chalet 52 Dhaba NORTH INDIAN $$ (Silpukhuri, GNB Rd; mains 120-180) This simple canteen-style restaurant serve

Private bus operators are clustered on LN Bari 8 Rd; others leave from the new Interstate Bus Terminal 3km east of the centre (rickshaw 50). Sumos use the Motor Stand (Motor Stand Rd) and South Bus Station (SBS; off Ronaldsay Rd). Destinations and their respective departure stations for bus and sumo trips are:

5 Eating & Drinking La Galerie INDIAN $$ (Hotel Centrepoint, TSS Rd; mains 150-200) A suave restaurant compartmentalised into booths by photographs of local scenes, it offers excellent Indian food. Cloud 9 is the top-floor bar-restaurant serving dainty Thai dishes, cold beers and cocktails.

oClassic chalet 52 Hotel HOTEL $$ (%2443967; North AOC Rd; s/d from 845/1170; aiW) This unexpectedly classy hotel is one of the best-value business hotels in the northeast. The large spotless rooms come with full facilities, staff who love to please and the town s best restaurant (mains 100 to 150). Opt for one of the Classic Standard rooms (s/d 1885/2470).

Dhaba NORTH INDIAN $$ (Silpukhuri, GNB Rd; mains 120-180) chalet 52 This simple canteen-style restaurant serves chalet 52 good North Indian staples as well as some token Chinese dishes. chalet 52 You can eat indoors or, if you prefer, out in the courtyard where the side portion of carbon monoxide comes free with the meal. They have a couple chalet 52 of other branches around town.

chalets cocoon Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, plus membership per person 50) organises all Namer

From the main bus station (Mancotta Rd) both ASTC and private buses depart for Sivasagar chalets cocoon ( 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). chalets cocoon

Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, plus membership per person chalets cocoon 50) organises all Nameri visits, including two-hour birdwatching rafting trips (two people 550). Accommodation is in tents , but colourful fabrics, private bathrooms, sturdy beds and thatched-roof shelters make the experience relatively luxurious. The camp is set within lush gardens full of tweeting birds and butterflies drunk on tropical nectar. There s an atmospheric, and excellent, open-sided restaurant and the staff are simply superb. All up it gets our vote as the best place to stay in the entire northeast. It s very popular, so book way ahead. If it s full the government-run Jiabhoroli Wild Resort (%9954357376; tw 1200) just a short walk beyond the Eco-Camp, has plain cottages that aren t quite as quaint as a cottage should be. It s very much the second choice.

Prices drop at least 30% when Kaziranga National Park closes. In season booking ahead is wise and advance payment is often required. All the better hotels listed here sell Jungle Plan packages, which includes full-board accommodation, park entrance fees, a morning elephant safari and an afternoon jeep safari. Unless stated otherwise, the prices we list are for rooms only.

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.

river run sports 1 Sights Mizoram State Museum MUSEUM (Macdonald Hill, Zarkawt; admission 5; h9.30am5pm Mon-Fri) This

Some 30km northwest of Guwahati, the pleasant little town of Hajo attracts Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims to its fi ve ancient temples topping assorted hillocks. Haigriv Madhav temple is the main one, which is accessed by a long flight of steps through river run sports an ornate quasi-Mughal gateway. The images inside of Madhav, an avatar of Krishna, are alleged to be 6000 years old.

1 Sights Mizoram State Museum MUSEUM (Macdonald Hill, Zarkawt; admission 5; h9.30am5pm Mon-Fri) This museum has interesting exhibits on Mizo culture. It s up a steep lane from Sumkuma Point past Aizawl s most distinctive church, whose modernist bell- tower spire is pierced by arched windows.

Draped across the dazzling hills and valleys of the India Myanmar border regions is Nagaland, an otherworldly place where until very recently river run sports some twenty headhunting Naga tribes valiantly fought off any intruders. Today the south of the state is fairly developed, but in the north, tribesmen in loin cloths continue to live a lifestyle that is normally only seen within the pages of National Geographic magazine.

was a princely exercise in aesthetics; the finest craftsmen building a summer palace of luxury in a blend of Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. The delightful waterborne approach river run sports by speedboat (passenger/boat 20/400) or fancy rowboat (boat 100) is the most enjoyable part of visiting.

lakeside rv park everett wa BUSES FROM GUWAHATI DESTINATION FARE ( ) DURATION (HR) Agartala (Tripura) 660 24-26 Aizawl (Mizoram)

BUSES FROM GUWAHATI DESTINATION FARE ( ) DURATION (HR) Agartala (Tripura) 660 24-26 Aizawl (Mizoram) 750 28 Dibrugarh 380 10 Imphal (Manipur) via Mao 700 20 Jorhat 260 8 Kaziranga 260-300 6 Kohima (Nagaland) 330 13 Shillong (Meghalaya) 90-110 3 Sivasagar 310-390 8 Tezpur 140-150 5

