alpine village cabins Sundarban Guest House HOTEL $ (%2730722; s/d from 385/550; a) A cheery, colourful hotel that s the b

SATRAS A satra is a monastery for Vishnu worship, Assam s distinctive form of everyman Hinduism. Formulated by 15th-century Assamese philosopher Sankardev, the faith eschews the caste system and idol worship, focussing on Vishnu as God, especially in his Krishna incarnation. Much of the worship is based around dance and melodramatic play-acting of scenes from the holy Bhagavad Gita. The heart of any satra is its namghar, alpine village cabins a large, simple, prayer hall usually open sided and shaped like an upside-down oil tanker. Beneath the eastern end, an inner sanctum hosts an eternal flame, the Gita and possibly alpine village cabins a horde of instructive (but not divine) images.

Sundarban Guest House HOTEL $ (%2730722; s/d from 385/550; a) A cheery, colourful hotel that s the best budget option in town and about the closest the northeast comes to a backpacker hangout. Rooms are atypically clean and tidy with stain-free alpine village cabins sheets, and management alpine village cabins is helpful. It s off Manipuribasti East (ME) Rd, in the fi rst side lane and away from road noise. alpine village cabins

567 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES W E S T E R N A R U N AC H A L P R A D E S H THE LAST SHANGRI LA? Recently the government of Arunachal Pradesh has opened up a couple of new areas to foreign tourists. Possibly the most exciting of these is the road from Along to the small, remote town of Mechuka, close to the Tibetan border. In the past the Mechuka valley, which until recently had no real road connecting it to the rest of the state, was called the forbidden alpine village cabins valley or even a Last Shangri La. Populated by the Buddhist Memba peoples, Mechuka, sitting on the banks of the West Siang River, alpine village cabins lives up to its Last Shangri La status and is notable for both the 400-year-old Samten Yongcha Monastery and the stunning landscapes surrounding alpine village cabins the town, which culminate in a massive hulk of snow- draped mountains alpine village cabins running along the border. For the moment tourist facilities (and tourists!) remain virtually alpine village cabins non-existent but sumos now ply the 180km from Along ( 300, seven hours, 5.30am). The only accommodation is the Circuit House, but if that is unavailable then it s likely that local people will put you up be generous in your donation. alpine village cabins the owners of which have realised that it is possible to buy new tins of paint a fairly alpine village cabins revolutionary thought for many hotels in the northeast. Otherwise try the plusher

La Villa GUESTHOUSE $ (%9435657282; jyoti24365@gmail.com; r from 300) Run by knowledgeable and keen-toplease Jyoti Naryan Sarma (who also acts as a guide), alpine village cabins this Garamur guesthouse has three brightly painted but uninspiring rooms overlooking an open-billed stork roosting site (whose dawn chorus will do away with any need for an alarm clock).