luxury mountainside Voyaging to the Ziro Valley is one of the undisputed highlights of a trip to Arunachal Pradesh and,

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 Borua (HPB) Rd) and Blue Hill (%2601490; HPB Rd). All companies charge the same regulated fares.

555 Guwahati luxury mountainside Sights Eating 1 Assam State Museum. B2 15 Beatrix.C2 2 Courthouse. B2 16 Dhaba.D3 3 Dighulipukhuri Park. B2 17 Kurry Pot.D3 4 Guwahati Planetarium. B2 18 Paradise.D3 5 Kachari Ghat. B2 Tandoori. (see 9) 6 Umananda Mandir.B1 Drinking Activities, Courses & Tours 19 Caf Coffee 7 Network Travels. B3 Day.B2 8 Rhino Travels. A3 20 Trafik.D3 Traveller's luxury mountainside Point. luxury mountainside (see 13) Information Sleeping Assam Tourism.(see 13) 9 Dynasty. A3 10 Hotel Prag Continental. A2 Transport 11 Hotel Siroy Lily. B3 21 Blue Hill.B4 luxury mountainside 12 Hotel Suradevi. A3 22 Deep.B4 13 Prashaanti Tourist Lodge. B3 23 Kachari Bus 14 Sundarban Guest House. B3 Stand.B2 Old Guwahati AREA The distinctive beehive dome of the Courthouse (MG Rd) rises above attractive Dighulipukhuri Park (HB Rd; admission 5, boats per person 15; h9.30am-8pm) with its large tank full of row boats. The nearby Guwahati Planetarium (MG Rd; shows 15; hnoon & 4pm, closed 1st & 15th of the month) looks somewhere between a mosque and a landed UFO.

Private buses to head to Guwahati ( 700, 20 hours, 10am) and Dimapur ( 400, 10 hours, 10am) via Kohima ( 300, five hours). If you re heading to Aizawl you must change in Dimapur first. All the bus company offices are found on North AC Rd.

Voyaging to the Ziro Valley is one of the undisputed highlights of a trip to Arunachal Pradesh and, though the scenery is stunning and the village architecture fascinating, the voyeuristic main attraction here is meeting the friendly older Apatani folk who sport facial tattoos and nose plugs that would be the envy of any tattooist in the West (see p 566 ). The most authentic Apatani villages are Hong (the biggest and best known), Hijo (more atmospheric), Hari, Bamin and Dutta; none of which are more than 10km apart. It s vital to have a local guide to take you to any of these villages otherwise you won t see much and might even be made to feel quite unwelcome. Christopher Michi (%9402048466/8014012558; christopherdulley@ yahoo.co.in/christophermichi@hotmail.com) is the chairman of the Apatani Cultural Preservation Society and can organise superb visits luxury mountainside to the villages don t be at all surprised if your tour culminates luxury mountainside in an evening of drinking rice wine and chowing down on barbequed rat in a villager s house! luxury mountainside