Report on my NE trip 2005

neddy

Flying into Kolkatta

Kolkatta was the most convenient entry point to the NorthEast region but the reason I chose it was because it offered the cheapest flights from Australia to India At the time.
It maybe now be that the cheapest way could be from Delhi and then by train to Guwahati.
Arriving at 2.00 am I spent the night battling the taxis outside, eventually getting a lift to the extremely low budget Airport Lodge which had a rarely answered email address and a night bell which I would not have seen but the taxi drivers knew about. I exchanged money at Thomas Cook who had an office open at 3am but this must be done before leaving the International Arrivals area. Alternatively there is an ATM at the Domestic Terminal (easy walking distance but probably not open at 3am). In retrospect I should have stayed around the International Terminal until 7.00 am.
At 7.00am the Indian Airlines Office at the Domestic Terminal was open and I spent an enjoyable hour watching them deal with the Internet booked ticket to Aizawl that I had arranged from Australia. The boys came through with flying colours (forgive pun) but I was advised not to use the internet again. It took 4 employees about an hour to do the paperwork. But when you are booking the last seat available from Australia one has little choice. The plane left for Aizawl at 11.00 am so I had spent a total of 8 hours in Kolkatta never going more than a kilometre from the Airport. In my opinion that was about 8 hours too much and I have always believed any successful tour enterprise to the NE will depend on getting them through Kolkatta as quickly as possible. Meeting them at 3.00 am, bussing to overnight rooms and returning them in time for the 11.00am flight. There are overnight transit rooms available at the Airport but they are closed at 3.00am and it would appear to be impossible to find out information on how to book them when outside India.

Mizoram

The Security checking for the Aizawl flight was extremely thorough but I consoled myself with the knowledge that the flight from Kolkatta to Lengpui (Aizawl Airport) was without doubt the safest I had travelled on between Australia and India.
The mountainous topography of Mizoram looked fantastic from the plane and on arrival I was met by my sponsor Partei and was then interviewed by some government official who checked my Restricted Area Pass (RAP). The airport is a fair distance from Aizawl itself on one of those roads that make the average motoring speed in the NE 25km per hour. Incomprehensible until you see it, because in Australia average speed is about 100km.
As we wound our way around a corner the full view of Aizawl emerged...totally unbelievable! It is said the Mizos are expert at building on hillsides but this is an understatement. Really the place has to be seen to be believed. At night, driving in Aizawl reminds me of the view one gets flying into a town when you are about a kilometre above the ground.
I was taken to the Foreigners Registration Board where a nice chap recorded my fathers name in a dusty old book, gave me a few rather good pamphlets about Mizoram and the NE and then told me I had ten days to get out of town.

I was lucky enough to catch the Spring Festival, played music at an orphanage, Drug detox centre, The mens and womans prison and several churches around the town.
The Mizos have their own MTV channel called Zonet playing their own music and local VideoJock Muansanga [ muansanga7@yahoo.com ]also showed me around and took me into their studio where I recorded several video clips of my songs with surprising efficiency due to their professionalism. They have a potential industry there because with the lower Indian labour costs it would pay bands and performers in Australia to fly to Mizoram to record their clips. Alas music being stuff for kids the Mizoram government tends to concentrate on Bamboo industries but believe me they will eventually realise that their music is the biggest potential income earner they have. Oh and they also make fantastic handwoven shirts.

I had gone for purely selfish reasons as I wanted to hear Mizo Music having heard them described as the most musical people in India and believe me I was not disappointed! The most fantastic voices and musical sensibility and their reputation for friendliness is well deserved.

I stayed at the Tourist Lodge and gradually over 6 days extended my morning walk until I was able to walk into town. I consider that as a first time International Tourist I could not have chosen a better place to start than Mizoram...talk about a soft landing!

It is extremely hard to get into the state due to the RAP restrictions. I had spent several months trying to get information from the Government and Tourist Operations (both basically inept) until by chance I was very lucky to find Sangpari Mualchin (Partei) [ mcpartei@rediffmail.com ] on the internet who was able to arrange the pass with a little trouble. She hopes to set up Mizo Christian Journey to assist people who wish to enter the State and see work that the church does there and experience the wonderful music. More about her later!

