BACKPACKER SOLO TRAVEL ADVENTURE INTO NORTH EAST INDIA AND MYANMAR :- States of Manipur,,Nagaland and bordering country Myanmar..

In March 2018  i had visited a section of the North East with my trek to the "Double Roots Living Bridge" at Nongriat in Meghalaya testing the physical and mental limits of my human physiology.Read that travelogue by clicking on "Older Posts" at the bottom  end of this travelogue.

"AIR-TICKET" and discovering North East India.

                                                         Now in  November/December decided to visit the states of Manipur, Nagaland and also the neighboring Country of  Myanmar.On Tuesday(2/10/2018) @ Rs 5,514 booked my single  Mumbai to Imphal flight ticket through "www.cleartrip.com" and later on Thursday(18/10/2018)  @ Rs 4,955 booked the single return flight from Imphal back to Mumbai.
On Sunday(25/11/2018) left my residence in Prabhadevi at 2245 hrs and boarded a taxi to Santacruz Airport Terminal-1.Was early as usual and after checking in my trolley bag at the "Indigo " counter collected my boarding passes and passed the security check into the main passenger terminal lobby.After decades i had entered the domestic terminal since all my previous  flights in recent years were from Mumbai International airport "Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal-2".Noticed the Day and Night differences between International "Chhatrapati Terminal -2" and Domestic Santacruz "Terminal-1".As usual window-shopped the latest book releases and later began browsing and blogging my own releases !

Landing at Hyderabad. Transit and a change of flights to final destination Imphal.

Monday(26-11-2018) Departure Mumbai and arrival Imphal:- At 0145 hrs boarded Indigo  Flight No "6E272" at gate No 18 and the plane take-off was punctual at 0230 hrs.Landed  in "Rajiv Gandhi International airport " in  Hyderabad at 0340 hrs and entered one of the best airports in the World.The Domestic terminal is spacious and large with numerous shops .

Luxurious flight from Hyderabad to Imphal.

                                                                                                                                After the normal security check headed to gate No 104 and was surprised to see the entire large lounge packed with passengers and finding a rest seat was difficult.The plane was delayed by three hours and whiled away my time on the Internet in the chill cold.Was given a breakfast hamper and later at 0830 hrs boarded the plane.Plane took off at 0910 hrs and it was a pleasant journey as the two seats besides me were vacant since  the Airbus 320 was not full to capacity. Excellent sightseeing from the plane window as  the sky was clear and visibility excellent.Nearing Imphal the scenery of the mountains was beautiful and for the first time during my air travel picked up "Internet" from my "Reliance Gio" sim card, a wonder of science.

View of "LOKTAK LAKE" while landing in Imphal.

                           Just before landing in Imphal got a beautiful view of Loktak lake and its floating Phundis. Landed in Imphal and boarded a shared auto-rickshaw costing Rs 150 per person .Was dropped in the bustling market area and after some inquiries discovered Hotel City Heart situated on M.G Avenue and was allotted "Room N0 118" costing Rs 600/night,my normal budget stays on tours within India.Nice cosy room with TV and on switching onn the T.V the iconic Hindi film "Sholay" was  my "Bonny(Hindi slang for First)" welcome into the hotel room.Ironic as akin to America's former "Wild West" on which the film Sholay was based  i would be travelling into the "Wild East " of India still to be discovered.After a  bucket of hot water bathe inquired with the hotel manager about the locale and tourists spots realizing that this hotel was situated in the heart of Imphal. The manager was extremely helpful as were 90 % of the manager's in all the hostel's, hotel's and home-stay's that i lived during my discovery travels.

Hawkers selling vegetables outside the "Ima Keithel" market in Imphal Next to the tomatoes is the "Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper)" chili pepper  , a trademark cultivation in the North Eastern States of India.In 2007 "Guinness World of Records" certified the "Ghost Pepper ( Bhut Jolokia)" as the World's hottest chili pepper.It subsequently lost that "World Record" title but still remains one of the World's hottest chilies.Don't depart from the North East without taking a bite of the "Bhut Jolokia" chili pepper.

A glimpse of  500 year old "IMA KEITHEL MARKET(Mother's Market)",  in Imphal , definitely the largest all women managed market in the World. History research suggests that this  female-only workforce originated as a result of the enforcement of the Lallup-Kaba, an ancient forced labour system in Manipur that sent men of the Meitei community to cultivate faraway lands and fight wars. The women stayed back in the villages, working in their own paddy fields, taking care of their household and selling their farm produce in improvised markets. This led to the creation of markets where women played a central role, the most important and largest one being the Ima Keithal.

                                                                                                                   .Walked out of the hostel as directed by the manager and on reaching the  turn at a dead end walked straight inquiring about the World famous "Ima Keithel Market" and "Luxmi Kitchen"restaurant  to satisfy my hunger pangs .

"FISH SECTION" of Ima Keithel Market.

                                              First passed across the sprawling Ima Keithel market deciding to visit it after my lunch at famous Manipuri restaurant "Luxmi Kitchen".A few ladies directed me towards Luxmi Kitchen situated on the road opposite Ima Keithel Market.."Luxmi Kitchen" is a normal restaurant situated on the ground floor of a large building and has wonderful reviews of its "Manipuri Thali" and hence began my Bonny tour of Imphal by having a "Manipuri thali".At a cost of Rs 180 the food was sumptuous and definitely something different to my taste buds and i relished the food although a bit guilty since i couldn't consume the total rice served in my thali. For the first time tasted bamboo vegetables . After lunch walked the short distance across the crowded street  into the sprawling "Ima Keithel Market".

"Room No 118" in "Hotel City Heart" in Imphal.

                                                                                                        

The sight that greeted my eyes floored me for never in my life did i come across such a large market whose entire management was by women. Apologize for bragging about 76 country's and entire India travel personal experience but then will modesty land you a good job or approval ratings if in show Bizz ? The dried fish sold by the women shopkeepers reminded me of Entebbe in Uganda as akin to Entebbe the fish products are all sweet water lake fish and hence a common drying or fermenting process between two entirely different cultures. Travel educates.Another  fact discovered was that banana's my favorite fruit was dirt cheap in Imphal costing Rs10/dozen or more !

Early morning street hawkers selling their products on either sides of this road leading towards "IMA MARKET(Mothers Market)" in Imphal. Note the time .Its only 0612 hrs in the morning and this open air market bazaar is open to business. The enclosed buildings on  either sides of this road housing the "Ima Keithel" market opens much later.Dried lake  fish  resembling the dried fish i saw on the pavements in Entebbe in Uganda , fruits and vegetables are the common products sold by these street hawkers.

Dried lake  Fish  sold by street hawkers.

                                                                        In entire India i have never come across banana's sold at such cheap rates with banana's in Europe being a luxury fruit and will never ever forget  paying 1 Euro for a single  stale almost over ripe  banana  in August at Berlin airport .Completed my  visit of the entire market which consisted of two sections , a common vegetables,fruits,fish market on one side of the road  while on the opposite side to it was the hosiery market.From the market walked back to the hotel and was unhappy on realizing that Internet WiFi was not available inside the hotel premises.Went onto the open street and set up my computer on a scooter with excellent "Reliance Gio Dongle " WiFi akin to First Word country's.The weather was pleasant and cool as i was wearing a sweater.Since i had not slept a entire 24 hrs  had one of the best nights in bed as far as sleep is concerned with a good 8 hrs of non-awakening slumber in my cozy hotel room .

A boat ride on Loktak Lake amidst the PHUNDIS.

"AM I ON THE MOON OR PLANET EARTH " ? On a "PHUNDI" in Lake Loktak.The World's only lake that has small and large floating islands known as "PHUNDIS" .

Tuesday(27/11/2018) Imphal :- Woke up at 0430 hrs my usual wake up time but i had been sleeping since 1900 hrs non-stop, something i can't recollect in recent years with 4 to 5 hrs being my normal sleep time in 24 hrs.

PHUNDI'S (Floating Islands) on Loktak Lake.

                                                                                                                          After my normal toilet routines got dressed and headed towards Ima .Keithel market. As the Sun rises first in the Northeast in India it was bright daylight with street hawkers selling their wares outside the street facing Ima Keithel market.At 0615 hrs arrived at  the shared taxi stand which is situated on the road opposite Ima Keithel market. Boarded a shared  taxi to Moirang packed with 13 local passengers . The fare at Rs 60/passenger definitely seemed exorbitant considering that we were packed like sardines into the tiny mini van..Reached Moirang at 0745 hrs  which is at a distance of 45 Kms from Imphal   with the small town market just opening for business. While alighting the taxi my Smartphone fell from my pocket and the honesty of a fellow local passenger saved my day and smartphone.

On the Boat heading to explore a PHUNDI.

                                               He immediately stopped me and gave me my phone which was the first time in my life someone returned back something i would have lost or was  stolen from me.Breakfast was local Jalebi/boiled egg costing only Rs 20 and as usual was getting a feel of the local life of Manipur. as i do in all places  both in India or Worldwide.My destination was Loktak lake and on inquiry was directed to a shared taxi  just a short walking distance from the main town market.Boarded the packed mini car taxi paying Rs 15 and was in Sendra resort within 10 minutes.I was the earliest tourist and hence just loitered around the boating resort  and later walked up the small hill to Sendra resort.

A clear view of the PHUNDI'S from Sendra hill resort.

                                                                                                                                A beautiful expensive hotel resort overlooking Loktak lake and the main showcase of the tourism surrounding Loktak lake and its unique Phundis. Cherry blossom saplings were recently planted on Sendra hill naming the locale cherry blossom avenue.There is a army cantonment base next to the resort and some Bhajans were being played which was clearly audible at the resort. From Sendra Resort walked downhill back to the boating wharf and after inquiries hired a boat for a small ride across the lake and most important the experience of stepping onto the World's only floating islets or islands depending on size.Cost of the boat ride was Rs 300 and yes i am no miser as far as discovery travels and sightseeing is concerned.It was a excellent boat ride with the young  boatman

View of Sendra island park resort and Boat jetty .

 Shri  Pukhrambam.Gandhi.Meitei  giving me a brief summary of the lake with me being one of the early bird tourists  on the lake .Although a veteran  Seadog with the sea and water being my intermittent  home for over two decades   i was not bored on this boating trip as it was a amazing sight of seeing the Phundis all over the lake.

Finally the boatman beached our small boat on one of the Phundis and i can imagine how astronaut Neil Armstrong must have felt when he first stepped onto the moon. Felt i had stepped onto a different planet within our own planet with the earth below me on the Phundi being  akin to "Sinking Sand" with  the cushioning effect of a mattress.Water oozed from the damp soil akin to stepping on a wet sponge.

Visit to the "I.N.A Museum" in Moirang.

                                            Honestly i felt and behaved like a child least embarrassed that some of my contemporaries were grandfathers. Advantages of being a bachelor is having no inhibitions and a freedom for travel provided you have a decent bank balance and reasonable physical strength.And my honest suggestion to aspiring adventure travellers  is please do not wait until you retire from a employment or a business to discover the travel wilderness that India let alone the World has to offer.Travel is expensive whether in my home country of India or other Country's
   

Main Entrance to "I.N.A Museum" in Moirang.

                            Biggest deterrent for  travel is suitable  "Holiday Leave" which is  the Achilles heel of the high income  employed and the self employed  businessman and hence a balance between "Monetary Work" and "Leisure Work" has to be maintained akin to Martial discipline which i employ in my daily living which is  a byproduct of my decades of  "Merchant Navy" employment .In fact  barring the expensive air fares i personally feel travel to foreign country's is cheaper as accommodation is cheap and at a fixed rate in most Country's in comparison to India. From Loktak lake  boarded a shared taxi back to Moirang  and visited the "I.N.A Museum" situated in the main town of Moirang. The museum opens at 1000 hrs and i was the first tourist to enter this excellently well maintained museum.

Internal view of the "I.N.A Museum(Indian National Army)" complex in Moirang. Photography inside the museum is prohibited.Excellently maintained museum with a detailed photographic history of the "I.N.A" and Subhas.Chandra.Bose.

 Browsed through the photographs revising my history texts studies also getting a photographic glimpse for the first time of the Battle of Imphal  and Kohima as also the brief photograph history of the Indian National Army and its allegiance with the Germans and Japanese during World War II.

Entrance to  KEIBUL LAMJAO NATIONAL PARK.

          Later a package tourist group  consisting of doctors made their entry into the museum and gradually tourists began filling the museum space.From the museum   my next destination was  the Keibul Lamjao national park with a 10% probability of seeing one of the World's most endangered deer and the national animal of the State of Manipur, the Sangai or Brow-Antlered deer. Boarded a shared taxi packed as usual  and was  dropped at the "Sangai festival ground" which was one of the venues in Imphal for the "Sangai Festival".Entered the ground which had festival stalls along the circumference and a stage with seating arrangements in the centre .Inquired about the National park with a lady security guard and she directed me to the entrance which was a short walk from this  "Sangai Festival Ground".

Boat jetty situated  below the "Tourist Observation Hill" for rides along the waterways of Keibul Lamjao National Park to sight the elusive Sangai(Brow Antlered deer) deer.This is the only floating park in the World and a integral part of the Loktak Lake.I was extremely lucky in spotting a female Sangai grazing in the distance through Telescopic binoculars erected by the Park tourism department at the watchtower on the hill facing the boat jetty.

 Entrance ticket to the National park was Rs 30 only and after walking quite a distance alone inside the park realized that tourists visited the park either in cars or on motorcycles. Keibul Lamjao national park is the only floating park in the World being a island of 40 Sq Km within Loktak lake.

 

 View of Keibul Lamjao park with its tall elephant grass.

Few lucky tourists including me to view the SANGAI.

