big powderhorn lodging Rest House Nongriat GUESTHOUSE $ (%9856891520; Nongriat; per person 100) This highly basic four-room

CROSSING INTO BANGLADESH AT AGARTALA big powderhorn lodging Border Hours The border at Agartala is open from 7am to 6pm. Foreign Exchange There s no exchange booth and Agartala banks don t sell Bangladeshi taka, so changing money is hit and miss; ask local traders or border offi cials. Onward Transport big powderhorn lodging From central Agartala the border is just 3km along Akhaura Rd ( 50 by rickshaw). big powderhorn lodging On the Bangladesh side the nearest town is Akhaura, 5km beyond, big powderhorn lodging reached by baby taxi (autorickshaw). From Akhaura trains head to Dhaka, Comilla and Sylhet. Coming eastbound, be sure to pay your Bangladeshi departure tax at a Sonali bank before heading for the border. Visas Unhelpful, but the northeast s only Bangladesh visa office (%2324807; Airport Rd, Kunjaban; happlication 9am-1pm Mon-Thu, 9am-noon Fri, collection same day 4pm) hides down a small lane in Agartala, about 2km north of the Ujjayanta Palace.

Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, plus membership big powderhorn lodging per person 50) organises all Nameri visits, including two-hour birdwatching rafting trips (two people big powderhorn lodging 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 big powderhorn lodging 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 be. It s very much the second choice.

Rest House Nongriat GUESTHOUSE $ (%9856891520; Nongriat; per person 100) This highly basic four-room guesthouse is just one minute from the double-decker 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.