To Tripura
Time was a factor in all my travels as I had a fair amount of ground to cover so I left Aizawl reluctantly and headed to Agartala (Tripura) as I wanted to catch my Internet chat chum Pragya. The only way out of Mizoram, other than plane back to Kolkatta, was by Maxicab to the transport junction of Silchar in Assam. Silchar was my first REAL Indian town and what a shock it was! Cows, dust, cows, dirt, rickshaws, cows, car horns, markets, noise and more cows!

Unfortunately the through ticket arranged in Aizawl seemed to have disappeared by the time I reached Silchar so I stayed overnight in the Assam Tourist Lodge as recommended in Lonely Planet. (Well they don't recommend it they just point out that it exists). I got the distinct feeling that no tourist had stayed there for some years and while they were not unhappy to see me it took several chaps loitering around the front counter to prepare a room.

The next morning off on a rather long bus trip to Agartala the last 100km of which is under armed army escort. While not trying to play down the danger of the area (the convoy has been attacked) I felt the Army presence throughout all of the NE contributed to the general safety of the area and had more to do with job creation schemes in India. While in the NE I felt considerably safer than in various areas of Sydney or crossing Parramatta Road


Agartala

I stayed at the Royal Guest House which was good, private, noone asked for Bakeesh and the chaps on the front counter had great sense of humour. They also had an internet terminal.
I had arrived in time to catch Pragya Deb Burman [ pragyajan@hotmail.com ] who was about to depart for Kolkatta.

Perhaps I should put Tripura and the Deb Burmans in context here. They are an extremely influential family, descendants of the last Maharaja of Tripura. The Manikya family claim to be the second longest serving Royal Family in the world after the Japanese. It must also be said that despite the abdication by the Regent in 1947, so the state could enter India, they still see themselves as serving.

Tripura is now ruled by a Marxist government and due to an influx of Bengali and Bangladesh refugees the original inhabitants are now only 40% of the population...hence the high level of reported insurgency. Most of this seems to be between various ethnic groups within the state and not aimed at Europeans. It is claimed that Tripura has undergone the largest population increase in the worlds recorded history and the stress of this shows in Agartala. However on my morning constitutional there were always at least 5 people only too happy to practice their English on me and I can remember no time while walking around the capital getting hassled in any way.

Pragya was there working on renovations to the Family Palace (no exaggeration) and I was lucky enough to get an invitation to dinner and meet the current Maharani (her Mother) an extremely entertaining lady. Eventually the palace will be open to tourists and the plan is to have an art display putting the Manikya dynasty into a social context. It would appear they were extremely liberal and forward thinking rulers who introduced many changes and are still held in high esteem by the Borok (indigenous) people. To have remained in power since about 1400 AD means they must have been doing something right.

Pragya has her Grandfathers Art Studio available to hire for weddings, Bar Mitzvah’s etc at a ridiculously low rate. I was thinking about getting married there but then, after that, she must learn to take a nominal security deposit to cover any potential damage to carpets etc.
They are also renovating a country retreat (about 15 minutes from town) and hope by the end of the year to have several Tourist bungalows available to rent. They do tend to aim at the high end of the market and I suspect that they have not yet realised that the budget traveller can provide substantial income as well....still you could always ask.

Most of the tourist promotion in Tripura seems to involve the Royal Family or the Borok people (well noone goes to the NE to see Bengalis or Banglas do they?)
It was a great shock to see Neermahal the water palace and the states main tourist attraction. While certainly worth a visit I was fortunate to have my video battery go flat before crossing and entering the palace because the internal state of the palace is a disgrace. It has been administered by the Government. Two words spring to mind Neglect and Vision. Such a shock to compare it to the Palace renovations that I saw the previous day but lets face it ,....some people have it and some don't! I, for example, am someone who doesn't have it and is unlikely ever to get it.