                                                           The tourist  path in the national park is a road along the circumference of the park with a portion fenced and hence while walking or driving along the road there is always a chance to see the elusive endangered Sangai. Walking is safe within the park as there are no "Big Cats" in Keibul Lamjao national park as the terrain is inhospitable for "Big Cats".Was about to return back to the exit/entrance gate when i observed cars passing alongside heading towards some destination ahead of me and hence decided to follow the trail.My sixth sense was right and after walking a lonesome  kilometer reached the boating site of the park.Tourists are given boat rides inside the park but usually  in big groups as its cheaper than being a solo traveller hiring a entire boat.

                                                                                                                                                 I was at the right place at the right time and the boatman pointed out at a Sangai deer in the distance on a patch of flat grassland.He told me that i could view the same with binoculars from the viewing gallery  on the small hill facing the boat jetty.Immediately did some hectic trekking up the small hill and was not surprised to see a few tourists all excited at the viewing point.On viewing through binoculars spotted a wild boar with the Sangai having disappeared into the tall elephant grass.Later the resort guide fixed a powerful telescopic lens and on payment of Rs 10  finally got a clear view of a female Sangai casually grazing in the distance.I could be the envy of "Bragger's Rights Club" for having seen a Sangai on my very first visit to the park.Jackpot !

"Moirang Sangai Festival" :- The "SANGAI FESTIVAL" named after the State animal the "Sangai Deer" was in progress from Wednesday(21/11/2018) until Friday(30/11/2018) at various locations in Manipur.. One of the Venue's of the Sangai Festival in Manipur  was at  Moirang in close proximity to the Keibul Lamjao National Park.

                                                                                                                              Satisfied and on a intoxicating  high after viewing the Sangai deer  finally decided to trek down the hill and walk the long marathon distance back to the park entrance gate.

Beautiful Paddy fields on road from Moirang to Imphal

                                                                                                                              Providence came to my rescue as i hitched a ride on a biker riding a Royal Enfield Thunderbird and as our conversation developed realized that Mr Ketan.Joshi was a professional cruiser on bikes.He had transported his bike to Guwahati by rail and from Guwahati was on a bike cruise of the North East with the Hornbill festival being his next destination.Thanked Ketan for the ride and walked back to the Sangai festival ground  thinking that there would be some entertainment or sports.Relaxed on one of the empty chairs listening to local music played over speakers and later had a snack in one of the food stalls realizing that all the festival action would be at night.Next  boarded a shared taxi back to Moirang and on arrival at at Moirang was lucky to get the local Government bus which was spacious and cheap at Rs 45/ person in comparison to the packed shared mini taxi's.Sun rises as well as sets early in Eastern India and after arriving at my hotel went up to the terrace and began my laptop/smart phone blogging and browsing.Keeps me going on the road of travelling solo.You are never ever alone in the world of Internet technology.

On a Manipuri Pony at Kangla Fort Polo ground. A ride on one of the original polo breed of pony's .The sport of "POLO" has its origins in Imphal and the Imphal pony was the original breed of pony's used by the locals in playing Polo.

Wednesday(28/11/2018) Imphal :- Back to my normal 4-5 hrs sleep time waking up at 0415 hrs and after my toilet routines busy on the laptop on the hotel terrace.The terrace is also a common boarding and lodging for the common hotel staff  with just bunks being their accommodation.

Sangai Festival on Hapta Kanjebung ground in Imphal

                                                                       .One section of the terrace was  open to the atmosphere  and my "Reliance Jio" rendezvous for the World of Internet .Later at 0800 hrs made my way out of the hotel and had a breakfast of "Bhaji /Paav/tea "  at a restaurant next to my hotel.Walked the now familiar route towards Ima Keithel market with the pavement street hawkers already in business before the main market opened.Walked towards the Polo ground and made inquiries about the "Hapta Kanjebung " ground and "Bhagyachandra open air theatre" which were the main venues for the Sangai festival in the State of Manipur.Locals guided me and boarded a shared auto-rickshaw costing Rs 10/person to the junction of Imphal city convention centre. From there it was a short walk to Hapta Kanjebung ground which was devoid of visitors  in the morning.Was told that the main festivities begin from afternoon onwards and a young handsome Sub-Inspector Mr Mohan.Chandran in  civilian clothing  took my "whats App" number and mailed me the programme list.For the first time in my life i had come across a Police official who went out of his way to help me.

Pakhangba Temple inside Kangla Fort. Bhudhou Pakhangba is the ruling deity of Manipur.

                                                                              We average  Indians are usually afraid of anyone in "POLICE UNIFORM" ranging from the common ranked Constable to the officer's level Inspector's.

Sangai Festival photograph exhibition in Kangla Fort.

    I myself once had a bad experience when i went to a police station in Mumbai to lodge a police complaint regarding misuse of my cell-phone.The Police Inspector made me appear as the culprit and wanted to arrest me rather than investigate the case and track down the culprit  misusing my phone? All policemen in uniform are definitely  not corrupt but as in any profession its the few "Dirty Dozen" that gives the profession a bad name.That day i happened to lodge a complaint with one of the "Dirty Dozen" and that's a long story by itself which thankfully had a happy ending.Since then i am a bit  nervous when i see a Indian policeman or think of approaching  policeman. In fact i mistook Sub Inspector Mr Mohan.Chandran  to be a collegian or a volunteer and really surprised when he casually told me he was a cop !

Manung Thangapat of Kangla Fort.

                                                                                             My image of the Indian policeman changed after the meeting with Mr Mohan.Chandran and hope he is the New India of authority in uniform. In foreign country's have always approached policemen for directions including my latest tour in July/August  to Europe where in Berlin two burly tall  German policemen gave  me directions  to Hitler's bunker locale.Made my way out of the grounds and was lucky to get a lift on a scooter from a local Manipuri Mr Rajesh who dropped me at the market.Walked into Ima Keithel market and just couldn't help admiring the entrepreneurship of this large group of women. Bizarrely meat products are not sold in this market with fish being the only non-vegetarian products sold inside this large market.                                                                                                                                             

With Pony handler Ribardo  inside the Kangla Fort.

Tasted the Pakoda's from one of the stalls which at Rs 10/plate was a steal in terms of pricing.Next visited the fish section and got a view of typical lake fish sold in most parts of North India and Mumbai.I was now at "Home" in just a day of stay in Imphal thanks to decades of sailing and now travelling that makes me adjust to situations and locales akin to a change in a actor's wardrobe depending on the script or locale of the movie.Shah Rukh Khan are you reading me ? Made my way back to the hotel and relaxed as today was rest day from hectic travel with "POLO" and "Sangai Festival" in Imphal city being my day's agenda.At approximately 1130 hrs made my way back into the main city and headed towards Kangla Fort.Entrance ticket to the Fort was Rs 30  and was surprised at the sprawling estate of this former palace complex.

HIJAGANG  inside Kangla Fort.There are 4 boats inside the Hijagang. Middle two boats used by the Royal families known as "Hiyang Hirel" and the other 2 boats for common people called "Tanna Hee".These boats are used during the "Boat Race Festival". 

                                                                                                                                               Later had a ride on a Manipur pony of the polo ground of the palace .Ribardo the young pony handler filmed a few photo's and i also made a video creating awareness of the imminent extinction of this breed of pony.Sad that this pony is facing extinction as its no longer used in the sport of Polo although this breed was the foundation breed of pony's for the sport of Polo which has its origins in Manipur and Imphal.

Imphal "POLO GROUND ( MAPAL KANGJEIBUNG )"  situated in the heart of Imphal city within walking distance from landmark Ima Keithel  market and is considered the World's oldest polo ground.

 This breed of pony is not majestic or handsome in appearance beside's horses are expensive to maintain and hence the decline in this breed of original polo ponies.

Demonstration of "ARAMBA" on Polo ground.

                                                                                                                                         There was a photographic exhibition on the fort grounds and viewed some excellent black and white historical photo's of Manipur culture and locales.From Kangla Fort visited the Polo ground which is considered the oldest polo ground in the World from where the sport of Polo originated.There was no polo match for the day with the finals being tomorrow and was amazed on seeing a exhibition of horsemanship cavalry by local Manipurians called Aaramba. A group of pony riders rode onto the polo ground and threw small spears into the air aiming at the enemy akin to using bows and arrows.A few also demonstrated the art of falling from a running horse commonly seen in films.I was was getting a front row exhibition of the Wild North East of India at the Polo ground.

Indigenous Manipur sport  on Polo Ground.

 After the demonstration of "Aaramba" the next event was a local Manipur game having 7  bare chested players on each side using a form of a hockey stick and a hockey ball with goalposts akin to polo posts on either sides of the two teams.The game was a mixture of hockey and rugby  and tough on the human body .From the Polo ground made my way to "O.K Restaurant" situated next to my hotel and my late lunch was one of the most pungent chicken dishes in my life.This restaurant is famous with a lot of write-ups and seems locals love pungent food.Somehow finished my lunch as its not everyday that i eat food as pungent as eating chilies itself !Food was tasty and fresh but i am not accustomed to pungent food.

Queue for entrance to Sangai Festival Ground.

                                                                                                             A group of tourists from Kolkata were also complaining about the excessive pungentness of the meals so i was not the only one among the diner's complaining of pungentness. The bill was Rs 200 and so finally in Imphal i had become a local by dining in the two most popular restaurants of the city besides tasting snacks in the World famous Ima Keithel  market.After lunch walked the short distance into my hotel room.After a brief rest and a bucket of hot water bath made my way out of the hotel and the now familiar route to Ima Market and further towards the Polo ground.Boarded a packed shared auto-rickshaw that carried 7 of us with two of us sitting on either sides of the driver.It was akin to extreme adventure sports travel or  similar to travelling on the sideboards of  Mumbai's city trains at peak travel hours.
       

A Manipuri  Rock/Pop Concert in progress in one section of the sprawling "Hapta Kanjebung ground " in Imphal city  celebrating  Sangai Festival.

 The entire city streets were decorated with lights for the Sangai festival something not seen in daylight.Real adrenaline junkie ride to City Convention Centre where i alighted the rickshaw and stood in queue to book entrance tickets costing Rs 30/person to the "Sangai Festival" .

"INPUI Tribe VILLAGE HUT" on display 

                     The entire street was crowded  with the youth and locals  of Imphal and it amazed me that in the morning i literally strolled all alone into this  empty festival ground thinking to myself i was in the midst of some lack lustre but highly advertised and overrated  cultural festival.Don't blame me for my first impression for  even at the Keibul Lamjao festival ground  yesterday the entire grounds was devoid of footfalls in daylight.My image of the festival immediately changed on seeing the crowded street and decorated street lightnings. There was a heavy security check but tourists including your's truly were allowed a certain leeway  and on entering the Hapta Kanjebung festival ground had to rub my eyes in disbelief as just in the morning this entire place was empty as can be seen in the previous photograph.

Yours Truly at the Sangai Festival in Imphal city.

                                                                                    The entire ground was packed with people and the lighting decorations was excellent and aesthetic. Manipur has 33 different tribes and village tribal huts were erected on the ground with a description of each tribe's culture and method of construction of their bamboo and thatched roof huts.As in all fairs there were numerous stalls and at one corner a rock/pop band was belting local Manipur songs.At another section of the open ground there was a recital of local Manipur songs and the entire ground was jam packed and bustling with happiness and enthusiasm.Entered a "Inpui tribal hut "  of the village of Haochong and got to taste their local "Rice beer" and pork. Remember that Manipur is a "Dry State" and liquor banned and hence the rice beer costing Rs 100/bottle tasted like palm toddy but with  almost zero alcohol content.

A taste of "Rice beer " & Pork in "Inpui tribal  Hut".

                                                                           The pork costing  Rs  20/piece was delicious and finally did get a taste of tribal delicacies of Manipur. From the large fair ground walked over to the "Bhaghyachandra Open Air theatre " situated adjacent to the main ground across a narrow road and was amazed at its design and decor..When i entered the amphitheater  a Tamil dance recital was in progress and although a westernized Pop/Rock/Rap fan beside's listening to  Hindi film music found this local cultural programme fascinating.

"Bhaghyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT).

 .

After the Tamil troupe presentation  next watched the Manipur troupe display and honestly i didn't feel bored although a illiterate in Indian classical music and dance.Was sad to leave the venue early as transportation to Ima Keithel market would be a difficult task if i stayed until 2100 hrs closing time.

Tamil NaduTroupe displaying classical dance and music in "Bhaghyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT).

Manipur Troupe displaying classical dance and music in "Bhaghyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT).

 Left the venue at 1930 hrs and since the road and pedestrian traffic was diverted due to the festival had to walk a long detour to reach the main road  junction and was lucky to get a shared auto-rickshaw  back to the Market locale .

Deserted Ima Keithel Market locality at only 2000 hrs .

                                                                                                                         
Was surprised on seeing the entire market locale shut at 1945 hrs barring a few street hawkers outside the landmark Ima Keithel market.Travel educates.As a fellow Indian from Mumbai accustomed to nightlife i just couldn't believe that commercial shopping and entertainment  came  to a close before 2000 hrs in Imphal,one of the capital state city's of India.. Let alone foreigners but  we Indian's ourselves would need a lifetime understanding different cultures and lifestyles within our own Country.This is what makes India unique and great, its diversity and unity among different geographical regions of the Country.On reaching the hotel the manager informed me to be ready in the morning for departure to Moreh.

The "FRIENDSHIP BORDER GATE" as seen from the Indian border town of Moreh. A Indian or Burmese citizen can enter each others country's and visit the border towns with a "Day Pass"   without a passport or Visa.Simple identification papers  like Voter's I.D.Card, Aadhar Card or P.A.N Card  for Indian tourists to get the "Day Pass " having a time limit from 0700 hrs to 1600 hrs.

Thursday(29/11/2018) Imphal to Moreh and visiting my seventy seventh country Myanmar   :- As usual a almost sleepless night with just 4 hrs of sleep and the advantages of being a partial insomniac.

Dangerous and beautiful mountainous road to Moreh.

