Places to visit in North East India
These are the places North East India trips are built from. Each trip page lists exactly which of them it covers, and a private trip can swap one for another.
- Guwahati: Kamakhya Temple and the Brahmaputra: The start of most trips: Kamakhya, one of the Shakti Peethas, on the Nilachal hill, the river ropeway over the Brahmaputra with views of Umananda on Peacock Island, and an evening river cruise on the longer plans.
- Kaziranga National Park: The UNESCO-listed park on the Brahmaputra plains, home to most of the world's one-horned rhinos, seen on a morning jeep safari; about four and a half hours from Guwahati, and usually open from about November to April or May.
- Shillong and Umiam Lake: Meghalaya's hill capital at about 1,500 m, with Ward's Lake, Police Bazaar, Elephant Falls and Shillong Peak, and the wide Umiam reservoir on the road up from Guwahati.
- Cherrapunji and the Nongriat root bridge: Nohkalikai and Seven Sisters falls, Mawsmai Cave and the Mawkdok valley, and about 3,500 steps down from Tyrna to the double-decker living root bridge at Nongriat for strong walkers.
- Mawlynnong and Dawki: The flower-lined village often called Asia's cleanest with its Riwai root bridge, and the Umngot river at Dawki on the Bangladesh border, so clear in the dry months that the boats seem to float on air.
- Sela Pass and Tawang: Over the Sela Pass at about 4,170 m (13,700 ft) and its lake to Tawang at about 3,000 m: the Tawang Monastery, the largest in India, the war memorial, and Nuranang Falls at Jang on the way back.
- Bum La and the Tawang lakes: The pass on the India–China border at about 4,600 m (15,200 ft), with Peng Teng Tso and Shungatser (Madhuri) Lake on the way; open to Indian citizens only, with army permission and fair weather on the day.
- Dirang and Bomdila: The valley town of Dirang and hilltop Bomdila with their monasteries, where the Tawang trips break the long drive up from the plains.
- Ziro Valley and Majuli: Ziro's rice fields and the villages of the Apatani people in Arunachal, and Majuli in Assam, one of the largest river islands in the world, reached by ferry for its satras and mask-making; both on the 18 day trip.
- Kohima, Khonoma and Kisama: Nagaland's capital with the Second World War cemetery and the State Museum, Khonoma, known as a green village, and Kisama, the heritage village where the Hornbill Festival is held in early December.
- Gangtok, Tsomgo Lake and North Sikkim: Sikkim's capital at about 1,650 m and MG Marg, the glacial Tsomgo Lake at about 3,750 m with Baba Mandir, and up north the Yumthang Valley above Lachung and Gurudongmar Lake at about 5,400 m.
- Darjeeling and Kalimpong: In West Bengal next door: the Tiger Hill sunrise over Kanchenjunga, the toy train at Batasia Loop, Ghoom Monastery and the tea gardens, and the quieter monasteries and viewpoints of Kalimpong.