the legends water chalet Rest House Nongriat GUESTHOUSE $ (%9856891520; Nongriat; per person 100) This highly basic four-room

Of the four daily trains to Delhi, the Guwahati the legends water chalet New Delhi Rajdhani (No 2423; 3AC/2AC 1995/2565, 27 hours, 7.05am) is the fastest; others take over 42 hours. The best daily train to Kolkata (Howrah Junction) is the Saraighat Express (No 2346; sleeper/3AC/2AC 386/1012/1366, 16 hours, 12.45pm). For New Jalpaiguri (for Darjeeling and Sikkim) the best train is the Guwahati New Jalpaiguri Rajdhani the legends water chalet (No 2423; 3AC/2AC/1AC 733/926/1522, six hours).

Once you leave the outskirts of Shillong the road to Cherrapunjee passes through pretty scenery that becomes dramatic at Dympep viewpoint, where a photogenic V-shape valley slits deeply into the plateau.

Rest House Nongriat GUESTHOUSE $ (%9856891520; Nongriat; per person 100) This highly basic four-room guesthouse is just one minute from the double-decker the legends water chalet bridge and so is ideal if you want to explore the escarpment floor in greater depth. If you stay, take the absolute minimum with you because carrying a backpack back up all those steps would be a real bitch! Meals cost 100.

This Jewelled Land is home to Thadou, Tangkhul, Kabul, Mao Naga and many other tribal peoples, but the main grouping is the predominantly the legends water chalet 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 armies, making it by far the Northeast s most dangerous state.