                                                                                         Was awake at 0300 hrs and later officially woken by the manager at 0430 hrs for getting ready to board the shared taxi to Moreh.Bizarrely there was no water supply and somehow managed to do my normal routines and get dressed.The shared taxi arrived at 0515 hrs and as there were two taxi's my luggage was transferred onto the other while i had a excellent front row seat next to the driver.We began the road journey to Moreh in daylight at 0530 hrs with a thick  mist making visibility difficult and should say the driver's have to be skilled in driving under such conditions.After about a hours drive i was transferred back to the other taxi which had my luggage and it was a comfortable journey through beautiful mountainous terrain with excellent music on the car stereo.

A view of the main road of Namphalong Town. Notice the cleanliness.

Had to pass through many strict army checkpoints which as a city dweller in distant Mumbai made me realize the practical reality of  insurgencies existing in parts of our Country.

Fish sellers in  Namphalong Bazar.

Finally at 0830 hrs reached Moreh Bazar  and after a few inquiries got accommodation in "De Khunai Resort" and was allotted "Room N0 107" costing Rs 500/day. A large self contained attached/bathe  room but without T.V or the luxury of a hot water bathe.There was a giant size T.V in the main lobby of the hotel providing entertainment to the hotel guests.The day temperature in Moreh was warmer in comparison to Imphal and with great reluctance forced myself into a cold water bathe driving the fear of cold away from my psyche and body. The secret of getting rid of your fears is confronting them and by taking a cold water bathe i had driven the fear of "COLD" !No i am not a Psychologist but a practical researcher on my own psychology.Got straight down to study and began work on my laptop which was also relaxing .I was surprised at the excellent "Reliance Jio" Dongle  internet connectivity in my hotel room which compensated for the lack of a T.V.At noon had lunch at "AC Hotel", a local Moreh hotel serving local food which was the normal fish thali with a little extra chicken.

A traditional Burmese house in Namphalong. Notice the entire house structure weight rests on traditional "Burmese Teak Wood".

After lunch inquired about directions to the border gate which was a short walking distance from the hotel.I was astounded at the relaxation of border formalities since August 2018 with the Indian security guard just checking my Aadhar card and letting me go akin to walking into a theatre or concert on showing a valid ticket.Great progress in cross country travel from India and now only hope that akin to First World Country Citizen's Indian tourists are welcomed into most country's with a "Visa on Arrival" which makes travelling easier.

One of the largest tender coconuts in my lifetime.

                       In fact  obtaining the "I.L.P (Inner Line Permit) for my visit to Arunachal Pradesh in March this year  had more Red Tapism than entering Myanmar ! As a Indian citizen we Indians require special permission to travel within our own Country ? I am no Politician and so let's leave politics to the Politicians but i personally feel travelling formalities should be eased within our own country as also by other country's.On stepping into Namphalong Town on the Burmese side i could immediately feel a certain difference and remember this was my seventy seventh country of travel. Does Myanmar have a higher per/capita income than India ? Definitely not.

Street hawkers at Namphalong Border in Myanmar.

.
                                                       .The entrance road was packed with shop's and street hawkers but was definitely much cleaner than Moreh Town on the Indian side which perplexed my reasoning as to why we Indians although economically a mighty Asian power still lagged way behind other Asian nations in cleanliness .The entire road and adjoining street near the border gate was  crowded with shop's selling all types of good's ranging from electronics to hosiery and alcoholic drinks.Although Manipur is a "Dry State" liquor is permitted in Moreh as it is a border town.Noticed "Yamaha Mopeds" as the most popular mode of transport with a few  moped and scooter  garages in the vicinity of Namphalong market.

Hosiery section of Namphalong Bazaar.

                                                                                                                                                 Spotted some of the largest coconuts i had seen in a long time and drinks was a tender coconut juice costing Rs 50  followed by  snacks which was the coconut kernel after consuming the juice.Strolled further away from the main bazaar of Namphalong and fell in love with the Burmese countryside with its village atmosphere and a picturesque  few houses raised on stilt logs .Absolutely rustic and if Moreh on the Indian side was the Wild East of India then Namphalong could be nicknamed  the Old Burma of Myanmar.My school textbook study was vividly coming alive in Namphalong which seems to have resisted the fact that change is permanent. This was the Burma preserved within Modern Myanmar that was akin to walking into a "Burma Street Museum".Came across a large Krishna temple and two Christian Baptist churches .A few of the women shop traders and hawkers had their faces smeared with herbal paste , a tradition not seen in India.

"De Khunai Resort" building illuminated.A landmark.

       After strolling across the countryside of Namphalong made my way back to the bustling bazaar and entered the large hosiery wing of the bazaar.Was  absolutely  not surprised to see a vast range of fake luxury clothing on sale with Nike and  Adidas brands topping the list.The same is available in my home city of Mumbai but the counterfeit clothing of Namphalong was of extremely high quality and honestly only a connoisseur of these brands would be able to tell the difference between a fake and the original.Purchased a rechargeable hand torch and a pair of rubber sandals before crossing the border back to India and strolling  the short walk to "De Khunai Resort".Darkness sets in within 1700 hrs and the weather got chill akin to Imphal although the cold was  less severe.The hotel building  had a "SB.I." branch on its ground floor and the entire building was lit up with decorative lights, a standout in the drab locale of Moreh Bazaar, a one horse border  town.

Pungi Chow Monastery in Tamu in Myanmar.A sprawling Buddhist  monastery complex situated on a small hill overlooking the town of Tamu.

Friday(30/11/2018) Moreh..Discovering Tamu in Myanmar and back to Imphal :- After my usual 4 hrs sleep was awake and busy on my smartphone.The "Reliance Gio" network was excellent in my hotel room unlike in Imphal where i had to go to the terrace for my Internet connection and hence updated my backlog of the travelogue.

Tamu Bazaar :- A large .clean and tidy vegetable cum meat and fish market..

 Officially at 0630 hrs headed out of the hotel in a shirt rather than jacket as the weather was cool and pleasant unlike Imphal which was chill cold in the mornings. After a cup of tea at a roadside stall walked the short distance to familiar "Gate N0 2" for my casual  morning stroll  into Burma now Myanmar.

 At 0700 hrs entered Myanmar into a timezone that is one hour ahead of I.S.T and found it hilarious to just stroll for a walk into a different Country and time zone. A Chaplinesque comedy stroll !Breakfast drink was tender coconut water at my regular vendor and after a few inquiries boarded a shared rickshaw to Tamu costing Rs 20/person that was packed with young school kids.

In "Pungi Chow" monastery complex.

                                                                             What impressed me most about Namphalong  and the road journey to Tamu was the cleanliness in comparison to Moreh in India.Otherwise not much difference between village style living in India and Myanmar  barring the few  traditional log stilted houses and a difference in languages and culture. Tamu Bazaar is the terminus for the Namphalong - Tamu rickshaw service and was the only tourist in Tamu at that time of the morning.Strolled around the sprawling vegetable and fish/meat market  once again observing the cleanliness in comparison to the average Indian market.From the market trekked the short distance to "Pungi Chow Buddhist  Monastery" situated on a small hillock within Tamu town and distinctly visible from the Bazaar locality.

Pungi Chow Buddhist  Monastery Complex.

                                                                                                                                         Admired the simple living lifestyle of the average Burmese and surprisingly noticed that there were no public urinals unlike in most Indian cities. On seeing a Burmese farmhouse requested permission from  the occupant cleaning the estate  to use their outdoor toilet.Noticed a pig-pen on a corner of the estate with the lone pig eating its morning meal before it became a meal itself.There were beautiful traditional  Burmese style farmhouses in the vicinity of the hillock .The Monastery complex occupied the entire hillock and some construction or repair work was in progress on the main monastery building.From the Monastery complex the view of Tamu  city and and its surroundings is beautiful.There are no tall buildings in Tamu with most modern bungalow style residences and buildings being not more than 3 to 4 storey's. Another glaring observation is the difference in population density between Tamu and Moreh. We Indian's are very soon going to overtake China in the population race. From the monastery walked back to the market and tasted some local street delicacies of Myanmar.A hawker on a cycle was selling steaming hot white coloured eatables that resembled "Indian Idli's" and on inquiry was told that there were two varieties of which one was was stuffed with dal and the other with coconut.

Burmese street food delicacy outside Market.

                            Purchased the steaming hot "Coconut Idli" which was a excellent pancake stuffed with jaggery sweetened dried coconut kernel. Couldn't believe that this delicacy sold for only Rs 10.Next tried some local "Pakoda's" with "tamarind/chilly Chutney" that was again unbelievably cheap at Rs 10.Decided to return back to Imphal as there was not much of sightseeing in Tamu besides experiencing a different culture and way of lifestyle.Boarded a shared auto-rickshaw back to Namphalong with the nominal fare of Rs 20/person and had my last snack on Burmese soil at "Dagon Restaurant".How could i leave Myanmar without a taste of their beer and local cuisine and starters for the day was "Myanmar beer" with fried pork and soup costing a total of Rs 170 .

Plush modern  concrete Mansions in Tamu

  After "Starters" in Burma now Myanmar walked the short distance into India and a new time zone back to the hotel.After a refreshing chill cold water bathe decided i could attempt swimming the "English Channel" as i had now got accustomed to the cold climate of the North East.Checked out of the hotel at 1130 hrs and whiled away my time in the hotel lounge updating my work while watching the Hindi  movie " Mission Istanbul" on the giant T.V screen.My lasting impression of the little time i spent on Burmese soil was that money is not the key to happiness although a necessity for comfort .Later permanently checked out of the hotel with my luggage and a shared taxi driver outside the hotel told me to travel in his taxi as a  family was checking out of the hotel at the same time as me . The   four of us could travel at a cost of Rs 500/person  in a shared taxi to Imphal .I told him to wait until i finished my lunch and after a "Fried Pork Thali" lunch at familiar "A/C Hotel"  we finally departed from Moreh at 1330 hrs with our first Army check-post literally rummaging our Maruti Omni taxi.I was surprised when the security asked me to open my laptop satchel and after the ordeal realized that the security checks were stringent on the return journey from Moreh to Imphal in order to check smuggling rather than insurgency .

A snack and beer in Namphalong in Myanmar

 Passed check-posts in the same reverse order as on the inward journey to Moreh observing the excessive vehicle checks compared to the journey from Imphal to Moreh. On the mountain pass drive faced a delay as a massive mountain highway widening was in progress with earth mover's  clearing the rock debris from the narrow two-way highway.The three member's of the family got off with their massive imported luggage at a village  town  and so the last one and a half hours of drive was akin to travelling in a private vehicle. Vikram the driver explained me a bit of the business of taxi ferrying between Imphal to  Moreh and vice versa and seems life is not easy in the taxi business as competition is intense beside's other hidden secret problems .

Mountain highway  journey from Moreh to Imphal.

                                                                          At 1700 hrs it was pitch dark and finally arrived in Imphal at 1730 hrs.He dropped me at "Mass Hotel" near Ima bazaar and was startled at the exorbitant rate of Rs 900/night.From "Mass Hotel" walked the short distance to my original residence "Hotel City Heart" and checked into "Room N0 113" costing Rs 500/night which is my normal budget .On any travel tours whether in India or abroad i make it a point to spend minimum on accommodation.The hotel management guided me to booking a ticket for Kohima and on payment of Rs 600 booked a shared taxi to Dimapur. The Nomad was on the run !Strangely after exorcising my decades of "COLD ALLERGY " through a cold water bathe  in Moreh suddenly realized i was  enjoying  the cold weather of Imphal. Life and travel is bizarre at times.

Home Minister Shri  Rajnath Singh inaugurating the 19th Hornbill Festival at Kisama Heritage  village 

Saturday(1-12-2018) Departure Imphal and arrival at Kisama for "HORNBILL FESTIVAL -2018" :- Woke up after my usual 4 hrs sleep and whiled away the rest of the hours watching T.V as Internet facilities were not available in the room but only on the open air terrace.Bizarre.

The Scenic view of fog in the mountain valley of Senapati 

 At 0445  made my way out of the hotel and arrived at the taxi terminus just a  few meters opposite the  hotel.At 0530 hrs out "Tata Winger" van finally departed from Imphal with a load full of passengers .I was seated  on the front seat in-between the  driver Mr Aboi  and  a lady Ms Nunglun.Hanghal. As the journey began had a conversation with Ms Nunglun a local from Imphal now settled in Dimapur and employed with a N.G.O .She advised  me to alight at Kisama village and seek accommodation around the locale.Was surprised  at the condition of the road and the early morning fog made driving treacherous to a average motorist.

View of the condition of a part of the highway to Kohima.

                                                                                                                                 We nearly missed hitting a dog which abruptly steered onto our path and thanks to the driving skills of Aboi that it lived to see another day .As we entered the border district of Senapati in Imphal the cold increased as we ascended the mountain finally arriving at Mao which is the last border town between the States of Manipur and Nagaland.  Another bizarre observation was driver Mr Aboi throwing low denomination currency notes or handing over the same to some men along the highway and on inquiry was told that it was partly "Protection money" from Manipur's Underground movement and partly genuine donations to "Driver's association's Etc".Beside's every highway driver had to pay a lump-sum annual "Protection Money" to the "Manipur Underground Movement"  which was definitely no underground  movement but partly a open air extortion movement in full presence of the mighty Indian armed forces.

A view of  "Nune Homestay" in Kisama village

                                                              To me a city dweller brought up on "American Mafia/Bombay Mafia " new's,films  and politics this seemed something which made Organized crime resemble child's play.With the Indian army security in place in various parts of Manipur how could the common average  business's be still mortally afraid of the "Manipur Underground movement". This was reality on "Ground Zero" as i personally experienced it two times , once while travelling to Moreh and now to Kohima.The driver from Moreh to Imphal Mr Vikram told me that they paid a annual lump-sum "Protection money" and today's drive to Kohima made me realize that  Mr Vikram was not exaggerating and it was a fact of daily living for the highway transport business in Manipur. Lunch was at "Okay Hotel" in  Mao town on the border of Nagaland.

Neat and tidy "Nune Homestay" with dormitory bed's.

