the pines breckenridge Only 40km from Guwahati, this small national park has the highest concentration of rhinoceros in the

India s Northeast States, dangling way out on the edge of the map and the national perception, are strictly for explorers who want something different from their India experience. These remote frontier lands, where India, Southeast Asia and Tibet meet, are a collision zone of cultures, climates, landscapes and peoples and are one of Asia s last great unknowns. It s a place of rugged beauty where uncharted forests clamber up toward unnamed Himalayan peaks. It s a land of enormous variety where rhinoceros live in swampy grasslands and former head-hunters live in longhouses in the jungle. And it s an adventure in the truest sense of the word.

Only 40km from Guwahati, this small national park has the highest concentration the pines breckenridge of rhinoceros in the world. Entrance fees are the same as Kaziranga National Park (see p 561 ). Getting into the park involves a boat ride over the river boundary to the elephant- mounting station. From there it s a one-hour trip atop an elephant lumbering through boggy grassland and stirring the pines breckenridge up petulant rhinos.

oClassic Hotel HOTEL $$ (%2443967; North AOC Rd; s/d from 845/1170; aiW) This unexpectedly classy hotel is one of the best-value business hotels in the northeast. The large spotless rooms come with full facilities, staff who love to please and the town s best restaurant (mains 100 to 150). Opt for one of the Classic Standard rooms (s/d 1885/2470).