gondola breckenridge All Dirang s commercial services are in New Dirang, with a strip of cheap hotels, eateries and sumo

Tucked conveniently behind gondola breckenridge the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) Bus Station (AT Rd), Solicitor Rd has half a dozen reasonable hotels. The Hotel Janata Paradise (%9435659461; Solicitor Rd; d 300) isn t quite as beautiful as the manager told us, but at this price you can t be too hard on the daffodil-yellow rooms. Its restaurant (h11am-4pm & 8-9pm) serves excellent-value 10-dish Assamese thalis (from 40).

Dream Caf CAFE $ (Cnr Dimapur & Imphal Rds; mains 50-100; h10am-6pm, Mon-Sat) Beneath UCO Bank and with daily lunch specials such as fried noodles or pizzas as well as coffee and snacks, this is the meeting point for Kohima s young people. Great views from the back windows, a bunch of magazines gondola breckenridge to read and lots of students keen for a chat make this a good place to linger.

Jam-packed buses and vans ( 10/20) meet arriving ferries then drive to Garamur via Kamalabari where three-wheelers are easier to rent. For a few days consider arranging a bicycle through Jyoti at La Villa.

All Dirang s commercial services are in New Dirang, with a strip of cheap hotels, eateries and sumo counters around the central crossroads. Tourist Lodge (%200176; d 825), a kilometre south and overlooking New Dirang, is a basic but friendly family hotel in an old-style hill house crowded with potted plants. Nicer is the next-door Hotel Pemaling gondola breckenridge (%207265; s/d 1815/2420), which has shiny rooms, excellent service and a very pleasant garden where you can enjoy the views towards the sometimes snow-bound Se La and the high Himalaya beyond.

washington way chalets 577 Agartala Sights 1 Jagannath Mandir.A2 2 Tripura Government Museum.A3 3 Ujjayanta Palace. B1 Slee

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 cafes.

577 Agartala Sights 1 Jagannath Mandir.A2 2 Tripura Government Museum.A3 3 Ujjayanta Palace. B1 Sleeping 4 Hotel Chandana. B1 5 Hotel Welcome Palace.A3 Eating 6 Abhishek washington way chalets Restaurant.A2 Restaurant Kurry Klub.(see 5) Transport 7 Air India. B1 8 Motor Stand.B3 Hotel Chandana HOTEL $ (%2311216; Palace Compound Lane; r 210)

kopaonik hotel Bus & Sumo Distance buses leave from the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) 8km east of Guwahati. Privat

10pm) Best of several closely grouped kopaonik hotel options. Tripura Tourism kopaonik hotel (%2225930; www.tripura tourism.in; Swet Mahal, Palace Complex; h10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 3-5pm Sun) Helpful and enthusiastic with many great-value tours.

Bus & Sumo Distance buses leave from the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) 8km east of Guwahati. Private bus operators run shuttle services from their offices kopaonik hotel to the ISBT. With extensive networks are Network Travels (%2522007; GS Rd), Deep (%2152937; Heramba Prasad Borua (HPB) Rd) and Blue Hill (%2601490; HPB Rd). All companies charge the same regulated fares.

breckenridge village of tyler oHeritage Hotel HERITAGE HOTEL $$ (%9774416649; www.theheritage.in; Offi cers Hill; r/ ste 1800/3500

Southern Tripura s best-known sights can be combined into a long day trip from Agartala, though sleeping at Neermahal is worthwhile. Any of Agartala s hotels can arrange a taxi, or you can engage English-speaking Partha Laskar (%09774702908; partha.laskar@rediffmail.com) for a day trip in an AC car ( 1300 plus 12 per km).

oHeritage Hotel HERITAGE HOTEL $$ (%9774416649; breckenridge village of tyler www.theheritage.in; Offi cers Hill; r/ ste 1800/3500; W) Back in colonial days this was the home of the deputy commissioner and, with roaring open fires taking the chill off a cold winter night and hunting trophies and tribal arts adorning the walls, it retains something of the flavour of those times.

Private bus operators are clustered on LN Bari 8 Rd; others leave from the new Interstate Bus Terminal 3km east of the centre (rickshaw 50). Sumos use the Motor Stand (Motor Stand Rd) and South Bus Station (SBS; off Ronaldsay Rd). Destinations and their respective departure stations for bus and sumo trips are:

chalet new york 1970 The impoverished hill town of Mon is in a gorgeous setting but feels like a frontier town. There s a

than a geographical area. Most foreigners chalet new york 1970 fly into Imphal; it is also possible to drive in from Kohima (Nagaland) or Silchar (Assam) if you have a guide. Travelling east of Kakching towards the Myanmar border is not permitted. chalet new york 1970