                                                  A typical Manipuri Thali lunch with pork that was now my signature meal in the North East state of Manipur. After lunch it was a short drive past the Nagaland border of  Khuzama and into the State of Nagaland. Finally at 1030 hrs after 5 hours of travel  reached Kigwema village, my final destination for "Hornbill Festival -2018". Thanking  driver Aboi for the safe drive and Ms Nunglun for the travel advice made my way to the nearest highway lodge where  the owner told me he was totally booked but helped me in finding a suitable accommodation through phone contacts.Finally Ms Vicano of "Nune Homestay" came over in a taxi and together we drove to her residence "Nune Homestay", a typical Naga farmhouse.Excellent   small and very expensive village house at Rs 800/day  in comparison to the homestay in Meghalaya during my trek to the unforgettable  "Double Roots Living Bridge".Most importantly i was lucky yo get accommodation in peak tourist season.

SHURHO VIEWPOINT  on Kisama hill.

View from Shurho Viewpoint on Kisama Hill.

                                                                         "Hornbill Festival" is peak business for these villager's some of whom convert their homes into "Home stay's". Made myself comfortable in the clean and neat cosy room and after a bucket of hot water bath washed my dirty linen and kept it for drying in the courtyard of the farmhouse bringing back memories of  childhood holiday's in  my parent's  ancestral villages in Mangalore. Relaxed the travel fatigue through blogging.In the afternoon finally decided to explore Kisama village and the famed annual  Hornbill festival of  Nagaland .A elderly Austrian tourist along with his son was also staying in the same home-stay which was otherwise empty.Ms Vicano showed me a shortcut to the festival venue which was no shortcut but a long uphill hike from the home-stay reminding me of my trekking day's . Came across a small Pig sty as pig rearing and pork meat are a delicacy in the North east region as well as with us Mangalorians of South India with the only difference being in the culinary preparation.

Kisama Hornbill venue packed to capacity.

                                       After trekking uphill came to a plateau from where it was another long uneven  walk  towards the main venue..At the  end of the plateau got a marvelous view ofthe mountainous topography  at  "Shurho Viewpoint" from where again it was a slight downhill walk to the main festival venue. The festive atmosphere was a intoxicant along with the cold pleasant weather.Next on entering the main "Tribal Mouang" ground was amazed at the richness of the presentation of the local culture of the 16 different tribes of Nagaland. Each tribal Morang depicted its local tribal culture through their costumes or dances.From the Morung ground went to the main venue where the Hornbill inauguration ceremony was to take place and which was packed to capacity.The V.I.P guests gradually arrived and finally the grand entry of  Home Minister  Shri  Rajnath.Singh who inaugurated the 19 th Hornbill Festival. Nagaland Governor  Shri .P.B.Acharya , the chief host of the festival also gave a political speech.

View of  the looming mountain over Kisama Heritage village 

Among the numerous foreign dignitaries the  Chief Guest  of the festival Ambassador of U.S.A  to India Mr Kenneth.I.Juster  gave a speech stressing on the cultural significance of the festival and Indo-U.S.A relationship. Nagaland  is one of the only 3 states in the total of 27 states in the Indian Union to have a majority Christian population with Baptist churches outnumbering Roman Catholic churches.Baptist branch of Christianity has its origin's in Amsterdam and after spreading into America is today established  in most parts of the Globe. Rev Dr Zelhou.Keyho General Secretary of Nagaland Baptist church council delivered the invocation and after that a traditional blessing was proclaimed by Shikuto.Zalipu, a village chief. After the normal speeches the main festival began with a Christian gospel song followed by various Naga tribal dances.

Opening Ceremony Guard.

                                                     After the end of the formal cultural display and departure of the Chief guest there was rock song entertainment by the local group called "Meitre".End to a excellent evening although the night was still very young.As for me i was totally mesmerized by the ambiance, locale and scale of organization of this grand cultural festival of the North East of India.Better late than too late is my self help mantra and thanked destiny for making it possible for me to attend this grand extravaganza .Finding my way out of the festival grounds and onto the main highway road was a major scare in the darkness and finally after a long evening walk in pitch darkness with the help of my torch adventurously reached "Nune Homestay".At night the electricity supply was shut and power outages are common in the North East states with most hotels having their own power generators."Nune Homestay" being the typical Indian village house using firewood for fuel didn't have a mini-generator  but electric battery torches which provided visibility in the dark night.

The home-stay cat warming itself at the kitchen fireplace.

                                                                    In the darkness there were new tourist arrivals with a biker /car group from Hyderabad  occupying one of the rooms and my "Bonny(Hindi slang for first)"  occupancy was definitely good luck to the owner who till late 2000 hrs had only 4 tourists  and now it was "House-full".During Hornbill festival accommodation is at a premium and also difficult and only hope in the near future new resorts don't sprout on the beautiful village mountainside destroying the greenery and rustic charm Below is a grand pictorial essay of the first day and also my first visit to the 19th Hornbill festival held at Kisama Heritage village.

A tribal Morung on display.

At the Pochury Morung with the local tribals.

View of a Morang against the backdrop of the mountain.Scenic locale. KISAMA HERITAGE VILLAGE :- Main venue of the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland. Nomenclature of KISAMA is derived from two villages namely, Kigwema (KI) and Phesama(SA) and MA which means Village, on whose land the Naga Heritage Village is established and commissioned by the State Government of Nagaland.

Khamnungan Tribal dance outside their  Morang.

Grand Finale to the First day's inauguration of the ten day  Hornbill festival.

At the "Phom Tribal Morung" with a genuine "Muzzle Loaded" gun.Just one for the camera's  akin to a actor and nothing more or less. A "Been here,Seen That,Done that" memoir.

National and International Media in the main Amphitheater of Kisama Heritage Village on the opening Inauguration First day of "HORNBILL FESTIVAL -2018".

"The Narrator"  in the packed "House-Full" Amphitheater watching the inauguration of "Hornbill Festival-2018".Notice the artificial tree in the background with Hornbill birds sitting on the branches.

Sunday(2/12/2018) Kigwema village :- A total power outage at the homestay with all my electronic instruments going dead barring the  laptop and "Reliance Gio Doggle WiFi".Didn't sleep the entire night as i am allergic to extreme cold weather and take time to acclimatize to the same as far as night's sleep is concerned.

Main Entrance gate of "Hornbill Festival" in Kisama.

                                                                        Otherwise i was fit and enjoying the cold morning weather with the cockerels crowing and   Sunrise at 0500 hrs.Power supply resumed at 0700 hrs after the landlady Ms Vicano met the electricity lineman in charge of power supply in the vicinity, a typical village setup of internal problem solving.Power was finally restored and quickly got my camera batteries and cell phone recharged.After breakfast and a bucket of  hot water bathe walked the long highway road up the incline to the Hornbill festival and after purchasing the ticket walked  through the main entrance gate .The scenario was different compared to yesterday and visited the organic horticulture pavilion and later the bamboo pavilion showcasing Nagaland's local agriculture innovations and exotic natural  byproducts from the State. Kisama Heritage village is situated on a terraced hill with steps leading to the various Morungs displayed for the Hornbill festival

Horticulture pavilion at the festival

Visited the Morungs which were devoid of visitors unlike yesterday evening with most of  the visitors being in the main amphitheater watching the cultural dances and music presented from different States of India.Each Morung also had a food-stall selling their local tribal cuisine  .Visited the "Phom Tribal Morung" and noticed  two young men  examining muzzle loader guns.Took a photo with the gun as once upon a time until the 1970's  i did hunt bird's with my air-gun but today a firm conservationist hoping against hope that most of the wildlife i saw in a era when hunting was not illegal do not become extinct in the wild due to deforestation and poaching.From the Phom Morung walked up the hill stairs to the "Konyak tribal  Morung" famed for their facial and body  tattoo's which was a symbol of their "Head Hunting" prowess in  a era when during tribal warfare the chopping of a enemy's head and preserving the skull was considered a status symbol by the warrior.

Wearing a Konyak tribal necklace

                                                                           America has had its wild west cowboy's and Red Indians while in India we have had our own wild frontier North East that has slowly evolved with time and changing religious and social custom's of Indian society.Today "Head-Hunting" is past history of the Konyak tribals with a rare few individuals definitely above the age of 80 years in 2018 who must have genuinely participated in "Head Hunting Tribal  Warfare" and a source of tourist and anthropological study. Necklaces were being sold at the Konyak stall and posed for a photo with a tribal pendant costing Rs 13,000 consisting of animal byproducts which included bear teeth.I love fashion and chains but wild-life products is taboo although i personally also do own banned wild-life products purchased from Africa during a era when wild-life trophy hunting was a normal sport.

 View of few Morungs of the total 16 tribe Morungs

                                                                         The World has changed since then and hope wild-life i have seen could be seen by generations a hundred years from now as chances are many species of wild-life could be facing rapid extinction in the wild.Zoo's and artificial conservation could save a species akin to White Tiger's and white lions today existing only in zoological parks.From the Morungs walked into the amphitheater and did get a vantage view  of the last two  cultural group  dances  and a solo demonstration of stick balance by a young lady .At 1200 hrs hrs the day's cultural program came to a end with the same to be resumed at 1300 hrs.Walked out of the amphitheater on the downhill trek onto the stairway to the main highway dreading the long walk back to the homestay. Providence came to my rescue and a motorcyclist  Suraj from Mumbai gave me a lift to the homestay.

Terraced hill  steps of Kisama Heritage village .

                                  He and four of his colleagues had hired motorcycles from Guwahati @ Rs 1200/day and were now travelling across the North East States.My advice to future tourists planning to visit Hornbill festival is to hire motorcycles or cars for personal transport during the festival day's since  Kisama Heritage village is inconveniently located for daily commute unless you are very young or a mad adventurer like your's truly.Relaxed in the homestay by updating my blog and meeting new acquaintances since as i said  a traveller is never at all lonely as the journey and not the destination is  the major joy of travelling.That's the main difference between a traveller and a tourist with tourists always interested in the final destination and utmost comfort while the traveller is more interested in the adventure of the travel although the final destination is the main goal.

Guardians of the frontiers of North East India.

                                                                            At 1430 hrs left the homestay  for the heritage village and as usual  hitchhiked for a lift and a young group of local Nagas did stop the car and gave me a lift to the now familiar staircase  leading to the steep uphill incline into Kisama heritage grounds hosting the Hornbill festival.Thanks to the cold weather that i was at least not suffering from fatigue and after entering the festival ground headed into the "Flower Show" exhibition complex that had different species of flowers on display as also prizes awarded to the best exhibits.Next visited the World War - 2 Museum that was excellently maintained with admission being Rs 10.Loafed around   the different Morungs with the "Konyak Morung" situated at the peak of the Heritage village hillock being my favourite as i would be visiting the village of Longwa hoping to meet at least one of the surviving  "Real McCoy" Konyak tribe  headhunter's.

 .Heard the sound of beating of wooden logs and  gunshots and on visiting the source was amazed to see  that at two of the Morungs , the  "Phom Morung" and the Konyak Morung" that  i had visited in the morning were now allowing tourists to use the "Muzzle-Loader Guns" charging Rs 100/shot.It was brisk business as it's  not daily that a average Indian gets a opportunity to handle a genuine gun let alone fire the same even though the shot's fired are "Blank Shots" akin to the Hindi classic film "Sholay".

Beating of traditional tribal logs

 During the tribal warfare years the Nagas would beat on a long wooden log akin to beating on drums as a means of communication and the same was being enacted at the festival.I fired a rifle shot at the "Konyak Morung" venue and found a blank muzzle loaded gun  akin to a cracker although with pellets this gun is a disaster to the opponent and also dangerous to the user. At times it backfires onto the face.Excellent local and Hindi music was being played at the Konyak Morung venue and the ambiance as well as locale is indescribable with the cold adding to the flavour of the festival.Sunset was  at approximately 1700 hrs and after sunset there is a sudden drop in temperatures.Campfires were set up outside the Morungs and every Morung had its own cafeteria serving its local Naga tribal cuisine.A local Naga of the Lotha tribe Mr Konathung clicked a photo with me as after all its not daily that a former "Old World Sailor(Pre 21 st century sailing)" whose sea faring generation is almost  extinct akin to  the "Head Hunting Konyak's"  comes to the cold hills.Akin to the "Konyak Head Hunters" i would feel out of place in the sailing World of the 21st century where thanks to  post 9/11 terrorism and its after-effects that "SHORE LEAVE" is banned  in most shipping ports.Money is not the sole criteria of any employment least of all shipping where my generation of sailors strictly adhered to  the motto "JOIN THE MERCHANT NAVY AND SEE THE WORLD". Later dinner was a "Self-Service buffet" costing Rs 400 at the Khamnungan Morung. Pork is the staple Naga delicacy with the dinner served on a banana leaf.

Grand Self-Service dinner at Khamnungan Morung.

             While going back to the home-stay was lucky to get a lift in a car from the tour group "Journey Wood" which organizes camp site travelling across the North East.The Home-stay was packed to capacity and felt i was on a European tour as everyone had large backpacks beside's the climate was European and i am also half European having travelled through all the regions of Europe.Had to change my room to accommodate another big group and adjustments is a key to "SOLO TRAVEL".

View from "KOHIMA WAR CEMETERY" with its terraced step design along the incline of the hill

Monday(3/12/2018) Departure from Kigwema village and arrival Kohima :- .As  usual was awake before  daylight at 0500 hrs and watched the sunrise over Kigwema.

Issuing of "I.L.P" in Kohima  for travel within Nagaland.

                                          Discussed local  travel and the Hornbill festival with the Austrian tourists to whom i suggested travelling to Mon in Nagaland. Also had made  new acquaintances with two young men Mr Jeraj.Jadeja from Gujarat and Mr Suman.Kannalaghari from Hyderabad. Both were avid travellers with Mr Jeraj.Jadeja being  the owner and founder of "Zero Adventures".In other words we were a group of "TRAVELHOLICS" of different generations destined to meet in "Nunes Homestay"  at one of India's most recognized cultural festival.  After  breakfast had a fresh bath and later conversation with fellow backpackers .At 0830 bid the friendly home-stay owner Ms Vicano and "Nune Homestay" group goodbye and walked over to the main highway road.
     

