chalet bamboo panelled rooms with a more reliable electricity supply than many similar places. It s in the market

panelled rooms with a more reliable electricity supply than many similar places. It s in the market area. The Hotel Siddhartha (%222515; s 750, d 1030-1350) chalet bamboo has large, carpeted and well-kept rooms that help make it the best of the town-centre options.

The biggest, most cosmopolitan and, some might say, the most Indian city in the northeast, Guwahati is an essential stop on any northeastern tour. A casual glance might place Guwahati alongside any other Indian city but wander the back alleys around Jorpulkuri Ponds, away from the concrete jungle of the central business district, and you could almost imagine yourself in a village chalet bamboo made up of ponds, palm trees, small single-storey traditional houses and old colonial-era mansions.