The impoverished hill town of Mon is in a gorgeous setting but feels like a frontier town. There s an SBI ATM in the town centre but don t rely on it working. The little village market chalet new york 1970 is well worth exploring and like so many markets in the northeast, it s the exotic food items that stick longest chalet new york 1970 in the memory. Of the numerous tribal villages in the area the closest is Old Mon village, a mere 5km from town. Tamgnyu village (13km) is a rarely chalet new york 1970 visited, yet easy to reach, village with a friendly headman, a couple of human skulls left over from headhunting days and

east west resorts CENTRAL ARUNACHAL S TRIBAL GROUPS The variety of tribal peoples in central Arunachal Pradesh is asto

The two main villages are Kamalabari, 3km from the ferry port and Garamur, 5km further north. The most interesting, accessible satras are the large, beautifully peaceful Uttar Kamalabari (1km north, then 600m east of Kamalabari) and Auniati (5km west of Kamalabari), where monks are keen to show you their little museum (Indian/ foreigner/camera/video 5/50/50/200; h9.3011am & 12-4pm) of Ahom royal artefacts. The best chances of observing chanting, dances or drama recitations are around east west resorts dawn and dusk or during the big Ras Mahotsav Festival (third week of November).

CENTRAL ARUNACHAL S TRIBAL GROUPS The variety of tribal peoples in central Arunachal Pradesh is astonishing, but although the Adi (Abor), Nishi, Tajin, Hill Miri and various other Tibeto-Burman tribes consider themselves different from one another most are at least distantly related. Over the last few decades east west resorts Christian missionaries have been highly active throughout the Northeast and in the process have brought huge changes to the region s traditional cultures, religious beliefs and ways of life. Despite this, some aspects of the traditional lifestyle are just about holding on and many people continue to practise the traditional religion of Donyi-Polo (sun and moon) worship sometimes at the same time as proclaiming themselves Christian. For ceremonial occasions, village chiefs typically wear scarlet shawls and a bamboo wicker hat spiked with porcupine quill or hornbill feathers. A few old men still wear their hair long, tied around to form a topknot above their foreheads. Women favour hand-woven wraparounds like Southeast Asian sarongs. House designs east west resorts vary somewhat. Traditional Adi villages are generally the most photogenic with luxuriant east west resorts palmyra-leaf thatching and boxlike granaries stilted to deter rodents.

With an oversized foyer better east west resorts suited as a car showroom, Hotel Arun Subansiri (%2212806; Zero Point; s/d 1100/1320; a) has comfortably east west resorts large rooms with soft beds. It s within walking distance of the decent State Museum (Indian/foreigner/camera/video 10/75/20/100; h9.30am-4pm Sun-Thu) and the brightly decorated Centre for Buddhist Culture gompa set in gardens on the hill above.

Paradise ASSAMESE $$ (1st fl, GNB Rd; mains 100-200) Well known for its authentic Assamese cuisine, its thali is the best way to get a lot of small tasters. Assamese food is not a lip-tingler like typical Indian east west resorts food and for some this cuisine can seem rather bland, but it s the subtleties you re after rather than the heat.

the aspens kicking horse Ygdrasill Bamboo Cottage GUESTHOUSE $$ (%9401625744; r 1200) Around a kilometre before Garamur (on t

Nestled before a curtain of luxuriantly forested foothills, the aspens kicking horse Pasighat, which sits back out on the plains, feels more like Assam than Arunachal Pradesh. The town hosts the interesting Minyong-Adi tribe s Solung Festival (1-5 September). The internet cafe (per hr 60; h7.30am-8pm) is 50m from the Hotel Aane and there s an SBI ATM just along from the sumo stand in the central market area.

Ygdrasill Bamboo Cottage GUESTHOUSE $$ (%9401625744; r 1200) Around a kilometre before Garamur (on the road to Kamalabari), this thatched hut perches on stilts above a marshy, avian-filled lake. The sound of fish plopping about in the water below your bed and a thousand screaming cicadas (as well as a million marauding mosquitoes bring repellent!) will lull you to sleep at night. The bamboo beds are comfortable and it s nicely furnished. They serve a stunning Majuli thali in the evening and a breakfast that might be a bit too local for many tastes!

From a distance Aizawl (pronounced eyezole) the aspens kicking horse seems a painted backdrop to an Italian opera, such is the steepness of the ridge on which it s perched. Backs of homes at road level might be held there with stilts three times higher than their roofs.

The two main villages are Kamalabari, 3km from the ferry port and Garamur, 5km further north. The most interesting, accessible satras are the large, beautifully peaceful Uttar Kamalabari (1km north, then 600m east of Kamalabari) and Auniati (5km west of Kamalabari), where monks are keen to show you their little museum (Indian/ foreigner/camera/video 5/50/50/200; h9.3011am & 12-4pm) of Ahom royal artefacts. The best chances the aspens kicking horse of observing chanting, dances or drama recitations are around dawn and dusk or during the big Ras Mahotsav Festival (third week of November).