Kohima Winter Bazaar .Clothing sellers and buyers.

                                                         Within five minutes of waiting  was lucky to get a shared taxi  to Kohima costing Rs 50/person and although Kohima was only 12 Kms away from Kigwema village the mountainous downhill journey was a nightmare due to heavy traffic jam on approaching Kohima. I told the driver about my plans to visit Mon by bus and he dropped me at "Deep Travels" situated on the main road in Kohima city.Inquired with the Travel agency if a "I.P.L(Inner Line Permit)"  was required and he advised me to confirm the same and hence first visited the local "A.T.M' and en-cashed some money .Next inquired with a local about "I.L.P" permit and he advised me to visit the local police station situated round the corner and obliging by also giving me a lift as he was  heading in the same direction.

KOHIMA CITY TRAFFIC JAMS :- Does Kohima have the Worst traffic jams among Indian capital city's ?

  Entered the "Kohima South Police station" and the police  official told me that a "I.P.L' was not required during the "Hornbill Festival".

In historic Kohima War Cemetery

                                                                                        Walked back to the travel agency and booked a bus ticket to Mon for the next day  costing Rs 850.Next was the problem of accommodation and the travel agent guided me to a hotel in close proximity but on inquiring was told that it was "House-Full".He told me to try in the next building hotel and hence entered "Hotel Holiday Ok" who also was full but told me to keep my luggage and try for accommodation  in the evening.Left my air-travel trolley in the hotel cloak-room and along with my lap-top backpack walked out of the hotel to explore Kohima City.On inquiry with locals boarded the packed small public bus heading to the city centre with one of the worst traffic jams i have experienced in a lifetime.Remember i have travelled to 77 Country's across the globe and entire India and hence my observation should not be taken with a pinch of salt .The bus happened to stop opposite a police station which had  the signboard "TRAVEL POLICE" and my strong sixth sense told me to recheck with the "Travel police " regarding "I.L.P" as i was travelling to Mon, a sensitive district of Nagaland and India .My sixth sense proved right and the travel police were very obliging and  told me that i did require a I.L.P for travelling to Mon which could be got easily at the "Office of the Deputy Commission" in Kohima city.

Garrison hill ridge.Battle  Of Kohima War Cemetery.

                                  He gave me directions to the office telling me  that  it was situated near the General post office building of Kohima  and to board the local bus or taxi.Boarded the packed small local city bus that moved at a snails pace along the narrow meandering mountain road of Kohima. Kohima is a city built on hills  and hence narrow roads and deep valleys within the city.A local travelling in the bus guided me to my destination as he was travelling in the same direction.Entered the large Government building and approached a gentleman sitting at a corner of the large entrance lobby. Naga Mr Marcus.Chadi personally guided me in the procedure taking me to the office and assisting me in filing the application form which had to be submitted personally  along with a photo and a xerox copy of my "Addhar card".The form also required a guarantor to which Mr Marcus .Chadi stood surety.

Memorial in Kohima War Cemetery for Indian soldiers

              A payment fee of Rs 50 was charged for the procedure and on collecting my precious "I.L.P(Inner Line Permit)" and making a exit from the "Deputy Commission Office"asked Mr Marcus Chadi regarding his charges for helping me ,mistaking him to be a commission  travel agent .I was surprised when he told me that he was just helping me as a tourist and this was the first instance where at a Government office i didn't pay a bribe or a 'assistance fee" for obtaining a legal document.Hope the New India has more citizens like Mr Marcus. Chadi and hope the "I.LP." is abolished for "INDIAN CITIZENS". I literally strolled into Myanmar(Tamu) from India(Moreh) and here in Nagaland in my own country  felt like a foreigner ! THIS HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA ?

Historic off-shoot of tree in War  Cemetery.

                                                                                             Next visited the local market whose entrance had a large Naga decorative gate.In Vietnam and Cambodia i came across a variety of exotic animal and insect food products and in this Naga market came across snails, frogs and silkworms being sold akin to  other common  market produce.Strolled around the main  large market ground which was crowded with clothing sellers.The Kohima World War II cemetery  is situated on the slopes of Garrison hill on what was once the deputy Commissioner's tennis court where the fiercest part of the battle was fought.The Cemetery  is in the city centre in  close proximity to the market and walked up the elevated hill into the Cemetery grounds.. All  1420 allied  grave plaques were well maintained with the names ,age and regiment of the soldier mentioned.Noticed a bouquet of fresh flowers on two graves belonging to the Australian regiment. Reading through the name plaques realized that  all of them had  died young with the maximum age being below 40 years.The "BATTLE OF KOHIMA" in 1944  often referred to as the "STALINGRAD OF THE EAST" was the turning point of the Japanese "U-Go Offensive " into India .This battle ultimately resulted  in retreat and finally defeat of the Japanese army. akin to the Nazi forces at Stalingrad. Battle of Kohima  was fought in 3 stages from 4 April to 22 June 1944 .The importance of Kohima was its strategic location as a summit on a pathway offering the best route for the Japanese forces to enter India from Burma.

. All these soldiers had died during the Battle of Kohima partly fought on this very ground now converted to a graveyard in memory of the martyrs of the Battle of Kohima. As this was a hill the graves were designed in a terrace format with elevated steps leading to each mass graveyard ground.
There was a large Cross on the former Tennis court which was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles during the Battle of Kohima. At the peak of the cemetery hill was a memorial  to Indian soldiers who died during World War II.

"Mary Help Of Christians Cathedral" located on Aradura hill in Kohima is one of the biggest Cathedrals in the North East..Founded in 1989 and consecrated in January 1991 with its facade architecturally designed in the shape of a traditional  Naga House.Having personally done pilgrimages across almost all Catholic religious sites across the Globe should say the location and design of  this Cathedral makes it one of the most beautiful churches in the World.

 After visiting the War cemetery next decided to visit Kohima Catholic Cathedral and on inquiring with two "Tourist policewomen" was told to either catch the bus or take a taxi.Boarded a packed bus reminding me of travel by Mumbai's local trains during peak office hours.

View of part of  Kohima city from Kohima Cathedral.

 It was a long drive through the slowest moving traffic i experienced in a lifetime making Kohima the city with one of the worst traffic congestion's in India. A local travelling in the packed bus assisted me in alighting at the last  stop which was at the base of Aradura  hill from where it was a torturous uphill walk towards Kohima Cathedral built on the peak of Aradura  hill.This was my Tapasya (Penance) and having visited all of Christianity's major holy sights and locales should say that the trek to "Kohima Cathedral" was one of my toughest treks.Before arrival in Kohima  i was tired doing daily treks to the Hornbill Festival in Kisama heritage village during the last two days . Besides,  although young in heart at my age  i could definitely not make the first 11 of any youth sports  team!
 

Unforgettable trek to Kohima Cathedral on  Aradura hill.

 Finally on reaching the peak found the view of Kohima city beautiful although entire mountain hills were packed with houses reminding me of Shimla .The church built in 1986 is designed in the shape of a Naga hut with a tall bell tower.Entered the church premises along with another group of tourists and was explained the basic construction of this church by a young lady guide Miss Bridgette.The main church crucifix is the largest crucifix in Asia made from a single tree from  the State of Kerala.After visiting the interior of the Church made my way into the church ground where the Church Christmas tree was in the process of being constructed.Later walked down the terraced stairs where on each terrace a Mosaic of the "Station of the Cross" of Christs Crucifixion was depicted.

"Bhut Jolokia(Ghost Pepper)", chilies in Kohima 

                                                                        Went down the hill's scenic  "Crucifixion Steps" which also led to the exit only to find the gate locked and having no other exit  had to again walk up the hill  stairs and take the paved path downhill route through which i had initially entered the Cathedral premises.Contestants to "IRONMAN" would have envied my staying capacity in times of extreme stress and fatigue.Thanks to a tough life of  23 years of employment/travel  in the Merchant Navy that i could withstand today's extreme travel Tapasya .It was a long downhill walk and refreshed myself with excellent Kohima tea at a small street side restaurant. I was lost in direction and inquiring about the bus when suddenly spotted the I.C.I.C.I bank A.T.M which i had visited in the morning. Bizarrely realized i was on "Old Minister's Hill"  literally walking back from Ko hima Cathedral to my hotel.

Kohima B.O.C Khel Market.

 Entered "Hotel Holiday OK" situated on Old Minister's hill and relaxed in the reception lounge on my laptop listening to the music played on the hotels speakers .The biggest shock was when the owner a young sophisticated  Naga lady told me that the rentals for a room were Rs 2000/Night.A shocker as this was a price   i never ever paid during my "SOLO TRAVELS" even in First World Country's having a higher  cost of living in comparison to India.I was expecting to pay a maximum of Rs 1000/ night and this price floored me. Luckily one of the hotel staff phoned a nearby hotel and destiny is bizarre for at Rs 400/night i got a room in "Hotel Seleyi" situated just a few buildings away from "Hotel Holiday OK".In my passion for travel and discovery have stayed in 5-Star hotels as well as the cheapest and filthiest lodges and should say "Hotel Seleyi" fitted into the second rung of lodging. The Steeple of Kohima Cathedral was clearly visible from my hotel room. The young owner/Manager  Mr Niebu   allotted me "Room N0 202" on the second floor and had to use the filthiest common toilet i have visited in ages.Thankfully electric supply and "Reliance Gio Doggler " network functioned normally in my large room and after a local pungent  dinner had a excellent nights sleep.At times in the worst circumstances i get the best sleep.A case for Psychological study.

AHOY :- "OPIUM" at last ? For the first time in my life smoking pure Burmese opium in Longwa village.Opium smoking is a common pass time among the local villagers of Longwa. Young Impressionable minds please note i don't encourage smoking being a non-smoker myself as smoking is injurious to health and i am a health fitness fanatic.As a Blogger/writer  i personally feel its best to experience any vice at least once in your lifetime in order to be able to write about the same.

Tuesday(4/12/2018)  to  Wednesday(5/12/2018) Kohima City and road travel to Mon :- Woke up early as usual and was busy networking .

Unforgettable journey :-Kohima to Mon.

                                                                                              At the break of dawn stepped out of the hotel for a cup of  my energy drink "Tea" but found everything closed.Providence came to my rescue and a roadside tea hawker walking along the road served me a cup of tea and realized that Hotel Selyi was in the prime transport locality of Kohima with one night stand travellers using this cheap hotel .Travel educates and more so if you travel "SOLO" !Checked out of the hotel and after depositing my baggage at "Deep Tours" strolled in the crowded vicinity ultimately visiting the"Kohima B.O.C Khel market " situated walking distance from Hotel Selyi. Pork meat was the most common meat product sold in the non-Vegetable section of the market with snails and frogs being some of the  exotic Naga gourmet.Got a closer look at the "Bhoot Jhalokha (Raja Mirchi)" chilies, considered one of the hottest chilies in the World.After my normal curiosity stroll around the market walked back to "Deep Tours".
At 1300 hrs  boarded "Deep Tours Bus"  which departed at 1315 hrs and was allotted the last seat in the bus  on  top of the back wheel which was a bad omen for the start of the long journey to Mon.

Arrival in Mon  and a view of the beautiful early morning fog in the valley.Indescribable natural beauty.

 After the bus had travelled for approximately half an hour got a phone call that i had left my luggage in the tour office room in Kohima.

Pet stud pig on a walk in Mon akin to a dog.

                                                                                        Immediately alerted the bus driver who thankfully had picked up the bag realizing it belonged to a bus passenger which was a great relief to me also reminding me that Alzheimer could afflict me if i lived to a ripe old age akin to the tattooed  " Konyak Headhunter's" i was hoping to meet .The highway road from Kohima to Dimapur was definitely my worst road travel in recent memory and seating on the last seat strengthened my behind from sheer torture of road bumps on the potted highway.Akin to riding a "Rodeo Bull" i would have to survive the entire night's road journey along with my laptop.On reaching Dimapur experienced the worst traffic jam of my lifetime with the bus stationary for over a hour in just one spot as was all the corresponding road traffic.Finally the bus did move and at approximately 2100 hrs we made a exit from Nagaland into Kabri Anglong in Assam.At Kabri Anglong we had to change buses at the bus depot and for me it was akin to  travelling from the frying pan into the fire as the bus was packed and i was squeezed like a can of tin sardines on unforgettable "Seat No 31".In the previous bus i at least had some leg space but in this bus even a flat course jockey would have felt uncomfortable if  squeezed into my seat.

Arrival Longwa village with heavy Military security.

                                                                          Dinner was fish curry /rice at a local hotel in Silonijong in Kabri Anglong district of Assam.It was a sleepless night and i envied the young passenger next to me who slept as if he was under the influence of a sleep anesthetic.The entire bus was filled with local Naga's with me being the only Non-Mongloid passenger and hence a source of inquisitiveness from fellow passengers.I was expecting many tourists in the bus , especially Caucasian tourists as it was a young British lady traveller Sophie.Pierce whose blog was a partial guide to my discovery of Longwa expedition. Hence  was surprised to be the one and only tourist in the entire bus.The fellow Naga's seated next to me were very friendly and loved English and Hindi film music while playing the same on their smartphones.Thank's to them my travel misery was cushioned and finally at approximately 0330 hrs we reached Mon District gate. The journey was then a inclined route across the mountains and finally at approximately 0630 hrs finally reached Mon Town.

Longsha Homestay :- View of Wangnao Konyak hut.

                                                                      Immediately inquired for buses to Longwa and was directed to walk downhill to the shared taxi stand. Booked my ticket to Longwa coasting Rs 170 at  the shared sumo taxi office with   departure scheduled for 0730 hrs. Hence as usual whiled away my time on the Internet with the "Reliance Gio Dongle" service being excellent.Observed the bizarre sight of a local Naga taking a large boar pig for a walk akin to a dog without a leash and on inquiry was told that this was a "Stud Boar" whose service charges per sow was Rs 2000 with the boar having just finished mating with a sow and now being taken home. Reminded me of the novel "ANIMAL FARM" and realized that "SOME PIGS ARE MORE EQUAL" and hopefully this boar would not become my dinner or lunch but die a natural death.

