toms chalets 571 HORNBILL FESTIVAL Nagaland s biggest annual festival, the Hornbill Festival (1-7 December) is ce

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 toms chalets converging for a weeklong toms chalets 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. toms chalets Simultaneously, Kohima also hosts a rock festival (www.hornbillmusic.com). has simple yet immaculate rooms. It s the little touches that set it apart from the competition, such as cups of tea brought to you in bed in the morning. There are great views over the town from the garden, friendly and helpful staff and a superb restaurant.

From the main bus station (Mancotta Rd) both ASTC and private toms chalets buses depart for Sivasagar ( 51 to 69, two hours, frequent toms chalets 6am to 9am), Jorhat toms chalets ( 130, three hours, frequent 6am to 9am), Tezpur ( 260, six hours) and Guwahati toms chalets ( 380, 10 hours).

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

RAFTING IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Another newly opened route is the Pasighat to Tuting road. This route is all about two things: the River Siang and the mysterious Buddhist land of Pemako. Tuting, which sits near the Tibetan border, toms chalets is the point at which the Tsang Po river having left the Tibetan plateau and burrowed through the Himalaya via a series of spectacular gorges enters the Indian subcontinent and becomes the Siang (once it reaches the plains toms chalets of Assam it turns into the Brahmaputra). Tuting and the River Siang are starting to gain a reputation as one of the world s most thrilling white-water rafting destinations, but this ain t no amateurs river. The few people who have descended the river have reported that the 180km route is littered with numerous grade 4-5 rapids, strong eddies and inaccessible gorges. For those after adventure of a different kind Tuting also serves as the launch pad for searching out the legendary Buddhist land of Pemako. You will, however, need more than this guidebook and a compass in order to find it. Buddhist belief says that Pemako is a synonym for a hidden earthly paradise and that it s the earthly representation of Dorje Pagmo, toms chalets a Tibetan goddess. It was said that this land of milk and honey was to be found in the eastern Himalaya and that to reach it you had to pass behind an enormous hidden waterfall. For hundreds of years outsiders knew that the Tsang Po river left Tibet and entered a huge, and utterly impenetrable, gorge before emerging from the Himalaya around Tuting, but what happened to the river inside that gorge was unknown until the 1950s. As it turned toms chalets out the river did indeed tumble over an enormous waterfall toms chalets and, what s more, it passed through a rich and fertile valley populated by Memba Buddhists, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Today, this vast region of northern Arunachal Pradesh and parts of south eastern Tibet remains almost utterly toms chalets unknown to the outside world, but Pemako is out there and for those willing to endure days of incredibly tough hiking (and deal with reams of paperwork) it is possible to visit.