village chalet The most accessible villages are the Konyak settlements around Mon. Traditional houses abound, and s

The beautifully forested hills around village chalet Itanagar hide the attractive Ganga Lake (5km), a local picnic spot. Further away (20km) is Poma village, which is about the closest place to town to see the traditional village chalet architecture of bamboo longhouses (although many of these are being slowly replaced with concrete box houses).

571 HORNBILL FESTIVAL Nagaland s biggest annual festival, the Hornbill Festival (1-7 December) is celebrated at Kisama Heritage Village (see below) with various Naga tribes village chalet converging for a weeklong cultural, dance and sporting bash, much of it in full warrior costume. Of all the festivals in the northeast this is the most spectacular and photogenic. Simultaneously, Kohima also hosts a rock festival (www.hornbillmusic.com).

The most accessible villages are the Konyak settlements around Mon. Traditional houses abound, village chalet and some villages have morungs and religious relics from pre-Christian village chalet times. Village elders may wear traditional costume and Konyak of all ages carry the fearsome-looking dao a crude machete used for headhunting right up until the mid-20th century.