotel Arini HOTEL $$ (%2301557; Upper Khatla; s/d from 800/1200; W) Only a small red sign announces the Hotel Arini, named after the owner s daughter. The rooms are cheerily bright and fresh- looking, and the staff pleasant and obliging. Choose a back room with a stupendous down-valley view. They have a couple of very basic singles for a mere 200.

Hotel Prag Continental HOTEL $$ (%2540850; www.hotelpragcontinental.com; 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 malaysia water chalets side street and has a good restaurant.