party chalet This Jewelled Land is home to Thadou, Tangkhul, Kabul, Mao Naga and many other tribal peoples, but t

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 cover for rare birds, drug traffickers and guerrilla party chalet armies, making it by far the Northeast s most dangerous state.

Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, plus membership per person 50) organises all Nameri visits, including two-hour birdwatching rafting trips (two people 550). Accommodation is in tents , but colourful fabrics, private bathrooms, sturdy beds and thatched-roof shelters make the experience relatively luxurious. 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, 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 party chalet be. It s very much the second choice.