Interior view of Wangnao Konyak hut.A living museum.

                                                                               Pigs are considered one of the most intelligent animals  definitely more intelligent than dogs and yet i relish eating pork but  hypocritically criticize cultures that eat dog meat. Always remember that one human's food is another human's poison.This boar proved to me that pigs are highly intelligent animals and in fact when i photographed it from close quarters with the owner it just ignored my presence and was busy to get home early after stud services.Waiting at the shared taxi stand observed three young tourists talking to a young  local Naga about accommodation in Longwa and overhearing them approached young Mr N.Longsha regarding accommodation and he guided me to staying at his house "Longsha Homestay" in which the other three tourists would also be residing.Finally at 0730 hrs we four tourists  boarded the shared packed Sumo taxi and it was a excellent mountain journey towards Longwa village.

View of Longwa village  and our  "Longsha Homestay".

                                                                                           At the entrance gate to Longwa village  there was a heavy military presence reminding me of the travel to Moreh in Manipur. Ultimately as happens travel circumstances made total strangers become  acquaintances and French National Mr Cyril.Caldero,Indian tourists Mr Vaibhav.Jain , Miss Divya.Jain and myself alighted at "Longsha Homestay"" situated in close proximity to the entrance/exit gate of Longwa village.As usual i had done my travel homework on Longwa village but what greeted my eyes on seeing the  ancestral Konyak home of the Wangnao family  with  its interior ancestral traditional decor made me feel  i had entered a Konyak village Heritage museum and not a common Konyak residence. Entrance of the Wangnao Konyak hut  was decorated with  Mithun(Local breed of buffalo) ,  buffalo and deer skulls  while the interior had exotic carved wooden beam girders instead of concrete girders  and wood carved beams with the entire hut covered with a thatched hay roof.

Longwa village with Angh's Palace on peak of hill.

                                                                                                                                         Villages all over India are similar with the only difference being the diversity of climatic and cultural traditions across the sub-continent.The Longsha ancestral house reminded me of my own grandparents ancestral houses during the 1970's in the villages of coastal Mangalore in the distant State of Karnataka in India.The Longsha family home consisted of patron of the house Mr Nahnyei.Wangnao, wife Mrs Ngapnom.Wangnao and nine of their children of whom young Mr Nokao.Wangnao lived with them and managed the  "Longsha Homestay" family business named after their elder son N.Longsha, a local youth leader politician whom i had met at Mon taxi stand.They were so friendly that we four tourists total strangers  to each other felt we were entering our  own personal family home.Thank's to young tourist Mr Vaibhav.Jain from Bangalore for contacting Mr N.Longsha for his homestay and as for me the nomad for being at the right place at the right time and overhearing  Mr N.Longsha talking to the tourists and hence approaching him for accommodation..

Lunch in the Wangnao Konyak hut, a living museum of Konyak tribal culture.After the "Angh's Palace"  this could be the next important Konyak residence in Longwa village.Indian Defence Minister Mrs Nirmala .Sitharaman, Lt General Mr Abhay. Krishna and Chief Minister of Nagaland  have visited this Konyak tribal hut that is one of the oldest residences in the village. We total travel stranger's became acquaintances at this home-stay which has  two separate modern cement cottage  residence's for tourists situated on the village road opposite this heritage ancestral hut. This Konyak hut  is minimum  over a 100 years old and Mr N.Longshah is a leading campaigner in preserving Konyak culture and traditions in Longwa village with his own house leading the way. In the Photo R-L :- Ms Divya. Jain, Mr Vaibhav .Jain, French National Mr Cyril. Caldero and yours truly the narrator.Thanks to matron of the house Mrs Ngapnom.Wangnao for this memoirs photo.

The large Konyak house had three section of which on entering was the main drawing hall  followed by the kitchen cum dining hall and behind that a store-room cum residence.
 

First meeting with a tattooed Konyak elder

                            Observed the family photographs hung on the wall inside the dining/kitchen hall and was surprised to see different photographs of Mr Nahnyei's eldest son  Mr N.Longsha who  was the Youth President of  the N.D.P.P(National Democratic Progressive Party) of  Mon district along  with various V.V.I.P dignitaries. There were  photo's  of him with the Defence Minister of India Smt Nirmala.Sitharaman , the Chief Minister of Nagaland as also with  the  army Lt General Mr Abhay.Krishna. All of these V.I.P's  had  visited Longwa village and most importantly this Wangnao Konyak house  .This ancestral Konyak house was a landmark residence in Longwa village and i marveled at the simplicity of the Wangnao family.Water is a premium commodity in Longwa village  and water for the Wangnao household and the Longsha homestay cottages had to be physically brought from a perennial stream a short distance away from the residence. We all managed a bucket of luke warm water bathe in the cold morning..In Mumbai just opening the tap at home provided water whereas some Indian  villages akin to the  scenic mountain village of Longwa in Nagaland have serious water transportation or water shortage problems.Internet connection of both Vodafone and Reliance Gio was unavailable in Longwa with the only exception being Airtel as Mr Vaibhav .Jain was able to connect home through his "Airtel Whats App" as well as make phone calls.

Villager knitting outside her Konyak hut.

                                                               The Mukesh.Ambani  Internet services of "Reliance Gio"  has a few undiscovered frontiers in India  to financially conquer and Longwa village should definitely be on their financial radar.Later we were shown our accommodation which was in two modern cement constructed cottages situated opposite the main road facing the Longsha ancestral Konyak residence.I was allotted a room on the first floor of one of the cottages while the rest of the group were in the next cottage. The Longsha Homestay also ran a small cottage industry of making local Konyak handicrafts to be sold to guests or tourists.In one corner of the drawing room of the palatial house were two men both having the name Ahampail who were  working on preparing handicrafts as well as addicted to the smoking of opium. Opium  is a common available intoxicant in Longwa village thanks to its proximity to the  Myanmar countryside .

 

" Border Pillar 155" on India - Myanmar Border. 

                                                                           For the first time in my life got a taste of opium smoking as although once a smoker the habit of drug intoxication never ever fascinated me and hence could never identify with the film "SANJU" that depicted actor Sanjay.Dutt's addiction and rehabilitation process with hard drugs like L.S.D, Cocaine , etc which to me was something alien.Opium smoking is a soft harmless drug although its addiction can result in spending a life of hallucination as happened when the British first discovered opium in China and later marketed and conquered the World through the opium wars indirectly exporting  its usage  across the Globe including Longwa village.Lunch was vegetarian rice/dal with fried potatoes prepared Konyak style and for the first time in my life chewed on the "Bhoot Jalotha Mirchi(Raja Mirchi)" considered one of the hottest chilies in the World.House Matron Mrs Ngapnom.Wangnao loved exhibiting her dance styles showing off her tattooed legs while we tourists ate our food.Her tattooed feet was a part of Konyak tradition among the women folk.The first ring on a Konyak woman's leg would be tattooed when a girl reached puberty to mark that she is ready to be taken, and then later a series of rings up to the knee upon marriage, to signify that she is taken.For men it is facial  and body tattoos among the former "Tribal Head hunters"  as seen in magazines and National Geographic episodes . This "TATTOO CULTURE" among both men and women  in the Konyak tribe of Longwa in Mon district is what makes them unique and a stand-out among the recognized 16 tribes of Nagaland.

View of India & Longwa Village from "Border Pillar 155"

 First it was smoking opium and now tasting the invincible pepper "Bhoot Jalotha" which made me realize that at my young age i was living the Wild East frontier life of India akin to the Wild West frontier of America.My main intention of visiting Longwa was to meet a authentic living former tribal  "HEAD HUNTER" as also meet the "Angh(King) of Longwa" .The present "Angh " Tonyei.Phawang was a young man while his predecessor whom he succeeded was  famous for having 60 wives and hence  a source of amazement.Later Mr Nahnyei introduced us to a old Konyak man whose face had tattoo paintings having definitely lived through a  part of "Head-Hunting" history but not a head-hunter himself.Its customary to hand over a few currency notes if taking a photograph with these Common village legend's who were  a part of the local Konyak history of the State of Nagaland.
   

View of Myanmar from "Border Pillar 155".

                                                                                       .In Nagaland the Baptist church branch of Christianity is the largest religious group in the State with entire Longwa villagers being Baptist Christians.In fact in the modern era Mr Nahnyei.Wangnao was the first villager to embrace Christianity in Longwa with the rest of the villagers later all converting to Christianity. Later Mr Nakao.Wangnao arrived from Mon and after his lunch took us on a sightseeing trek to the "Border pillar post 155" that demarcated India and Myanmar.The Longsha residence is at the base of the mountain hill and hence it was a tough strenuous trek to the peak of the hill to the "Demarcation Post".On the way we came across small local Konyak village huts made entirely out of bamboo and thatched palm roof's akin to the Longsha residence.

Local Konyak villager entering Hut.

   Some of the modern village huts utilized tin roof's instead of natural palm leaves.All our tiredness vanished on reaching the peak of the hill and viewing Burma now Myanmar on one side and India on the other.This was a borderless stroll across two country's without any documents which is a daily affair with some of the villagers but a novelty to us city bred tourists.Got a bird's eye view of the Angh's(King's) house  and the surrounding Konyak countryside.Finally everyone has to trek back to base from the summit of Mt Everest and so also we tourists trekked back to the Longsha residence from the peak pillar post of the "India-Myanmar Border".Walked back down the mountain hill and on the way came across a village lady carrying a heavy load on her back in a bamboo basket strapped to her head bringing back memories of Vietnam.She refused to be photographed as some of the villagers are superstitious regarding their photo's being taken.On arriving at the Longsha residence requested Mr Nokao to book my return ticket from Longwa to Mon to which he obliged.

Modern konyak Hut with Sheet metal roofs.

                                                                                               I presume that after the Hornbill Festival there would be a rush of tourists to Longwa which is a popular destination among foreign as well as Indian tourists.Its not everyday that a tourist can stroll across two picturesque mountain border Country's. .As i said total strangers became acquaintances and the rest of the evening was spent talking and partying around the fireplace inside the Longsha household where the two handicraft men were working and also helping us smoke a little opium while we drank a little rum.Dinner was the same vegetarian recipe that was excellently prepared and rarely do i relish vegetarian food twice being a hard-core carnivore.After the late night dinner we packed off to our respective sleeping quarters.The weather was chill, cold and windy although surprisingly during the afternoon it was bright and pleasant.In the mountains the weather changes abruptly after Sunset.My warm winter clothing normally kept in deep freeze storage at home in distant Mumbai proved its worth in keeping me warm and comfortable during this entire travel odyssey of India's wild North East frontier.My window panes were whistling the entire night due to the strong wind blowing across the village mountain.Ghost busters would have found the howling night wind sound and chattering window's as a inspiration  for tales from the after -life.

Former Head-Hunter Manyam at 89 years of age,the oldest living former "HEAD-HUNTER" of the Konyak Tribe in Longwa village..Note the facial tattoo's .He has scalped 4 human heads .

Thursday(6/12/2018) Longwa Village  :- Woke up at 0330 hrs after my normal four hours sleep and got busy updating my travelogue.Later at daybreak at around 0600 hrs walked into the Longsha Household and house lady Smt Ngapnom gave me tea along with some boiled tubors similar to sweet potatoes

Picturesque Konyak tribal huts of Longwa village.

                                                                           .My young co-travel colleagues were still in their cottage  room while young Mr Nokao was busy as usual with his normal household chores. This morning it was for the Christmas festivity decorations of the village main entrance gate.In India i  first felt the Christmas festivity celebrations of 2018 in Namphalong in Burma and later travelling across Nagaland came across numerous Christmas festivity decorations.After tea had a early morning walk in a strong gust of cold wind towards the main village entrance gate and was surprised to see young village children and youth including Nakao .Wangnao  busy setting up the Christmas decor .Research reading informed me that most houses had no electricity and was relieved to find almost continuous electric supply barring a few hours of daily load shedding as is common all over the North East States of India.

A trek along the inclined hill amidst Konyak huts in search of the last of the former "KONYAK HEAD HUNTERS" of Longwa village in Mon district of Nagaland. India's "WILD EAST FRONTIER".Spotted this "Pipe Water Tap Connection" which is a rare sight in this village where tap water is scarce and most of the village water is from natural flowing streams.Notice the village Konyak lady washing clothes at the tap.Tap water is a luxury in this Longwa village.

 Today's morning agenda was to visit the "HEAD HUNTERS" with Nakao being our guide/Interpreter  and hence at approximately 1030 hrs we got together and began our uphill trek towards the village houses.

85 year old former "Konyak Head Hunter" Chopa posing for a photo shoot with his ancient rifle and tribal war head gear.Notice the tattoo's on his face and chest. He demonstrated to us his method of stalking his human prey and firing the gun.We interviewed him and he said  that he had no regrets in the 21st century World for his deed's of "HEAD HUNTING" as it was a part of their living in those times in a different era and time.Survival was kill or be killed during the tribal clashes. Russian Dictator Joseph.Stalin said "One death is a murder while a million death's become a statistic". Joseph.Stalin's  words echo true in 21st century politics and  warfare in comparison to the " Konyak Head Hunters" who are now a part of folklore with men like  Manyam and Chopa being the last of these living survivors .  

                                             

Former "Head Hunter" Chopa in front of his hut.

