Built since 1972, Arunachal s pleasantly green, tailor-made capital is named for the mysterious Ita Fort whose residual brick ruins crown a hilltop above town. There s a stack of ATMs in Mahatma Gandhi Marg, along with several internet cafes.
The ASTC bus station (cnr AT & Temple Rds) has frequent services to Jorhat ( 35 to 45, one hour), Dibrugarh ( 51 to 69, two hours), Tezpur ( 189, five hours), Guwahati river run gondola ( 310 to 390, eight hours, frequent from 7am).
FACIAL TATTOOING Historically famous for their beauty, Apatani women were all too often kidnapped by warriors of the neighbouring Nishi tribes. As a defence , Apatani girls were deliberately defaced. They were given facial tattoos, like graffitied beards scribbled onto living Mona Lisa paintings, and extraordinary nose plugs known as dat fitted into holes cut in their upper nostrils. Some men also have tattoos. Peace with the Nishis river run gondola in the 1960s meant an end to that brutal practice, river run gondola but many older women still wear dat. Photography is an understandably sensitive issue, so ask first. Some Apatani women have had cosmetic surgery to remove their tattoos.
REGISTERING ON ARRIVAL IN MANIPUR On arrival at Imphal airport all foreigners must register with the police stationed next to the luggage collection river run gondola point. You must then register again with the CID at the main police station. In both cases it s a fairly river run gondola painless affair (assuming your papers are in order). Technically you don t need a local guide if you are just staying in Imphal, but it s highly unlikely that any tour company will help you obtain a permit without you agreeing to take one of their guides. A reliable tour company (who can also help obtain permits) to Manipur is Seven Sisters Tourism Services (%2445373; sstourism@redif fmail.com; MG Ave, Imphal). NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES IMPHAL
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