North Eastern states

North Eastern states

Hi

I will be doing a trip around india. I have three weeks where I like to see this area. Can somebody gives some personal recommadation about the the North Eastern states? Is worth just sticking to Sikkim,Bengal or do Assam and the other states worth the extra effort of to vist s the region ? Which was your favourite state and why? I know this post is a bit general but I am interested in getting peoples views about this area as I begin to plan my trip

I am interested in mix of wildlife, walking and seeing local india.

Thanks for any help.
North Eastern states

Darjeeling is a fantastic place - one of my favourite on the whole planet. Great views, a faded Raj setting, friendly locals, Joey's pub, ahhhh I want to go back NOW!
I loved Sikkim as well. Gangtok is a little dusty but friendly. The scenery around Kanchenjunga is among planet Earth's better mountain scenery.
I can't comment on Assam, but I'd love to go to Meghalaya.

Hi robing!

I've visited Assam and Meghalaya twice in recent years and posted quite a bit of info on them including some hotel reviews.

If you use the search engine you should be able to find the relevant posts.

Hi From Guwahati (Go-hati), the land of rivers and bridges.

Sorry, not been here long enough to comment, but can only say that it is India but not as we know it.

It is great to be a 'nobody' again, everybody is unaware that I'm here, it's great, lots of people speak English and are polite and helpful, nobody has asked me where I'm from, even the people I speak to, had a good meal last night and a few games of pool, but eventually the 44 hour train journey caught up with me.

BTW, the women here are beautiful, a kind of cross between a Thai and Punjabi woman with the best features of both.

I will be touring Assam for the next 3 weeks and will comment further when I get home to London. (4 weeks)

Sounds great Steve, make sure you take a lot of photos and write up a travel journal hopefully!

steve get in touch with my friend umed he just got to guwahati as well.. his e-mail is im_zoning @yahoo.com.... cheers, and keep us posted...
as for reccomended in the north east, go to manas, chitwan in assam, shillong in meghalaya, and tawang monastery in arunachal pradesh..,

Wanderlust

Just a couple of things.

I think Manas NP in Assam has been out of bounds to foreigners for some time now. It's a base for insurgents fighting the Assamese Government.

Also Chitwan NP is in Nepal, not Assam.

I agree with your recommendation for Meghalaya - interesting place but I haven't been to Arunachal yet.

Shilong and Cherapunji of Meghalaya is nice palce.generaly people are making trip Gwuahati- Shilon - Cherapunji- Kagiraga NP.
For this place you don't need any speciual permit. Also without permit you may visit somne part of Tripura.

Why not venture from Kolkata, (where I was based for 2years)....to Asansol...and from there to Bihar (you can always stop by at Shanti Nagar - the leprosy colony created by Mother Teresa...) It is beautiful - really beautiful....green, flowering, and wonderful nature and people. You can get either the Vidan Express, or the Black Diamond from Howrah to Asansol. The trains usually leave at about 6am and arrive at about 11am. You can get a bus from there. Some trains back stop at Sealdah.......
You could also venture overland to Dhaka. I took a rickshaw/bus to Haridaspur, the Indian border town, and walked accross the border into Benapole, Bangla. From there....rickshaws, buses, ferries, a bit of walking....into central Dhaka (after a considerable amount of time)...hm....worth it, although Dhaka pollution was something else!!!

Hi VerityW - I am very keen to hear about your border crossing to Bangladesh. If you have the time, can you elaborate a little more on it please?

Thanks!

Hi! Usually I think I bore people with my tales of India....but seeing as you ask so nicely (and seeing as it's 2.50pm here in the UK and I'm sitting in my office....waiting for 5pm...only joking)..

Well, it is quite a story. In Feb 2002 I had to accompany an elderly Bangladeshi nun for an operation in Calcutta. I had been there since Sept 2001, and worked at Shishu Bhavan + dispensary. We became quite friendly, and I promised that I would get to Dhaka to visit her. They have another childrens home on Islampur Rd, Amputty, Old Dhaka.

It was Jan 2003 when I eventually made time for a trip. It's possible to get a visa from the Bang dep high comm in Park Circus Calcutta - quite expensive, about £40 for a WEEK long visa....terrible...and you have to specify methods of entry and exit...

Anyway, I went with one other nun.....with about ten statues and a crucifix (BIG thing) to take to the house in Dhaka. This is quite difficult...carrying all these boxes and packages as well as a very small backpack and limited supply of water.

We got a rickshaw from AJC Bose rd in Cal to Sealdah station, from where we got a local bus to the border. This was a 4hr journey with various stops by police trying to get bribes!! I had cramp in my legs, this blessed crucifix and numerous statues stuck between my legs, on my lap etc.

Haridaspur is the Indian side of the border.....a small, seedy little place filled with money exchangers, chair stalls and stray dogs. We had to wait and wait in a little hut where foreigners passports were checked at length and handwritten in a big book. Hm. There was a chalkboard recording the number passing thru each day. I was the first foreigner for 2 weeks!!!!!!

You have to actually walk accross the border, with armed guards lining it - so to stop beggars escaping to either side. Imagine me, carrying all the clobber into Benapole - the Bangladesh border town. Again I waited in another hut...passport was checked at length again, before we hailed a cycle rickshaw to the bus stop. It was my first real cycle rickshaw, as we had always used man pulled in Cal.

Waited at the bus stop....ate some puri and dahl...waited some more....got a local sevice headed for the point of crossing the Potma river. Then we would have to get a ferry accross, and anothe bus the other side to take us to Dhaka.

This journey took about 6hrs....of being crammed in, hot, shattered...but intriuged at the beautiful scenery....paddy fields....picturesque villages....reminded me of school geography....so clean, so wonderful - idyllic.....I felt so priviliged to be there...

It soon grew dark....ferry was terrifying - was certain we would sink. It smelt...and a little boy jumped from boat to boat with a basket of boiled eggs, shouting 'dim dim'....

The bus the other side took us the further 4hrs or so to Dhaka city....a mass of cycle rickshaws, bourquas and pollution. It was dark....and possibly quite unnerving.

From the bus stop we walked....and walked....to where a car frm the sisters house was meeting us....we had to sit in the back of the open van.....and it took us a further 2hrs to make our way to Amputty, old dhaka. The lanes were full of people - especially men who started and followed me, this strange westerner.....

We arrived at Shishu Bhavan after midnight. My elderly sister - Sr Lawrence, was there waiting for me....

I slept in the childrens dormitory...quite an experience (a story I will complete one day!...)

....must finish for now, I have two clients waiting, although in my heart I am back in Dhaka!!....

But one thing - if you do decide to change your method of entrance/exit (ie, in the end, I flew out of Dhaka by Biman alone) you MUST get a change of exit permit from the government offices near farmgate......

will write more.....promise!