The "Head Hunters" of the Konyak tribe were not cannibals but warriors who defended their tribal land.Cutting off the enemy's head and exhibiting it in the village was a clear way of deterring invaders and with every head decapitated in war  the particular warrior was tattooed on the face by Chaita or Queen of the warriors.With the advent of Baptist Christianity in the 1960's the practice of head-hunting war's became a fact of  past history and today a source of tourist and anthropology study. On the route Mr Nakao kept on explaining us the various types of houses and the hierarchy of the village .Our first stop was at the village Morung which i had seen artificially erected at the Hornbill festival in Kisama Heritage village. Entered the Morung which seemed ordinary and less grand compared to the artificial beautiful and majestic replica in Kisama heritage village .Imitation at times is better than the original. Inside the Morung was a ladder leading to a elevated first floor room  within the Morung which had a balcony opening facing the entrance gate.Found a large Mithun skull inside the Morung with which we all posed for photographs.Brought back memories of "Buffalo Bill" and the "Wild West " of America.Its no wonder the "Baptist Christian missionaries" from America felt at home in Longwa as it is very similar to the Wild west of America which i have seen in films.

Memoirs :- Yes.I did meet former head hunter Chopa.

                                                                            The sheer view and beauty of Longwa village has to be personally experienced and at times i got the feeling i was on the sets of a artificially created film village, a la "The Good,the bad and the Ugly" or "Sholay".Finally on walking towards a Konyak hut  got the shock of my life on seeing the man i saw on National Geographic as well as other publications on topics related to the "HEAD HUNTERS" of the Konyak tribe of Longwa .Headhunter Manyam at the age of 89 and sitting on a chair seemed straight out of a Red Indian or Pirate film ,his face tattooed in bright colours with piercing ear-rings and hypnotic piercing eyes akin to Mad monk Rasputin.We were just in awe to be in his presence as he is the oldest surviving head hunter and also the most photographed by the media as well as tourists.

Aluh,the Deputy King (Deputy Angh) of Longwa village who has married 8 times and is very happy for the same .A chain smoker he looked absolutely fit and humorous in his late 70's.

     

Original "KONYAK MORUNG" of Longwa village whose original foundation base is over 500 years old.Over the centuries and recently the main bamboo structure building has been renewed. At the "Hornbill Festival" at Kisama heritage village a replica of this Morung has been erected .

                                           

Mighty Buffalo skull  in Konyak Morung.

 In other words besides his qualifications as a former head hunter having 4 human skulls to his tally he was also a very photogenic old man and could be leading a comfortable life through money earned from tourists and professional publications.It is customary to pay the headhunters some money if visiting or photographing them.We next entered the hut and came across Head Hunter Chopa who had 3 human skulls to his credit and at 85 years looked much older than his elder counterpart Manyam. Guide Nakao spoke to him and we sat in a circle around the hut fireplace while Chopa answered our questions through translator Nakao. Although frail he had that energetic and mischievous strut of a former lethal warrior.He brought out his antique gun and headdress and posed for photo's with us.We were also offered black tea and after paying him a certain "Copyright fee" headed out of his hut extremely relieved that our efforts paid dividends in locating the original authentic headhunters of the Konyak tribe.On our return journey back we visited the hut of the Deputy Angh Aluh who had married 8 times and was energetic and youthful with his ears pierced with long horn  earrings.He reminded me of the Masai tribes of Kenya famed for their prowess of stalking and hunting lions with a spear in a bygone era when lions were as common in Kenya  as were  tigers in the jungles of India.

Palace of the "ANGH(King/Tribal Chieftain)" of the Konyak tribe in Longwa Village.This house is a long, single-storey ferroconcrete building with a big, brick-red corrugated iron roof in the style of a traditional Naga home. Tourists  are greeted at the entrance to the building by a collection of wood carvings, water buffalo skulls and the bizarre statue of a cryptid with a bear’s head and the body of a brontosaurus. According to local legend, the creature once roamed the surrounding jungle-clad hills.The official Boundary line between India and Myanmar passes through Longwa village and also this Palace residence of the Angh. One half of this Palace building facing the camera and Longwa village is in India while the other half  on the other side facing the mountain valley's is in Myanmar.The Former Angh had 60 wives and ruled over 70 villages extending into neighbouring State of Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring country Myanmar.The present Angh is a young Konyak Tonyei .Phawang who rules over 40 Konyak Naga villages of which some are in Myanmar.

 

At Main Entrance gate to "ANGH'S PALACE".

                                                                             He wore a cowboy style western hat with a hornbill feather on its top.Also spotted two men with guns prowling in the forest below. Longwa was definitely the last wild east frontier of India what to America was once the Wild West.From the Deputy Angh's house we walked down the hill back to our homestay. Heard some loud Gunshot sounds in the distance and on inquiring was told that someone in the village had expired and firing gunshots into the air was a means of informing the local villagers of a death within their village..Lunch was at 1330 hrs after lunch Nakoa's eldest brother the local politician Mr Longsha who was visiting his home lent us his car to visit the Angh's palace situated on the top of the mountain hill.

Inside "Angh Palace Kitchen/Hall":- Half is in Myanmar.

                                                      It was a nice long drive to the palatial Angh's house which resembled a natural history museum with numerous buffalo and Mithun heads lining the interior of the house along with other artifacts.The young Angh Tonyei.Phawang  was out of the village and hence we couldn't meet him.His house was partly split longitudinally through the border line of India and Myanmar and after entering his house we stepped into Myanmar through the kitchen. Unbelievable and bizarre.The view of the mountain valley of  Myanmar  below was picture postcard.The local village Baptist church with its large playground  is in close proximity to the Angh's house.Got the first feel of Christmas seeing the large Santa Claus and Christmas Crib along the village road near the Angh's palace.

View of Myanmar from the Kitchen backyard of the "ANGH PALACE"..The house below is in Myanmar as were we tourists and it was a amazing feeling just admiring the beauty of the mountains in Myanmar with its tales of the infamous opium trails that lead into Longwa village.

 

Entire Longwa village decorated for Christmas.

                                                                                                                                  From the Angh's palace we drove back to the home-stay satisfied of having completed the entire tour of Longwa village.Later strolled around the vicinity and on trying to take photograph's near a Konyak hut some kid's lifted stone's threatening to throw it  at me.The British lady Sophie.Pierce whose blog was my partial guide also complained about this strange behaviour by some of the young children in Longwa village.Later in the Longsha residence my co-tourists also discussed this strange behaviour towards tourists by some of the village children. In the evening it was a gathering around the fireplace in the grand hall of the Wangnao household with a little singing and tasting some opium.Mr Vaibhav .Jain, a I.T professional  was a talented musician who beside's playing the piano also played the guitar and here he was playing a mini guitar.Miss Divya.Jain, a former hotel management executive and now a free-lancing French language tutor  was into theatre and a fan of off beat music. Honestly i did learn something from this  young group of sophisticated city tourists.There was no electricity the entire evening and luckily i had charged my batteries in time as photographs or video is the ultimate memories of our existence on Planet Earth and our visit to awesome Longwa village .After a late dinner we went off to our respective rooms in the adjoining tourist home-stay with the weather being cold and windy.

Inside the "ANGH'S PALAC E" with  group of local Naga youth who wanted a group  photo with me making me seem like celebrity actor Sanjay.Dutt .

Friday(7/12/2018) Departure Longwa  :-  Woke up early as usual on a cold windy morning with the electricity still not restored and hence all my batteries exhausted.

The drive back to Mon from Longwa village.Came across this van lying in the valley below our mountainous hill road.Luckily the occupant survived and travel by road in North East India is definitely a extreme travel adventure whether you like it or not.

                                                      After a cup of tea was sad to finally bid goodbye to Longwa and our group of acquaintances who seemed age old friends despite a generation gap in age and also having met just two day's back.

Treacherous Mountain highway to Mon  from Longwa.

                                                                                                              .At 0745 hrs boarded the shared taxi to Mon which was a long mountainous drive and on the way came across a sumo van that that had crashed into the valley below the hill.Luckily it seems the occupants had a miraculous escape from this accident.Disaster struck us when our Sumo van broke down midway and luckily we were transferred onto another sumo van and hence the long mountainous journey to Mon was finally accomplished.On reaching Mon first booked a bus ticket costing Rs 600 with "Super Travels" and later requested a shop-keeper to allow me to use his electricity for charging the smart phone to which he obliged.Got my "Smartphone " charged and later i was overwhelmed with gratitude when he left the shop telling me that i could recharge my batteries once his wife arrived at the shop counter.

Mon Town Bus /Taxi Stand.

                                    Spent the next two hours updating my travelogue and charging my smartphone as well as camera batteries.At times i was overwhelmed by Naga hospitality and this was one of those instances. Lunch was Noodles/pork at a local Naga restaurant and at 1445 hrs boarded seat N0 10 of the "Super Tour" bus and began the journey to Dimapur. Bizarrely the return journey was comfortable as the seat besides me was empty and dinner was in Assam which consisted of a Kingfisher beer and a omelette snack.On the way the bus did stop for a few hours for the drivers to rest and i did manage to snatch some sleep.

A Band with a female rocker practicing for the finals of the " Hornbill International Rock Contest  "  held at the Agri-Expo Site in Dimapur. A total of 24 bands, including five from Nagaland, competed at the HIRC. The other contesting bands were from Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Assam, Sikkim, Mizoram and Meghalaya Nine finalist Moongphali (Delhi); Vikrit (Ranchi, Jharkhand), UDX (Dimapur, Nagaland), Vishnu (West Bengal), Her Illegal Practice (Sikkim), Highway 69 (Ranchi, Jharkhand) Perfect Strangers (Bangalore) Since 90’s (Dimapur, Nagaland), and Ambush (Diphu, Assam) competed for the coveted title.The main contest was held between 1900 - 2000 hrs and "PERFECT STRANGERS" from Bangalore won the contest. This contest has the highest prize money for a "ROCK CONCERT CONTEST" in India

Saturday(8/12/2018) Dimapur :- Reached Dimapur in darkness at approximately 0430 hrs and hence just spent my time until daylight in the bus updating my travelogue.

One for the road from Mon  to Dimapur ?

                                                Later the bus was being shifted to the depot and hence had to alight the bus in the cold morning onto the most horrible pebbled road of Golaghat .Stepped into the first lodge "Hotel Punjab Nature" and was allotted room N0 121 which was a nice small self-attached bathe room with a T.V.Switched on the T.V and relaxed to music as usual also having a cold water bathe.Rang up my young Facebook friend Fr Marius.Patz of the Lotha tribe  who after having completed his theology training in Mangalore seminary was now a priest in his parish of St Xavier's Church at Jalukie in Dimapur. He wanted to visit me but i told him that i would do the same as it would be inconvenient for him to travel all the way to my bachelor's economy  hotel room.After getting fresh stepped out of the hotel to explore the vicinity which was crowded and also having one of the worst roads as is entire Dimapur and also Kohima. Breakfast was in Deepa restaurant which consisted of "Puree Bhajee/tea" and after breakfast inquired about bus tickets to Imphal with the numerous bus ticket seller shops lining  Golaghat bus centre road.

Nyamo Lotha Road in Dimapur

                                 .Booked a ticket to Imphal costing Rs 600 and walked through the crowded street into "Hongkong Market" situated at the end of Golaghat road.The pavement market was lined with hosiery sellers. From Hong Kong market walked further down the main road towards "Newmarket" with my intention being to discover the selling of dog's etc as staple non-vegetarian food in theses markets.Entered  "Newmarket" which was a large market selling vegetables , fruits ,poultry, pork etc but not dogs or other animals and on inquiry was told to visit "Supermarket" which was on the east side of Dimapur railway station.I was residing on the West side of the station and hence after walking along the flyover into Dimapur (East) began directional inquiries to "Supermarket".

Vegetable & Fruit section of "Supermarket" in Dimapur

                                           It was a long walk from the station towards "Supermarket" and on the way came across a pet shop and ironically entered the shop and inquired with the owner about the dog meat market location within Supermarket.He embarrassingly gave me directions and was  happy that the pet's in his shop were at least not for the human food market. If i had a large bungalow house i would have had kept a large boar pig as a pet after seeing the pet boar in Mon village. Walked straight down the road and first came across the large vegetable market and then spotted some mongrel puppies in a cage akin to a pet shop  and a little away spotted a mongrel dog tied in a sack awaiting its turn to be slaughtered.White mice ,snails,frogs,quails  and other common normal poultry products were also for sale in that small corner of the large sprawling market.Frogs cost Rs 100/String while quails sold at Rs 200/pair and quail eggs at Rs 200/dozen.

Dogs and dog meat on sale in "Supermarket"

                       .A lady was selling dog meat akin to mutton or pork and parts of dog flesh was strung on a string with each string costing Rs 150 while the meat sold at Rs 250/Kg.A Dog's head akin to a pig's head was in the basket for sale and a local told me that dog's meat was excellent and also used for curative therapies.I have visited the Philippines,Korea and recently Vietnam where consumption of dog meat is nothing abnormal but for the first time in my life  actually came across a legal dog meat market and that too in my own Country India. This  proves the diversity of cultures and eating habits across this vast sub-continent and no wonder foreigners are always confused about India and Indians when they travel across different States and cultures within the Country.

Dimapur Railway Station..Gateway to Nagaland.

                                                            This is what makes India a great country to explore as also a paradox.From the market made the long walk back to the station and after crossing the over-bridge headed back to my hotel.It was the last day of the "Hornbill International Music Festival" being held at the Agri-Expo ground in Dimapur. On inquiries was told that it was a long distance  away from the station with auto-rickshaw being the only mode of transport.In the afternoon crossed over the station to Dimapur East and on inquiry with the shared auto's outside the station was lucky when a lady sitting in the auto  told me that the shared auto's would be passing near the Agri-Expo  Venue locality and hence squeezed myself into the shared rickshaw carrying a total of 8 passengers.

At the "Hornbill International Music Festival"

                                                                           On this travel across Manipur and Nagaland i was indulging in extreme transport sports free of cost and the rickshaw journey towards the Agri-Expo ground was a nightmare.The Agri-Expo  ground is situated approximately 8 Kms from Dimapur station  way past Dimapur airport with the road seeming like a drive across a simulated obstruction computer game, artificial and not real.How could a road like this exist in modern 21st century India ? Finally after lot of bumps reached my destination and thanked the lady for her guidance without whom i would have not reached my destination.It was a long walk from the road to the main venue situated inside the sprawling Agri-Expo estate and on the way a young Naga lady Miss Mary.Deka befriended me and so i had company in walking into the empty "H.I.M.F(Hornbill International Music Festival")" grounds .

