trailside cabins Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked by a red, triple-spired temple and

oClassic Hotel HOTEL $$ (%2443967; North AOC Rd; s/d from 845/1170; aiW) This unexpectedly classy hotel is one of the best-value business hotels in the northeast. The large spotless trailside cabins rooms come with full facilities, staff who love to please and the town s best restaurant (mains 100 to 150). Opt for one of the Classic Standard rooms (s/d 1885/2470).

some impressive traditional buildings all set, surreally, under two giant mobile phone towers. Shingha Chingyuo village (20km, population 5900) has a huge longhouse decorated with mithuna (pairs of men and women) and deer skulls, three stuff ed tigers, and a store of old human skulls. Longwoa (35km) is spectacularly sited on the India Myanmar border, with the headman s longhouse trailside cabins actually straddling the two nations. trailside cabins Despite its popularity with tourists it remains one of the most interesting villages. Chui (8km) includes an elephant skull in its longhouse collection. Shangnyu village has a shrine full of fertility references such as tumescent warriors, a crowing cock, a large snake, a man and woman enjoying sex and, to complete trailside cabins the picture, a double rainbow. Langmeang village, with its stack of human skulls piled up in a wooden box, is also highly impressive.

HEAD HUNTERS Throughout northeastern India and parts of western Myanmar the Naga tribes were long feared for their ferocity in war and for their sense of independence both from each other and from the rest of the world. Intervillage wars continued trailside cabins as recently as the 1980s, and a curious feature of many outwardly modern settlements is their treaty stones trailside cabins recording peace settlements between neighbouring communities. It was the Naga s custom of headhunting that sent shivers down the spines of neighbouring peoples. The taking of an enemy s head was considered a sign of strength, and a man who had not claimed a head was not considered a man. Fortunately for tourists, headhunting trailside cabins was officially outlawed in 1935, with the last recorded occurrence in 1963. Nonetheless, trailside cabins severed heads are still an archetypal artistic motif found notably trailside cabins on yanra (pendants) that originally denoted the number of human heads a warrior trailside cabins had taken. Some villages, such as Shingha Changyuo trailside cabins in Mon district, still retain their hidden collection of genuine skulls. Today Naga culture is changing fast, but it was not a government ban on headhunting that put an end to this tradition but rather the activities of Christian missionaries. Over 90% of the Naga now consider themselves Christian.

Some 3km west on Mahatma Gandhi trailside cabins Marg is Ganga Market, landmarked 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) trailside cabins 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.