I was fortunate that Pragya was able to introduce me to Mevar Jamatia, [ mkjamatia@yahoo.com ] a local who was able to be my guide and mentor around Tripura who took me to his native village and I thank him for that privilege and his invaluable help. He is interested in assisting anyone who wants to tour the State and I would recommend him to anyone.

Shillong

A massive 18 hour bus trip to Shillong followed as I wanted to check with Nagaland house about the validity of my RAP pass to Nagaland. Although known as being a bit chilly I really enjoyed the city, took the only organised bus tour of my life and a lot of fun it was. The Deb Burmans have the Royal Heritage Hotel attached to Tripura Castle and I went and had a look at that but noone was home. I stayed at the budget Monsoon Hotel. All of the hotels I saw there looked good.
After two days I headed for Nagaland. It wasn't easy to get a bus but I discovered Ken Chyne [ vanrapch@hotmail.com ] a local who runs a Maxicab between Shillong and Silchar and he arranged a bus to Dimapur. He is one of those characters, often seen in British movies, who can arrange anything you want, anytime, anywhere.

Nagaland

Having been assured by the lady at Nagaland House Shillong that the illegible scrawl on the bottom of my visa which said "Permitted to enter Nagaland for 10 days" would be acceptable as a RAP pass I headed off on another marathon overnight bus ride. I arrived at Dimapur at 7am, found it too noisy with too many Bengalis so decided to head directly to the capital Kohima. I didn't find Kohima anything special either. Lonely Planet says that to appreciate the true Naga culture one has to get out of the cities into the villages and how right they were. The tourist lodge is a long way from the centre and there they offered me a room available for 2,100/-, a little more than my budget could stand and considerable more than the 300/- suggested in LP so I went back to the centre of town and stayed in a budget cheapy in the main street. The next day being Easter Friday I was surprised to find in a Christian state that everything was operating normally. I decided to head to the Tophema Village about 40km away. I had seen their Internet website and at 800/- felt it was a little outside my budget but on the advice of Manju Barua (more about him later, he has his own section under Kaziranga) I decided to look and stay the night. Manju had impressed me with his advice offered before leaving Australia and I had decided that any suggestions he made should be listened to.
I had made contact with Khrienuo [ tuophema@touristvillage.biz ] a local lady who administers the resort. They have to use an internet cafe to check their email so it may take a week to get a reply but they certainly use the internet a lot more effectively than the majority of government offices or tourist facilities in India. Helpful detailed instructions were supplied on how to get to the village but being Easter the community bus wasn't running from Kohima so I went out there by taxi.
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Tophema and would have liked to stay longer. The local villagers and children were friendly and the accommodation was worth every rupee. The local teacher Daisy showed me around and I had a lot of time to think about essential differences between Christian and Hindu culture. I think in terms of tourism the Nagas would be wise to show them the War Cemetery and Museum in Kohima and then get them out to the villages as quickly as possible because the cities have so little to offer. Thanks again to Khrienuo, Daisy and their families for giving me pleasant memories of Nagaland.

Back to Kohima, then at Dimapur I caught a bus to Kaziranga. Now whether the scrawl on my visa (got from Indian Embassy in Canberra) was acceptable I don't know. I should have reported to the Foreigners Registration but being Easter I had assumed it was closed. Perhaps the Chief of Police in Tophema but I don't think they had a policeman there. I had wandered around Kohima and Dimapur on my own for two days and although completely surrounded by Uniformed Guards (the army has a significant presence throughout the North East) nobody took any interest. At no time did anyone ask to see my RAP but I did get an insight into what it must be like to be an illegal immigrant and I confess I did breathe a sigh of relief as I crossed the border into Assam.

