In continuation of Around the North-East India in 30 days... Part-5/6
The last leg of my trip was not at all easy. The journey from Mizoram to Nagaland is one that I can never forget - not because of the time taken to reach the destination but because of the uncomfortable seats and timings.
Aizawl to Silchar by shared cab was a long journey - I didn't get the window seat and the man who got it kept on talking to me about stupid things that I had to make him shut up. After reaching Silchar in ~7 hours, I had a meal somewhere in Silchar market.
Then, I went to the railway station to catch a train to Lumding Junction. As my seat was not reserved, I tried to find a coach that I could board. There was none to step on. As the last resort, I went to that last coach which is meant for specially-abled people, and it too was overcrowded. I somehow stepped on and got a place to stand. The train was stopped after an hour for impromptu verification of several coaches and ours was one of them. Several arrangements were made for a family with a specially-abled person. A few people were asked to leave the compartment. After this episode, we all could sit down on the floor. It was so crowded that people barely got space to adjust or move. A young girl sitting next to me fell asleep on my shoulder. At least one of us got the beauty sleep. Though not comparable, this journey made me think of the appalling situation of the people during Indo-Pak partition.
I got down at ~2am at Lumding Junction and waited for the next train scheduled for Dimapur. I had a reserved berth in the next train so no more eluding sleep. In ~3 hrs, I reached Dimapur and boarded the the bus for Kohima which further took ~3hours.
The total time taken from Mizoram to Kohima was ~24hrs. I went to my room, relaxed for a while, ate some food and got ready to go out.
Although I had kept 2 days for Nagaland to cover a few places, I wanted to rest in that room for both days. Nevertheless, I went out to see only local places on day-1.
Nagaland is a beauty or more like unexplored beauty. There are so many things to do there including hiking and trekking. On my first day, I explored several local places such as Kohima War Cemetery, local market, and cafes. I enquired about going to places such as Dzukou Point on the next day, but I was told that it would take 2 days to cover the return journey and it was coming out to be a bit much on a single pocket. I kind of felt happy that there is no more commute required and I could rest the next day.
I roamed in the market to try their street food, but it was all pork. I found a great cafe that serves delicious food and coffee.
The next day was Sunday and I was not aware of the fact that the whole city doesn't work on Sundays. Even the cafes and restaurants were closed. Nagaland Prayer Convention was being held in the downtown ground which I attended for few hours. The people are so warm that they would welcome you whole heartedly to attend events, try food and mingle.
There was nothing else to do apart from attending this event, so I went back to the room and slept through the whole day.
There are buses that ply between Kohima and Imphal which are cheaper than shared vans, but buses are available only during a few slots in the morning. I boarded the one scheduled for ~7:30am. Reserve your seats early or else you would be asked to sit next to the driver as I was asked.
There was only 1 stop for police verification and we reached the Manipur bus station by ~2:30 pm. I had reserved an Airbnb nearby the bus station. I walked down to it, took a shower and went to a nearby cafe to have scrumptious meal. This Airbnb had a great collection of novels and I took Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella and finished it in 1 day.
The trip came to an end when I flew back to Delhi on the next day.
Few points:
1. Nagaland is a beautiful place. Respect their culture and cleanliness.
2. It is hard but not difficult to survive for a vegetarian person.
3. Even if you reach Kohima, you would have to plan your travel carefully to reach other destinations in Nagaland. So, pre-planning is highly recommended.
4. Solo trips are not difficult but will be heavy on pockets.
5. (Budget) hotels are not great. Consider Airbnb rather than hotels for your stay.
To cut a long story short,
All in all the whole trip was a fantastic experience which showed me the other beautiful side of India. From tiring journeys to comfortable Airbnbs, from commercialized tourist spots to remote areas, from hunger to scrumptious meals, from money making auto wallahs to warmhearted people, north-east India satiates all your expectations from a (solo) travel.
PS: Everything mentioned in these trips is based on my experience, thus travel time, timings, availability, etc. may differ for you. Enjoy your journey and life!!!
' fill='%23359391'%3e %3cpath d='M46.1538462%2c43.5714286 L41.5%2c50 L36.8461538%2c43.5714286 L36.8670256%2c43.5714286 C36.3173077%2c42.7142857 36%2c41.6851429 36%2c40.5714286 C36%2c37.4854286 38.4535641%2c35 41.5%2c35 C44.5464359%2c35 47%2c37.4854286 47%2c40.5714286 C47%2c41.6851429 46.6826923%2c42.7142857 46.1329744%2c43.5714286 L46.1538462%2c43.5714286 Z M41.4294872%2c39 C40.6150641%2c39 39.9487179%2c39.675 39.9487179%2c40.5 C39.9487179%2c41.325 40.6150641%2c42 41.4294872%2c42 C42.2439103%2c42 42.9102564%2c41.325 42.9102564%2c40.5 C42.9102564%2c39.675 42.2439103%2c39 41.4294872%2c39 L41.4294872%2c39 Z' id='Location-white'%3e%3c/path%3e %3c/g%3e %3c/svg%3e)
