Assam, Nagaland and Manipur

Tour - 15 days

ASSAM, NAGALAND and MANIPUR

Tour - 15 days

About ASSAM, NAGALAND and MANIPUR

Assam is the only state in north-east India that is almost entirely low lying. It consists largely of the flood plains of the Brahmaputra, one of the largest untamed rivers in the world. The climate is fantastic for rice cultivation, all kinds of tropical crops, bamboo cultivation and fish farming.

Assam is relatively densely populated. The legal part of the population consists of at least 35 million people on an area of 78,000 square kilometers (similar to Czechia, a bit smaller than Austria). There are also a large number of illegal immigrants, mainly from Bangladesh.

Region

Assam, Nagaland & Manipur (India)

Best Time

Feb-April &
Nov-Dec

No. Of Days

15 days

Trip Character

Jeep tour with walks

Sleeping Altitude

65 - 1620 m

Price

INR XXX/ $ XXX

ABOUT THIS TOUR

On this tour we take you to India’s easternmost parts, making a round trip through the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra. Starting off at Guwahati, the capital of Assam, we travel upstream along the majestic Brahmaputra to Kaziranga National Park, home to the largest population of Indian rhinos, as well as elephants, tigers and much more.

Then we cross the Brahmaputra to Majuli Island, where we walk and bicycle through traditional villages of the Mishmi tribe and witness a unique esoteric dance performed by a community of Vaishnavite (Hindu) monks. Further east still, we reach Dibrugarh, where we stay two days at a very atmospheric nineteenth century bungalow amidst tea plantations.

Then we enter the far-eastern states of Nagaland and Manipur. Both are due outside the tourist circuits, Manipur is even India’s least visited state. That’s not because there is nothing to see. The mountains are lush green, thanks to an abundance of rain, and harbour some very fine subtropical forests and supreme mountain vistas.

YOUR custom-made TRIP

The tour described here, as well as the other ones on our website, are mainly meant as suggestions. We would be happy to offer you a travel proposal that fully meets your personal demands and expectations. That means that you choose where you want to go, what level of accommodation and type of transport you want and what activities you prefer.

Please let yourself be inspired by this and other trips on our website and then drop us a line (or call us) to explain your travel wishes. We will be happy to help you put together the perfect trip. You can reach us over e-mail, Messenger, Whatsapp or mobile phone.

EXTENSIONS & VARIATIONS

Apart from the tour as described here, you could consider the following add-ons and changes:

There are cultural festivals in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur that take place during the autumn and winter months. Among the best known are the Hornbill Festival in Kohima (Nagaland, December 1 -10) and the Sangay Festival in in Imphal (Manipur, November 21-30). If your travel dates are close to these dates we can work out an itinerary in which you’ll be able to attend one or both of these festivals.
If you’re wild about wildlife one or several extra days at Kaziranga are recommended. There is a lot to see in the six different ranges, and the longer you stay, the better your chances of seeing some of the more elusive species.
The roads to Mon and Longwa are generally quite bad, and the drive is long. To make the time investment and ‘suffering’ more worthwhile, it makes sense to stay longer in this area. Staying two nights (one full day) extra at Longwa is highly recommended.