Kaziranga

Ahhh Kaziranga! Whenever anyone had asked why I was going to the North East of India (as if it needed explaining) I had said I wanted to go Rhino riding. I have long loved Rhinos...cute and cuddly things that they are and Kaziranga lays claim to being the most successful environmental recovery project in the world. They have so many Rhinos that they are considering moving some to other parks.
So Kaziranga was to be the jewel in the crown of my tour. I had contacted Manju Barua [maan_barua@satyam.net.in ] who runs the Wildgrass Eco Resort prior to my trip and I had been so impressed by the quality and promptness of his advice offered by email that even though I had no doubt I could have done the Park cheaper through the Tourist Lodges and arranging my own entry I decided that I should stay at Wildgrass and try and meet this remarkable man. I mean dammit even an Aussie needs luxury sometimes! Manju had given me an extremely detailed quote for my stay which was expensive in Indian terms but extremely reasonable in terms of European Tourism for what was offered. A lot of the expense was due to Park entrance fees, Jeep and elephant hire. It would have probably taken me a week to arrange what they did in two days. Amazingly for India the final bill ended up being much less than the initial quotation.

But what I received most from Wildgrass was a lesson in service in the tourism industry. Everyone there clearly loved their jobs, some to a point of passion. and even the local ladies who cleaned the rooms were forthcoming with smiles. On being told I was a budget traveller, Manju had said "No worries you can stay in the cottage out the back or at the local native village!" I stayed in the cottage out the back and it proved to be the most luxurious place in the whole tour (Well third actually after the Deb Burmans Palace and the Taj Mahal.) Having seen the Assamese ladies doing various dances over two nights I think I could have enjoyed staying in the native village though.
Anyone who wants to be involved in tourism in the NE should go and spend a day or two at Wildgrass just to see how it should be done.
I think Manju is also involved with tourism into other areas in the North East (Arunchal and Sikkim) so don't hesitate to consult him because if he doesn't know he will know someone who does.

Guwahati

The Wildgrass cost included transport back to the capital of Assam, Guwahati. It was the first big Indian city I had encountered but I was starting to toughen up by then. Confusing to get around and noisy but I eventually started to find my feet. This was the first time I had seen the beggars and cripples that India is renown for and the railway station provided my first glimpse of the legendary Indian Rail system. Unlike Delhi there is no Foreigners Assistance Office there and so compared with Delhi it was a far more helpful and pleasant experience. If I had been more organised I think it would have paid to book the rest of my journey there.

Lumding/Silchar (again)

I took the time to get a glimpse of the mighty Brahmaputra River and then headed to Lumding Junction to catch a train to Silchar because I wanted to travel on this historic metre gauge line built by the British in the 19th century. In Silchar I was to meet my Mizo friend Partei who had agreed to come with me to see the Taj Mahal. Also after so many long bus rides it was starting to become clear to me that this trainline might be the most humane way of moving people to Tripura.
When offered the choice between 2A and Sleeper class the correct answer on this line is probably 2A because both classes have sleepers but I didn't know that. The rail experience in India I discovered is a trade off between comfort and sterility and taking the cheaper way and meeting some fascinating people. The only difficulty was for the last two hours of the trip I was befriended by an old chap who was clearly the local madman. I think he was probably lonely and wanted somebody to mumble on at in some lingo I couldn't understand. Harmless but unpleasant being the centre of someone’s attention I think he thought he was being helpful. I had to catch a rickshaw to give him the slip in Silchar.

And the rest

It was then back to Guwahati and then on to Delhi, saw the Taj (as one must do) down to Kolkatta and then home. Suffice to say I loved the NorthEast and hated India (the two cities that I saw) Next time I will do the Northeast again and probably try to catch Chennai which I had to drop because of time constraints.

Thoughts


When I first began researching this trip I thought the biggest impediment to Tourism in the NE was the Restricted Area Passes (RAP). To an Australian the thought that there is somewhere on this earth they can't go is a complete anathema. Further to this I spent 6 months of near fulltime work trying to get some response or direction from Governments and their Tourist resources. I suspect if I hadn't accidentally contacted Sangpari I would still be trying. Having said that, let me say that, having been to Tripura and the NE generally, I now believe it would be the worse thing that could happen to the NE if the RAP was removed. What is necessary is that structures are put in place so the issue of these passes are not difficult to obtain from outside India. This requires two things. People (like you) who are willing to do the work on behalf of prospective travellers and adequate advertising of this service on the internet

If they could ever get their act together (which I have no doubt they won't) the North East would capture most of the Indian Tourist trade from Anglo countries because of the environment, the animals, the geography, and the indigenous people (not necessarily in that order). Three predominantly Christian states, a large concentration of English speakers and the friendliness and basic honesty of the indigenous people made it the perfect starting point for this first time traveller from Australia. The biggest problem is the distances involved.

