This Jewelled Land is home to Thadou, Tangkhul, Kabul, Mao Naga and many other tribal peoples, but the main grouping is the predominantly neo-Vaishnavite Meitei. Manipuris are famed for traditional dances, spicy multidish thalis and the sport of polo which they claim to have invented. Manipur s forested hills provide slopeside cover for rare birds, drug traffickers and guerrilla armies, making it by far the Northeast s most dangerous state.
Umananda Mandir HINDU TEMPLE (Peacock Island) The temple complex 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 slopeside attractive afternoon river views. The Shiva temple, which sits atop the island, is less interesting than the boat ride out to it.
Jam-packed buses and vans ( 10/20) meet arriving slopeside ferries then drive to Garamur via Kamalabari slopeside where three-wheelers are easier to rent. For a few days consider arranging a bicycle through Jyoti at La Villa.
Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, slopeside plus membership per person 50) organises all Nameri visits, including two-hour birdwatching rafting trips (two people 550). Accommodation is in tents , but colourful slopeside fabrics, private bathrooms, sturdy beds and thatched-roof shelters make the experience relatively luxurious. slopeside 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, slopeside 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 slopeside choice. slopeside
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