gondola chalet 1 Sights Mizoram State Museum MUSEUM (Macdonald Hill, Zarkawt; admission 5; h9.30am5pm Mon-Fri) This

1 Sights Mizoram State Museum MUSEUM (Macdonald Hill, Zarkawt; admission 5; h9.30am5pm Mon-Fri) This museum has interesting exhibits on Mizo culture. It s up a steep lane from Sumkuma Point past Aizawl s most distinctive church, whose modernist bell- tower spire is pierced by arched windows.

HEAD HUNTERS Throughout northeastern India and parts of western Myanmar the Naga tribes were long feared for their ferocity in war and for their sense of independence both from each other and from the rest of the world. Intervillage wars continued as recently as the 1980s, and a curious feature of many outwardly modern settlements is their treaty stones recording peace settlements between neighbouring gondola chalet communities. It was the Naga s custom of headhunting that sent shivers down the spines of neighbouring peoples. The taking of an enemy s head was considered a sign of strength, and a man who had not claimed a head was not considered a man. Fortunately for tourists, headhunting was officially outlawed in 1935, with the last recorded occurrence in 1963. Nonetheless, severed gondola chalet heads are still an archetypal gondola chalet artistic motif found notably on yanra (pendants) that originally denoted the number of human heads a warrior had taken. Some villages, such as Shingha Changyuo in Mon district, still retain their hidden collection of genuine skulls. Today Naga culture is changing fast, but it was not a government ban on headhunting that put an end to this tradition but rather the activities of Christian missionaries. Over 90% of the Naga now consider themselves Christian.

The modern glass tower Baliram Building, on the corner of Naren Bose (NB) and NC/SC Roads, contains several floors of good dining. The ground-floor stand-up-and-eat dosa house (h6am-9pm) has South Indian fare and cheap breakfasts. Semismart China Villa (meals from 120; h10am-10.30pm) offers Indian and Chinese gondola chalet food in AC comfort, while the rooftop Chat House (snacks from 30; h8am-9.30pm) has an open-sided, but roofed, gondola chalet terrace for cooling breezes, views, Indian snacks, noodles, pizzas and momos.

Nestled before a curtain of luxuriantly forested foothills, Pasighat, which sits back out on the plains, feels more like Assam than Arunachal Pradesh. The town hosts the interesting Minyong-Adi tribe s Solung Festival (1-5 September). The internet cafe (per hr 60; h7.30am-8pm) is 50m from the Hotel Aane and there s an SBI ATM just along from the sumo stand in the central market area.