In Australia we have what is known as a Pit Toilet in the bush which is basically a large hole with a toilet structure over it. When the hole is full they throw in some lime, cover it over, plant a tree and move the structure onto a new hole. Because of the long distances involved with bus travel this would be a very cheap way to provide amenities at various stop points along the way. While Aussie guys enjoy nothing more than the wide open sky many of the ladies ask for a little more comfort. If made out of Bamboo they would probably cost about 10/- each (plus labour) and would solve the biggest difficulty in the NE very cheaply.

Now that the State Bank of India has ATM card machines in all major capitals (Aizawl, Agartala, Kohima, Shillong, Guwahati) a major problem for tourists is solved. I was able to access my normal Australian bank account in all these centres.

I did not go to Manipur because in my reading it appeared to be the most dangerous state and during a few internet chats I found the Manipuris to be a bit terse, unlike the Mizos and Nagas who are fantastic chatters and much fun. However having done the grand tour I regret not trying Manipur because I now think it is essential to the most sensible Budget Tour route. If we could include Manipur then the motorised stretches are about 4 hour maximum duration with one long overnight train trip thrown in.

This is how I would go...fly into Aizawl from Kolkatta, Maxicab to Imphal, Maxicab to Kohima/Tophema, Kaziranga/Wildgrass, Guwahati (from here doing Aranchal and Sikkim) then down to Shillong, from Shillong through to Lumding, then do the train from Lumding to Manu which would leave you about 100km from Agartala After Tripura fly back to Kolkatta. It is possible to bus through Bangladesh but the cost of a visa makes it economically cheaper to just fly back to Kolkatta.

Tourism in the NE will thrive, not because of any government initiative but because, like the orphanage and detox centre in Aizawl, some individual decides to do something. In the end it will depend on you. my individual friends. This is why I have supplied all the email addresses of other important contacts on my journey.
It amuses me that now the NorthEast has spent the last 20 years becoming separate states that they now have to come together and present a united front for the purposes of tourism. If you can cooperate, learn from each other and assist each other you will achieve more for your glorious people than any government or liberation movement could ever dream of.

I don't know why I was attracted to the NorthEast but from my first reading about it I was. I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to visit. I even have good thoughts about the Silchar madman. I thank you all for the kindness shown and I hope very much to revisit it in the next year when finance permits.

Until that time when we meet again please keep in contact,

Dave Gray

edwardseco

Great, very interesting on a less travelled area..

steven_ber

Very, very useful info Dave.

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crimsonriver

Thanks neddy!

We really need more info regarding this region.. remains the least talked about place here.. still.. If you have a journal please post the link and yeah some photos wud be appreciated!..

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Paagla Dashu

Lovely!

Brilliant in fact! As are the various comments about specific ethnic groups.

Lovemax

Hey Neddy,

This was one awesome information to go and follow through, I wonder when will I be able to chase through these NE states. They really are untocuhed and majestic in a true sense.

Would come back to this place for an update about any help in future.. thanks mate.

exacta

Hi neddy you can be a great help to me. I am travelling to Mizoram in april. I have taken care of the permit issue. It will be very helpful to me if you share your experiences with me. Things you did in aizwal and surrounding areas, places to see and stay, what about food is it cheap is accommodation reasonable priced. I plan to hire a bike once I reach aizwal to travel in and around aizwal rather then hiring a cab or using the local public transport, is it a good idea to hire a bike. What about health hazards? Just write about all your experiences of Mizoram it will be very helpful to me.