aspen to crested butte SATRAS A satra is a monastery for Vishnu worship, Assam s distinctive form of everyman Hinduism. For

India s Northeast States, dangling way out on the edge of the map and the national perception, are strictly for explorers who want something aspen to crested butte different from their India experience. aspen to crested butte These remote aspen to crested butte frontier lands, where India, Southeast Asia and Tibet meet, are a collision zone of cultures, climates, landscapes aspen to crested butte and peoples and are one of Asia s last great unknowns. It s a place of rugged beauty where uncharted forests clamber up toward unnamed Himalayan peaks. It s a land of enormous variety where rhinoceros live in swampy grasslands and former head-hunters live in longhouses in the jungle. And it s an adventure in the truest sense of the word.

Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked aspen to crested butte by a red, triple-spired 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.

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 aspen to crested butte the eastern end, an inner sanctum hosts an eternal flame, the Gita and possibly a horde of instructive (but not divine) images.

Built since 1972, Arunachal s pleasantly green, tailor-made capital is named for the mysterious Ita Fort whose residual brick ruins crown a hilltop above town. There s a stack of ATMs in Mahatma Gandhi Marg, along with several internet aspen to crested butte cafes.