ITINERARY

Day 1: Delhi ✈︎ Guwahati
You will be received at Guwahati airport by our guide and driver. After lunch you can visit the Kamakhya Temple, dedicated to the Mother Goddess, as well as a small 17th century Shiva temple on an island in the Brahmaputra. Altitude 65m.
Day 2: Guwahati - Kaziranga (4-5 hours drive)
A 5 h drive will take you eastwards to Kaziranga National Park. After lunch you’ll do your first jeep safari in the park, accompanied by a specialised naturalist. Kaziranga is one of the largest national parks of India. It houses the Indian ‘big five’ Rhino, Tiger, Leopard, Buffalo and Elephant, and an immense variety of bird species.Altitude 65 → 80m.
Day 3: In Kaziranga
Today you will be having 2 jeep safaris inside different ranges of the park again with the expert naturalist. Each range has its own different landscape and chances of seeing particular animals. Altitude 80m.
Day 4: Kaziranga - Majuli Island (3 h; 1.5 h ferry)
Today we driver further east and then up to he banks of the Brahmaputra River. We sail for 1.5 hours to Majuli Island, one of the largest inhabited river islands in the world. Look out for rare Ganges dolphins! On Majuli Island we stay in rustic but clean cottages made in the style of the local Mishing tribe. Altitude 65 → 65m.
Day 5: On Majuli Island
Majuli is a paradise for water birds, but it is best known for its Satras. These are kibbutz-like monasteries where Hindu monks who belong to Vaishnavism live. We will witness monks performing dances, which have acquired UNESCO World Heritage status. You can also go on a very enjoyable bicycle trip, riding over small dikes and passing through many small Mishing villages.
Day 6: Majuli - Sibsagar - Dibrugarh (2 h ferry, 4-5 h drive
Today early morning, take the ferry back to Neemati ghat taking a longer time than before as sailing against the current. Our destination is Dibrugarh, one of the most prominent city of upper Assam by the Brahmaputra, visiting enroute historic Sivsagar. Sivsagar was the capital of the mighty Ahom dynasty who had migrated from Burma in 1228 and continued their domination in undivided Assam till 1826. You visit some excellent architectural marvels there constructed by them in the 16th and 17th century. Altitude 65 → 110m.
Day 7: In Dibrugarh
Today you either explore the tea garden near Mancotta Tea bungalow and see the process of getting the real tea in the factory or visit a mesmerizing Thai village Namphake having a beautiful buddhist monastery roughly 50 kms away from Dibrugarh. The villagers of Nampahke can speak Tai Ahom dialect, an already disintegrated dialect like Greek & Latin. Altitude 110m.
Day 8: Dibrugarh - Mon (6 h)
Today you drive towards Mon in Nagaland. After a brief entry formality in the state border, you enter Nagaland and drive through beautiful lush green vallies but with bumpy roads. Altitude 110 → 650m.
Day 9: Mon - Longwa - Mon (3 - 4 h)
Today you'll visit the attractive village of Longwa, right on the Indo-Burmese border. It is inhabited by the colourful Konyak tribe. Altitude 650 → 1400 → 650m.
Day 10: Mon - Dimapur (7 -8 h)
Today you return to the Brahmaputra plain and set of to Dimapur, the commercial capital of Nagaland. On the way to Dimapur you partially cross Karbi Anglong, the home of the Karbi tribe. Dimapur once was the capital of the powerful Kachari kingdom. Altitude 650 → 145m.
Day 11: Dimapur - Khonoma
As soon as you get out of Dimapur, the road will start to climb. In steep hairpin bends it goes up along wooded slopes. Farmers along the road sell delicious oranges and (peeled) pineapple. Before you reach Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, you turn to the right and enter the beautiful high valley of Khonoma. Altitude 145 → 1620m.
Day 12: in Khonoma/ attending the Hornbill Festival
If you are in Khonoma during the first ten days of December, today we’ll take you to the spectacular Hornbill Festival. Else, you can explore the village of Khonoma and its green surroundings, walking the streets, and interacting with the locals. The Angami tribal people who inhabit Khonoma were great warriors who even fought the British to protect their land from annexation. Altitude 1620m.
Day 13: Khonoma - Imphal (4 h)
Today we drive to Imphal, the capital of Manipur. On the way we stop at Kohima, Nagaland's capital, to visit the interesting Mothers Market and the well appointed war museum. Altitude 1620 → 785m.
Day 14: In Imphal
Today you have all day to explore Imphal’s surroundings, such as Loktak Lake which is two hours drive from Imphal. Altitude 785m.
Day 15: Imphal ✈︎ Delhi
Today you fly back to Delhi. It depends on the timing of your international flight whether you will need an overnight stay in Delhi. In the latter case we can arrange this for you. Altitude 215m.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS TOUR

Guwahati

Guwahati, with almost 1 million inhabitants, is the capital of Assam and serves for many as the gateway to the Northeast States. It lies at the southern bank of the mighty Brahmaputra river and although modern buildings and heavy traffic dominate major parts of the city, there is still a wooded area near the river with traditional houses and colonial-era mansions. One can visit the Kalakshetra, a sprawling enclosure depicting cultures and traditions of Northeast India, the worthwhile Assam State Museum, and/or the famous and colourful Kamakhya Temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Shakti. Or one can take a short boat ride to Peacock Island. The island has a small Shiva temple and is home to a small population of the rare golden langur.

Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga N.P. is one of the crown jewels of Indian conservation. It is set for the protection of the Indian (unicorn) rhino. In 1908, when Kaziranga was first declared a Reserved Forest, less than 15 animals of it were still alive, now there are more than 2400. This is due to a for India unusually strict protection, in which a real war was – and is -fought with poachers who target the horn. This has worked out well, and not only for the rhinos. Nowadays Kaziranga is home to the largest populations of wild buffalos, wild elephants and swamp deer of Asia , as well as around 500 bird species. And the tiger… ? Kaziranga also has the highest density of tigers in Asia (largest number per 100 km2). Seeing rhinos in Kaziranga is easy, the tiger is a different matter. From our own experience, your chances of seeing one on a jeep drive are around 10%.

