rude chalets Of the four daily trains to Delhi, the Guwahati New Delhi Rajdhani (No 2423; 3AC/2AC 1995/2565, 27 h

The best of the couple of diff erent options are the tastefully renovated Banyan Grove (%9954451548; www.heritagetourism india.com; s/d 6272/7280; lunch 350, dinner 450; s). Dating from the late 19th century, its rooms are crammed with antiques and the drawing room is straight out of a Victorian period drama. rude chalets It has wonderful lawns and verandas overlooking a tea estate and swimming pool. The site is 7km down rural tracks from Km442 on NH37 (Jorhat Deragaon Rd).

Of the four daily trains to Delhi, the Guwahati New Delhi Rajdhani (No 2423; 3AC/2AC 1995/2565, 27 hours, 7.05am) is the fastest; others take over 42 hours. The best daily train to Kolkata (Howrah Junction) is the Saraighat Express (No 2346; sleeper/3AC/2AC 386/1012/1366, 16 hours, 12.45pm). For New Jalpaiguri (for Darjeeling and Sikkim) the best train is the Guwahati New Jalpaiguri Rajdhani (No 2423; 3AC/2AC/1AC 733/926/1522, six hours).

DON T MISS There aren t all that many places left in the world where the maps may as well have blank spaces 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 rude chalets for genuine, undiluted adventure. 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 rude chalets 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

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- rude chalets mounting station. From there it s a one-hour trip atop an elephant lumbering through boggy grassland and stirring up petulant rhinos.