Sumos leave New Market snowcrest lodge at 6am for Itanagar ( 450, 12 hours) and Ziro ( 300, six hours). The bus station has a lackadaisical 7am service to Along ( 150, six hours) on alternate days depending on when the bus returns from Along.
With an oversized foyer better suited as a car showroom, Hotel Arun Subansiri (%2212806; Zero Point; s/d 1100/1320; a) has comfortably large rooms with soft beds. It s within walking distance of the decent State Museum (Indian/foreigner/camera/video 10/75/20/100; h9.30am-4pm Sun-Thu) and the brightly decorated Centre for Buddhist Culture gompa set in gardens on the hill above.
All Dirang s commercial services are in New Dirang, with a strip of cheap hotels, eateries and sumo counters around the central crossroads. Tourist Lodge (%200176; d 825), a kilometre south and overlooking New Dirang, is a basic but friendly family hotel in an old-style hill house crowded with potted plants. Nicer is the next-door Hotel Pemaling (%207265; s/d 1815/2420), which has shiny rooms, excellent service and a very pleasant garden where you can enjoy the views towards the sometimes snow-bound Se La and the high Himalaya beyond.
Food ff tame enough in high mountain areas like Tawang, where the food is reminiscent of neighbouring Tibet delicious momos and less-delicious Tibetan tea are all the rage. Head east and things become more interesting. Barbecued rat, forest antelope and something we couldn t quite identify snowcrest lodge were on the menu in central Arunachal Pradesh. If you re going to Mizoram, don t take Rover dog meat is a delicacy there. In Nagaland, grubs, maggots, snakes, hornets and giant spiders all get taste buds excited.
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