Brahmaputra CROSSING

The Brahmaputra is the boon and bane of Assam. It originates near holy Mt. Kailash in Southwest Tibet, then travels 1250km east along the Himalayan Range until it finally finds a gorge that provides a passage through the mountains to the south. Emerging on the eastern tip of the Assamese plains, it spreads its waters wide and far. Uninhibited by any civil engineering, it wildly braids, forming new channel and islands while abandoning others all the time. It brings water to the rice fields and fish to the nets, but commercial shipping has never taken off. Because being so wide and slow flowing, the Brahmaputra is very shallow. Wild elephants cross it regularly. Local ferries and tourist cruise boats are equipped with flat bottoms – to prevent capsizing – and often side propellers for getting unstuck as well.

Satras of Majuli island

Majuli Island is best nown for its satras. These are monasteries where Hindu monks live who adhere to Vaishnavism, a sect founded by Sankar Dev in the 15th and 16th centuries. As Hindu priests and ascetics rarely if ever live together, this is a phenomenon in itself. The monks live in kibbutz-like monasteries where they work, pray and dance together. The dances are enactments of the ancient Hindu scriptures, choreographed by Sankar Dev. They are very graceful and esoteric, and have also been declared a Unesco World Heritage.

Sibsagar

The small city of Sibsagar (or Sivasagar) lies halfway between Jorhat and Dibrugarh. It used to be the capital of the Ahum kingdom, which ruled over Assam between 1228 and 1826. During this time, the Ahums managed to resist invasion attempts by the Burmese, the Moghuls and the British. A series of relatively well preserved palaces and temples remains outside Sibsagar. The Ahums hailed from Thailand and brought many Thai influences to Assam, such as language, arts and architecture. Although originally Buddhists, they became eventually Hindus. Sibsagar also boasts of a Shiva temple with the largest dome (shiv dol) in India. Shiva is, among other things, the god of virility and fertility. A steady stream of believers flows in and out to worship, but also to sacrifice in the hope of good school results, a prosperous marriage, etc.

ANCIENT TEA BUNGALOWS

The Mancotta Tea Bungalow is a so-called chang bungalow, a stately, rustic building of massive wooden bars and cottage-style masonry on stilts. The word chang is Assamese and refers to the fact that it is built on stilts. This served the purpose of avoiding flooding as well as avoiding in-door encounters with the wild animals that would regularly cross the tea estates, such as elephants, tigers leopards and king cobras. The building’s well-kept appearance belies an impressive 160 years of age. Once upon a time the manager of the Mancotta Tea Estate lived here, now it is a hotel. Its owners have taken utmost care to preserve the erstwhile style and atmosphere. It is considered one of the top-five accommodations of the Northeast.

Tea Gardens of Assam

If there is one legacy of the Brits in India it is tea. Tea estates, tea processing and exporting, and tea drinking. It was long believed that wild tea, Camelia sinensis, only grew in China, but this small woody brush was ‘rediscovered’ by the British in the early 19th century in the jungle of Assam. Camelia sinensis var. assamica had long been used by indigenous people. Large tracts of land were converted into tea gardens and these days Assam (and Darjeeling) tea are known worldwide. There are two kinds of preparation. The black tea that is being dunked in water that just has been boiled is called orthodox. In Indian households and tea stalls the tea is generally boiled for some time with milk and sugar, and sometimes spices. This is called CTC tea. The two kinds of tea require different factory handling, but both have the same Camelia leaves as the starting point.

The Naga Culture

The Naga people originated in South East Asia and are distributed all along the India Myanmar border. The nagas speak a lingua franca known as Nagamese, which is a smart combination of English, Hindi and Assamese. Naga villages are generally located on the top of a hill, guarded by ceremonial gates with strong wooden or stone doors. Security was an important issue as in the 19th and 20th century there there were regular tribal wars between various tribes and khels (neighbourhoods). The gates are often designed with moon, sun, mithuns and female breasts (sign of fertility). The richness of the Naga culture is expressed in the very colourful attire which is shown at the many festivals that happen during the winter season.

The Nagas of Longwa

The people inhabiting the area around Longwa belong to the Konyak Tribe, one of the 19 Naga tribes. The Konyak live in India as well as Myanmar. Part of Longwa is actually in India and part in Myanmar. Like all the Nagas, the Konyak used to be fierce warriors who regularly engaged in wars with neighbouring tribes, whereby they practiced headhunting. In Longwa, there are still a few elderly men whose tattooed bodies prove that once upon a time they were headhunters. Inside their houses, the shrunken heads of their victims can still be seen.

