rotui 567 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES W E S T E R N A R U N AC H A L P R A D E S H THE LAST SHANGRI LA? Recent

Diphlu River Lodge HOTEL $$$ (%361-2602223; Guwahati; www.jungletravelsindia.com; jungle plan Indian s/d 9000/12,000, foreigner s/d 18,000/24,000) Fifteen minutes drive west of the tourist complex, this new lodge, with its chic-rustic feel, is without doubt the most comfortable place to stay in the Kaziranga region. It consists of six bamboo cottages on raised stilts overlooking rotui a river. The rooms have enormous soft beds and the bathrooms rotui sport heavenly rain showers. rotui There s no sign look for the dirt track on the left (if travelling from the Guwahati direction) rotui beside the 37 marker post.

The best accommodation option here is Aagaam Hotel (%223640; Nehru Chowk; s/d from 400-500), which has rooms that could almost be called plush. The attached rotui restaurant, Pizza Coffee rotui Day (mains 80-100, pizzas 80-150) is the best place in town to eat and yes, it really does sell pizzas of a sort. Another option is the Hotel Holiday Cottage (%222463; Hospital Hill; r 400-600) southwest of the helipad. However, it s not a cottage and nor is it the sort of place you d really

567 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES W E S T E R N A R U N AC H A L P R A D E S H THE LAST SHANGRI LA? Recently the government of Arunachal Pradesh has opened up a couple of new areas to foreign tourists. Possibly the most exciting of these is the road from Along to the small, remote town of Mechuka, close to the Tibetan border. In the past the Mechuka valley, which until recently had no real road connecting it to the rest of the state, was called the forbidden valley or even a Last Shangri La. Populated by the Buddhist Memba peoples, Mechuka, sitting on the banks of the West Siang River, lives up to its Last Shangri La status and is notable for both the 400-year-old Samten Yongcha Monastery and the stunning landscapes rotui surrounding the town, which culminate in a massive hulk of snow- draped mountains rotui running along the border. For the moment tourist facilities (and tourists!) remain virtually non-existent but sumos now ply the 180km from Along ( 300, seven hours, 5.30am). The only accommodation is the Circuit House, but if that is unavailable then it s likely that local people will put you up be generous rotui in your donation. the owners of which have realised that it is possible to buy new tins of paint a fairly revolutionary thought for many hotels in the northeast. Otherwise rotui try the plusher