Local Naga cuisine stalls at Hornbill music Festival 

                                                                                                                                                We were inside the empty ground at approximately 1430 hrs and the band's were practicing for the grand finale that was to begin at 1900 hrs and end at 2200 hrs.Realized the value of private transport during such instances and longed the luxury of my motorcycle back home in Mumbai.Strolled around the empty ground  window-tasting the exotic menu advertised by various stalls installed on the periphery of the ground.Thankfully at least being very early gave me the luxury of viewing some of the best bands belt out their songs on stage in preparation for the main event beginning at 1900 hrs from a hand-shake distance.Mary , a physiotherapist by profession and a vegetarian left the venue for some personal reasons as she had to board a flight the next day.

Potent "Rice Beer" at  Hornbill  Festival

                                                                                                               Finally tasted  some exotic Naga cuisine which consisted of  "Fried Silk-Worms/Beef Curry "  and  "Rice beer" that was of stronger potency in comparison  to  what   i had drank in Imphal and at the main Hornbill venue at Kisama .After the snacks  headed towards the exit  sad to miss the main action as i  couldn't take the risk of staying out late as everything closes after 2000 hrs in Nagaland and hence  travelling back to the lodge would be a economic as well as mental anguish.The hotel manager told me that after 2130 hrs they locked the entire hotel entrance and exit  for security reasons.Thought about my own home city of Mumbai that is awake 24 hrs/day if you have private transport.Yes we Indian's live in two different India's within our own country ! Travel educates.On exiting from the large grounds onto the main road was again fortunate to board a packed shared rickshaw and was finally at the hotel safe and sound but sad to have missed out on the the "Real McCoy" rock contest although  satisfied of having at least seen a few bands practice their grand finale for the night.Something is better than nothing ! Strangely there was a abrupt change in the weather of Kohima with the weather being pleasant and not chill cold.Bizarre.

Premier show at 1330 hrs  of Hindi film "GUPT" at "Christian Higher Secondary School" in Dimapur  written and directed by  Shiva.Kumar B.K of Nagaland.The entire star-cast  attended this Premier show with ticket price being Rs 100/person.A house-full school hall with the film although a horror suspense  was totally different in story from the original 1997 produced  Hindi suspense thriller "Gupt". 

Sunday(9/12/2018)Departure Dimapur :- Had a decent 4 hrs + sleep in the cozy small self contained hotel room.There was a lot of noise in the hotel premises at night with someone wanting the main gate opened post the deadline closing of 2130 hrs.

A visit to Holy Cross Church in Dimapur

                                                                                The main T.V and other power connections barring lighting was also switched off at night.This hotel was situated in a large building resembling a warehouse from the exterior and one side of the building had a string of motorcycle repair shops , the main location for servicing motorcycles in Dimapur .Honestly you realize the value of anything once you don't have it and if i had a cycle let alone a motorcycle would have been able to view and experience the entire Hornbill musical festival.Once the hotel main gates were opened so also was the T.V and socket plug connections.Travel educates and as a nomad during my World travels  living in hotels ranging from "5-Star Class" to the most embarrassing common toilet lodges i should say that i have traveled a long long distance .
 

Christmas shopping  on Nyamo Lotha road of Dimapur.

                                                                         Breakfast was puree bhaji/tea at the small restaurant on the opposite side of the hotel.Rang up Fr Marius.Patz telling him i wouldn't be able to make it to St Xavier's church as 16 Kms of one way  travel in Dimapur would mean tremendous stress as i was already at the fag end of my strenuous "Wild North- East of India" travel Odyssey. Spent the rest of the morning upto check-out time of 1200 hrs watching T.V while simultaneously busy on the Internet.At 1200 hrs checked out of the hotel keeping my air travel trolley at the reception and just decided to wander aimlessly around Dimapur .Dimapur is situated on the banks of the Dhansiri river and was once the ancient  capital of the Diimasa Kachari community a once powerful race in the entire North-East region of India. Today, although Dimapur is the largest city in Nagaland  seem's that beside's having  the railway station and the only passenger airport in the State of  Nagaland  it is  just another large  city having some of the World's worst roads.Decided to visit a Church either Baptist or Catholic and walking along the now familiar Nyamo Lotha road on inquiry was told that the only Catholic church in the vicinity was "Holy Cross Church".

Town Baptist Church in Dimapur.

                                                                                All the shops were closed on  Nyamo Lotha road barring a few while the  pavement  "Hong Kong Market" as well as the regular "New Market" was open for normal business and as usual packed with shoppers. On entering "Holy Cross Church" situated on Circular road  was surprised at the size of the  internal area of the church complex which also had a school on its premises.As it was past 1200 hrs the mass for the day was definitely over and the church doors were closed  with  the  compound empty except for a few parishioners. Walked up to a parishioner and Mr Keduokholie .Daniel(Dzieye :- Tribal name) was kind enough to show me the entrance to the church and later also explain me the basic structure of the Church complex which is the oldest Catholic church in Dimapur.

Mr Vigho and Ms Rokoseno rehearsing  inside  Church.

                                                                                                                                He also told me that tomorrow(10/12/2018) would be a Dimapur Bandh due to some social tensions and i heaved a sigh of relief as Bandh's are common in the North East as per the write-ups written by other bloggers on the road.Thanking Mr Keduokholie walked out of the Church complex and  back along Nyamo Lotha road.Spotted a advertisement of a movie and decided that nothing was better in killing time than sitting in a theatre watching a movie. A local shopkeeper gave me directions to the movie hall which was situated inside  a school hall complex opposite  a Baptist Church and hence entered "Town Baptist Church".On entering the outward simple looking church was surprised to find a young lady playing the piano  while another young man was singing vocals of the song "When i say i do", a wedding song.
 

Inside "TOWN BAPTIST CHURCH" in Dimapur.

                                                                       On inquiry  Mr Vigho who had a magnificent voice told me that they sang for weddings and hence he and organist Ms Rokoseno were practicing for a wedding as this was the wedding season.He was also the Director of the Church choir.Town Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist Church in Dimapur and The Baptist Church Christians form the majority of the Christian population in Nagaland with Catholics being a minority.From the Town Baptist Church walked into"Christian Higher Secondary School" campus which had a large crowd in front of the school hall screening the movie.There was a bold poster advertising the  Hindi movie "Gupt" and mistaking it for the original Bollywood movie "Gupt" was heading towards the exit when my sixth sense told me to just cross-check the program.

Entire Star-Cast of Hindi film "GUPT"  on the stage of  "Christian Higher Secondary School" for the Premier show.Although a "Film addict" and residing in the Indian  Film Capital of Mumbai having seen most actor's and actresses at hand-shake distance this was the first time in my life that i was attending a premier show of a movie.Destiny and life is bizarre.

  A lady told me that this was a new Hindi movie "Gupt" produced in Nagaland and filmed in Nepal and the North East with today being the first day premier show of the movie.

Your's truly "Movie Addict" engrossed in "GUPT".

                             Thanked the lady for the information and entered the large auditorium which was gradually getting packed with movie goers.This would be the first Premier movie show in my lifetime of viewing movies and bizarre that of all the places it was not in Mumbai but distant Dimapur in Nagaland. As usual before the start of the movie there was a speech introduction and later a speech by a Nagaland politician.Guests of honours were offered bouquets and next all the actors of the movie lined up on stage and thought i was hallucinating until i realized that i was actually witnessing the grand opening day inauguration of a Hindi film produced in Nagaland with a North Eastern Star cast and filmed in the North East region of India.I am no film critic although a movie addict of Bollywood and Hollywood films and was surprised that this film was totally different in story from the original Hindi film "Gupt", a horror film with a female  subject as the object of horror.

Last dinner in Nagaland  at "Oriental Spices Hotel"

                                                                      As this was a low budget film comparison to Bollywood is not fair and should say that  although i found the acting very amateurish the story subject of the film was powerful and definitely not a copy of the original  Bollywood film.The film got over at approximately 1730 hrs and after the film it was a boring walk along Nyamo Lotha road in search of a restaurant for dinner as all the restaurants were closed on Sunday.A local guided me to a small Naga restaurant "Oriental Spices hotel" where dinner was rice,beef curry,Naga potato pickle and salad with the beef curry being not to my taste.After dinner walked back the short distance to my hotel and thankfully the manager allowed me to while away my time on the laptop in one of the vacant rooms.Got a wrong call stating that my bus was about to  leave and hence at my young age made a 100 meters dash to the bus booking agent at  Golaghat road approximately 400 meters from the hotel.Fortunately a rickshaw gave me a lift and on reaching the booking agent's office was panting and aghast to realize that some other travel agent had rung me up.Thankfully all was well and the rickety junk bus overloaded with passengers  as well as private cargo finally departed from Golaghat to destination Imphal. A sleepless night due to bad roads as well as bad seats and i was hoping that the bus would not breakdown mid-way a i had gambled a tight time schedule for departure to Mumbai from Imphal

On Indigo  A 320 aircraft on "FLIGHT N0 6E596" flying from Kolkata to Mumbai.I had clicked this photo and posted it on "Facebook" while the plane was in the air, a first from my "Reliance Gio" network . A grand finale to the discovery travel of North East India.

Sunday(10/12/2018) Arrival Imphal and departure to Mumbai.:- The road journey was awful in chill cold conditions and a bumpy road that reminded me of sleepless nights during my Marine Engineering employment sailing on the "Off-Shore Supply" vessels off Bombay High oil  fields during peak Monsoon weather.

Last extreme road travel on the North East odyssey 

                                                                                                              At 0315 Hrs we reached the Manipur /Nagaland State border and at "Mao" on the Manipur side had to undergo a police check by submitting our "Aadhar Identity cards" bringing back memories of travel across European International  border's using the "Schenghen Visa".Here i was travelling in my own country within a "State Border" and had to undergo all this checks.I sympathized with the police officer's checking our identities seating in the almost freezing cold weather although clothed from head to toe in warm thermals.This happens only in India ! At Mao our bus was stalled for over an  hour and finally in chill cold weather we began the journey to Imphal. As mentioned the bus was house-full with passengers and luggage and in daylight on reaching a village in Manipur a large bus load of passengers alighted along with a ton of luggage.

Take-off from Imphal .End of North -East Discovery

                                                                            A young man seated behind me asked me if i was heading to the airport and hence young traveller  Mr Samarth.Dangre and myself became acquaintances finally alighting at the bus terminus in Imphal. My adventures in the Wild East frontiers of India that included travelling on some of the World's worst roads had finally come to a end.We contacted a rickshaw driver regarding charges to the airport and hired him requesting him to wait while we had some breakfast. Samarth and myself had to walk a long way to the nearest restaurant where we had "Puree-Bhajee/Tea" as also making acquaintances with Scottish National  Mr Chris.Par seated next to us  who was also departing from Imphal the same day.Mr Samarth.Dangre ,a MTech graduate, was employed in the food Industry and got to learn some interesting facts about the branded food industry in India.

Kolkata airport :- A snack for the air trip to Mumbai.

 After breakfast boarded the auto-rickshaw and headed to the airport with the fare being Rs 200 and  split between the two of us.Entered the departure lounge and rushed to the toilet for my daily toilet routines and a wash.The Nomad was definitely feeling the stress of a overnight journey through one of the World's worst roads.After my toilet routines went to the "Indigo Counter" and got my boarding passes as well as being informed that the flight was delayed.Next as usual got busy on my laptop while recharging my smartphone in the waiting lounge.Mr Samarth joined me on the next seat  and suddenly heard my name being called on the airport intercom which made me jump in disbelief.What could be wrong for such a scenario and airport popularity ? Approached Counter N0 2 and the Indigo staff member told me that they had rescheduled my flight route  from Imphal to Kolkata to Mumbai instead of the original Imphal to Hyderabad to Mumbai.

Ahoy ! Finally in Mumbai.

                                 Seems due to the delay in the Imphal to Hyderabad flight i would miss the connecting Hyderabad to Mumbai flight and hence a reschedule of my flight agenda to Mumbai.Checked into seat 13 A of "Flight No 6E 538" to Kolkata and departure was on schedule at 1430 hrs.After the epic "Wild East " bus ride from Dimapur to Imphal i felt like being in 5-star comfort in the A320 plane with the middle row seat empty.Landed in Kolkata at 1550 hrs and immediately  headed to the domestic departure terminal situated on the  first floor after exit from the domestic departure terminal. Purchased a "Fish Momo" at the airport lounge and at 1615 hrs went  to Gate No 2 and  boarded flight No "6E 596"  heading onto seat No 13A which bizarrely again had the centre seat vacant. Divine providence on the return flight air travel akin to "First Class Travel" in compensation for one of the Worst road travel in the World let alone India . When the media say's that the "NORTH EAST OF INDIA" is underdeveloped in comparison to the rest of India i presume they are definitely writing about the basic road transport infrastructure.Industrializing the North East by chopping tree's and creating factories  would not be development but destruction of a entire fragile Eco-system of the World let alone India.Plane departure was punctual at 1700 hrs and took  a "Selfie" while the plane was in flight and posted  it on "F.B", a first in my life of "Internet " usage. Also realized  that "Reliance Jio" had created a Internet revolution in India.Arrival in Mumbai airspace was on time but the aircraft had to delay landing due to air traffic congestion probably created by Mega wealthy invitees of the Ambani family wedding arriving or departing in their own private jets.The ultra wealthy are a different species of us humans.Finally the plane touched ground at 2030 hrs and after walking out of the airport first boarded a auto-rickshaw outside the airport  later changing into  a taxi in Bandra  to home sweet home in Prabhadevi locality of Mumbai.India's and the World's last Wild East frontier was a experience that will stay with me , something that fables and folklore are made of with the only difference being that i actually experienced it.