Out of town, and by far the best place to stay, is the new Ziro Valley Resort (%9856910173; Biiri village; r in old wing 1000, tw/d 1200/1500), which has rainbow-coloured rooms in a faux colonial style building. It s halfway between Old and New Ziro and is surrounded by sunburnt fields. It s also known as the Village Tourist Lodge. At the time of research another midrange resort style place was under construction near the Ziro Valley Resort.

oClassic Hotel HOTEL $$ (%2443967; lakeside rv park everett wa North AOC Rd; s/d from 845/1170; aiW) This unexpectedly classy hotel is one of the best-value lakeside rv park everett wa business hotels in the northeast. The large spotless rooms come with full facilities, staff who love to please and the town s best restaurant (mains 100 to 150). Opt for one of the Classic lakeside rv park everett wa Standard rooms (s/d 1885/2470).

Carved out of Assam in 1972, hilly Meghalaya (Abode of Clouds) is a cool, pine-fresh contrast lakeside rv park everett wa to the sweaty Assam plains. Set on dramatic horseshoes of rocky cliff above the Bengal plains, Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram are statistically the wettest places on earth. Most of the rain falls between April and September, creating very impressive waterfalls and carving out some of Asia s longest caves.

village of sugar mountain Tripura is culturally and politically fascinating, and the state s handful of royal palaces and temp

Tripura is culturally and politically fascinating, and the state s handful of royal palaces and temples draw a growing flow of domestic tourists. For the moment though foreign 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.

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

Two kilometres east of Hajo is a mosque sheltering the tomb of the multi-named Hazarat Shah Sultan Giasuddin Aulia Rahmatullah Alike who died some 800 years ago. Muslims need to walk (the less pious may drive) 4km up a spiral road to reach the mosque, which is architecturally unremarkable.

teton village gondola Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked by a red, triple-spired temple and

Only 40km from Guwahati, this small national park has the highest concentration of rhinoceros in the world. Entrance fees are the same as Kaziranga National Park (see p 561 ). Getting into the park involves a boat ride over the river boundary to the elephant- mounting station. From there it s a one-hour trip atop an elephant lumbering through boggy grassland and stirring up petulant rhinos.

Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked by a red, triple-spired teton village gondola temple and nearby clock tower. 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 Hotel Blue Pine (%2211118; s 300-500, d 500-600) is here, with well-maintained rooms and a mix of common and private bathrooms. Don t mind the caged receptionist, he s quite tame and helpful. teton village gondola

Sumos have their booking counters in Jenkins Rd and run to Bomdila in Arunachal teton village gondola Pradesh teton village gondola ( 250, eight hours) teton village gondola and Tawang ( 500, 15hrs). Bargain for a private taxi in the same street for the Eco-Camp at Potasali ( 1500) and Kaziranga ( 1500). A little further teton village gondola on is the bus station (Jenkins Rd) with frequent services to Guwahati ( 140 to 150, five hours), Jorhat teton village gondola ( 100, four hours) and Kohora for Kaziranga ( 45, two hours).

toki tc oCherrapunjee Holiday Resort HOTEL $$ (%09436115925; www.cherrapunjee.com; Laitkynsew village; d 148

has a U-shaped pond (paddleboat hire 10 per person) wrapped around pretty manicured lawns, dotted with fine ancient sculptures. The park also contains bumper cars and waterslides (hApr-Sept)! A block east, then south, stands Ganeshgarh toki tc temple, which backs onto a ghat overlooking the surging river, a good place for Brahmaputra sunsets. Nearly 1km east along the narrow, winding riverside lane is Agnigarh Hill

Tripura Sundari Mandir (h4.30am-1.30pm & 3.30-9.30pm), a 1501 Kali temple where a steady stream of pilgrims make almost endless animal sacrifices that leave the grounds as bloody as the temple s vivid-red shikhara (Buddhist monastery). Even more people come here at the big Diwali festival (October/November) to bathe in the fishfilled tank by the temple. The temple is 100m east of the NH44, 4km south of Udaipur. A rickshaw from Udaipur costs 50.

oCherrapunjee Holiday Resort HOTEL $$ (%09436115925; www.cherrapunjee.com; toki tc Laitkynsew village; d 1480-1800; iW) With seven eminently comfortable rooms, this resort is run by truly delightful hosts. They off er a selection of hikes, either self-orientated (using their hand-drawn maps) or with a local guide. Built on a ridge, rooms either look down to Bangladesh or up to the escarpment. During peak times tent accommodation ( 600) is available with shared bath