The Mithun

When traveling in Nagaland and Manipur, sooner or later, you will notice a strange kind of ‘cow’ by the side of the road. This is the mithun or gayal, a cross-breed between domesticated buffalo and wild gaur. The latter is a large and exceptionally muscular wild bovine that roams the last undisturbed forests of India. The gaur is a browser, adapted to foraging in the forest and eating leaves. Crossing the wild, hard to domesticate gaur with the easier to handle buffalos – that require grass, which is less available in forested areas – made a lot of sense for the forest-dwelling Idu. As the mithuns are mainly kept for meat, they can roam freely in the forest till it is time to face the music. The latter happens mainly in the form of sacrificing to the gods at one of the many festive occasions, such as religious festivals, marriages and funerals.

Khonoma

The small village of Khonoma is peculiar in many ways. Home to the fierse Angami tribals, it managed to repel attacks by the British in 1847 and 1879. Thus, its main claim to fame is that it was never conquered. These days, its main draw is the beautiful traditional looking village with its green terraced rice fields, herbal trees, flowers, pomelo trees, squash gourd vines and megaliths, against the back-drop of densely forested hills. The inhabitants of Khonoma predominantly live of agriculture and, like all Nagas, used to be passionate hunters. However, in a rare case of communal ecological awareness, in 2001 they gave up all hunting and declared an area of 2000 hectares near the village a conservation area. Now known as the Tragopan Sanctuary, bird watchers often visit this forest to spot the Blyth’s Tragopan (a rare pheasant) and 200 other bird species.

HORNBILL FESTIVAL

The Hornbill festival is an indigenous, exotic, extraordinary event organised by the State Directorate of Tourism every year from December 1st to 10th. The festival is intended to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage. At this festival, one can see a fascinating melange of different Naga cultural displays all at one place. The festival is also a tribute to the hornbill, a bird most admired by the Naga people for its qualities of alertness and grandeur. The feathers of the hornbill (these days mock feathers, not taken from real birds) adorn the traditional tribal headgears. Local handicrafts and handlooms are on display at the festival, as well as organic fruits and vegetables. Stalls with an array of tempting Naga dishes help to lure food lovers as well.

Kohima

Kohima, situated on wooded hilltops at about 1450m, is the capital of Nagaland. Visiting the city is worthwhile for several reasons. Its main claim to fame are the fierce battles which took place in 1944 during World War II between Japanese troups invading from Burma (Myanmar) and Allied British-Indian troops. The latter eventually gained the upper hand. The battle is often referred to as the ‘Stalingrad of the East,’ because Kohima is the point of the furthest Japanese advance into British India. Kohima’s well-kept War Cemetery with the graves of 1400 Allied soldiers is a sobering place. A very well appointed war museum in Kisama, outside Kohima, brings this defining point in Indian history to life. It is situated on the same grounds where each year in December the spectacular Hornbill Festival is held (see next highlight).

Manipur Culture

Manipur, the name itself means the land of gems is one of the smallest states of North East India with the total area of 22,327 square kms. Ancient historical records reveal that the history of Manipur dates back to the 9th c , but the recent history dates back to 1762 when then king Raja Jai Singh joined hands with the British through a treaty to get rid of an invasion from Myanmar. Manipur is very rich from the cultural point of view and has given birth to an indigenous form of cultural dance namely Manipuri which is based on appreciating the life of Lord Krishna where the dancers perform wearing a very special attire with showing very delicate hand movements. The most prominent tribe of Manipur is Meithei who are largely Hindus. Women have a very special status among the Meiithei tribe and trade and all other important activities are controlled by them.

Imphal

Imphal is a very pleasant little city. One can stroll around on one’s own accord and visit, for instance, the Imaa Market. “Imaa” means “mothers” in Manipuri. The market is almost entirely populated by women, about 3000 of them. The supply of goods is huge. It ranges from textiles and traditional clothing to flowers and pottery. This is also an excellent place to pick up souvenirs, and a photographers’ delight. The Kangla Fort, located in the heart of the city, is Manipur’s main cultural-historical landmark. It is a vast complex of palaces, temples and ponds. Most of the buildings date from the time of King Khagemba (1597-1652 A.D.). After repelling a Chinese attack he learned the art of stone baking from the Chinese soldiers taken prisoner. He used this to build a large wall (against the next invasion of the Chinese).

Loktak Lake

Loktak lake, India’s largest fresh water lake is a beautiful spot. There are floating villages in the lake along with circular fishing ponds, many of which are naturally formed. Loktak lake is approximately covering an area of 40 square miles and it is the source of the river of Manipur. It is noteworthy that the river flows south through the valley into Burma where it merges with the Myittha river. Boating on the lake can give one a glimpse of its unique natural beauty. Part of Loktak Lake is protected under the name Keibul Lamjao National Park. This park is home to the very rare and endangered sangai deer, locally known as ‘dancing deer’ because it manages to walk over the floating vegetation of the lake. As is does so, the bobbing of the floats gives the deer a seemingly dancing way of walking.