chalet architecture was a princely exercise in aesthetics; the finest craftsmen building a summer palace of luxury in a

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 by speedboat (passenger/boat 20/400) or fancy rowboat (boat 100) is the most enjoyable chalet architecture part of visiting.

Conjure up an image of a shimmering blue lake broken up into small lakelets by floating islands of thick matted weeds. Add bamboo bridges, tribal people in dugout canoes chalet architecture and thatched hut-villages anchored on to the floating islands, and you have Loktak Lake, one of the few places a foreigner is allowed to visit outside of Imphal. More peculiar than floating villages are the large, perfectly circular fishing ponds created out of floating rings of weeds. The best view is atop Sendra Island, more a promontory than island. You can hire a boat (per person 100) in order to get a closer look at lake life.

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

Bustling Jorhat is the junction for Majuli Island. Gar-Ali, Jorhat s commercial street, meets the main east west thoroughfare chalet architecture Assam Trunk (AT) Rd (NH37) in front of a lively central market area. AT Road is also home to an SBI ATM and the Netizen Cyberspace ( 20 per hr; h9am-8pm)