chalet pizza Conjure up an image of a shimmering blue lake broken up into small lakelets by floating islands of t

This open-air museum (admission 50; h8am-6pm May-Sep, 8am-4.30pm Oct-Apr), which hosts the annual Hornbill Festival, has a representative selection of traditional Naga houses and morungs (bachelor dormitories) with full-size log drums. Kisama is 10km from central Kohima along the well- surfaced Imphal road.

GARO HILLS The lush, green Garo Hills in the far west of Meghalaya are well off the beaten path. The towns are not visually distinctive, but most houses in small hamlets remain traditionally fashioned from bamboo-weave matting and neatly cropped palm thatch. The Garo Hills are easier to visit from Guwahati than from Shillong. Sprawling Tura is the western Garo Hills regional centre and an unhurried transport hub. The tourist office (%03651-242394; h10am-5pm Mon-Fri) is 4km away towards Nazing chalet pizza Bazaar. Friendly staffoffer brochures and sketchy maps, and arrange guides for anywhere in the Garo Hills, including a three-day hike to Nokrek Biosphere Reserve where it s possible to watch for Hoolock Gibbons from a traditional-style borang (Garo tree house). There are some cheap and not very cheerful places to stay near the market in Tura or, for something a little more comfortable, chalet pizza try the Rikman Continental (%03651-220744; Circular Rd; s/d from 900/1080; ai). Almost on the Bangladesh border, chalet pizza Baghmara is the southern Garo Hills district centre. chalet pizza From Baghmara you can visit the Balpakhram National Park, 45km away, but jeep and guide hire will have to be organised in Tura.

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 and thatched hut-villages anchored on to the floating chalet pizza islands, and you have Loktak Lake, one of the few places a foreigner is allowed to visit outside of Imphal. More peculiar than floating chalet pizza villages are the large, perfectly circular chalet pizza 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.

1 Sights Ujjayanta Palace PALACE (admission 5; h5-7pm) Agartala s indisputable centrepiece is this striking, dome-capped palace. Flanked by two large refl ecting ponds, the whitewashed 1901 edifice was built by Tripura s 182nd maharaja. It looks particularly impressive floodlit at night, but for security reasons only the gardens are open to the public.