grand lake me Once you leave the outskirts of Shillong the road to Cherrapunjee passes through pretty scenery that

4 Sleeping & Eating Hotel Centre Point HOTEL $$ (%232359; Main Rd; r from 660; aW) The cheaper rooms at this new hotel bang in the town centre are splashed in smart white paint, but have cold water only showers,

Once you leave the outskirts of Shillong the road to Cherrapunjee passes through pretty scenery that becomes dramatic at Dympep viewpoint, where a photogenic V-shape valley slits deeply into the plateau.

Guwahati is considered the site of Pragjyotishpura, a semi-mythical town founded by Asura King Naraka who was later killed grand lake me by Lord Krishna for a pair of magical grand lake me earrings. The city was a vibrant cultural centre well before the Ahoms arrived, and later it was the theatre of intense Ahom Mughal

Noisy and polluted it might be, but Imphal, with its melange of peoples and positioning grand lake me right on the border lands of India and southeast Asia is undeniably fascinating and travellers who spend any time here are well rewarded. The airport is 9km to the southwest.