the cottages at cultus lake 560 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES AS S A M NORTHEAST TOURS The vast majority of foreign tourists visiting

# ChitrachalHillBharaluRiverBrahmaputraRiverKarmanasaIslandPeacockIslandJorpulkuriPondsSilpukhuriTankDighalipukhuriTankJudgesFeldNehruParkPaltan Bazaar Panbazar StationRd Solapara Rd GuwahatiShillong(GS)Rd AssamTrunk(AT)Rd BBaruahRd GNBRd MahatmaGandhi(MG)Rd PD Chalia Rd FCRd MDShahRd SRSRd ArgwalPath MSRd ManikChandra (MC)Rd UNBRd Train Station Sikh Temple NepaliMandir SattagarhMandir FancyBazaar Gandhi Mandap Panbazar the cottages at cultus lake Ghat Sukreswar Ghat Umananda Ghat Mosque Mosque Jain Mandir 6 8 4 3 25 20 16 18 15 17 7 21 22 23 1 19 9 10 11 12 14 13 431CBC24312BAADDGuwahati To Jungle Travels India (100m) To Mizoram House (1km); Arunachal House (1.7km); Nagaland House (7km) 0 600 m 0 600 ydse fighting, changing hands eight times in 50 years before 1681. In 1897 a huge earthquake, followed the cottages at cultus lake by a series of devastating floods, wiped out most of the old city.

The beautifully forested hills around Itanagar hide the attractive Ganga Lake (5km), a local picnic spot. Further away (20km) is Poma village, which is about the closest place to town to see the traditional architecture of bamboo longhouses (although many of these are being slowly replaced with concrete box houses).

5 Eating & Drinking La Galerie INDIAN $$ (Hotel Centrepoint, TSS Rd; mains 150-200) A suave restaurant compartmentalised into booths by photographs of local scenes, it offers excellent Indian food. Cloud 9 is the top-floor bar-restaurant the cottages at cultus lake serving dainty Thai dishes, cold beers and cocktails.

560 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES AS S A M NORTHEAST TOURS The vast majority of foreign tourists visiting the northeast states travel as part of an organised tour, and indeed for four of the states (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram), independent travel in the normal the cottages at cultus lake sense of the word is almost impossible. Instead, the cottages at cultus lake the only realistic way of getting permits is to enlist the services of a tour company. Once you have a permit, travelling around independently is not normally a problem, but you re unlikely to find a tour company the cottages at cultus lake who ll help you get permits without fi rst hiring a car and driver/guide from them, thus making real independent travel in the permit states pretty much impossible. Most tour companies are based in Guwahati and all of the following can organise permits and tours throughout the northeast. Traveller s Point (Map p554; %2604018; www.assamtourism.org; Prashaanti Tourist Lodge, Station Rd) If you re staying the cottages at cultus lake only within Assam then Assam Tourism s commercial booth runs a variety of city- and state-wide tours including day excursions the cottages at cultus lake to Hajo via the silk-weaving centre of Sualkuchi. Network Travels (Map p554; %2605335; www.networktravelsindia.net; GS Rd; h5am9pm) A highly experienced agency whose operations cover the whole of the northeast with tailor-made and fixed-itinerary tours. the cottages at cultus lake Organising permits is a speciality. Jungle Travels India (off Map p554; %2667871, 9207042330; www.jungletravelsindia.com; 3b Dirang Arcade, GNB Rd) Another the cottages at cultus lake experienced agency covering the entire northeast with tailor-made tours and fixed-date departures. It organises all the permits, but can be slightly disorganised in this regard. With two boats, it runs Brahmaputra cruises (see www.assambengalnavigation.com) for four to 10 nights at US$350 per person per night, and also runs the Bansbari Lodge in Manas National Park. Rhino Travels (Map p554; %2540666; the cottages at cultus lake www.rhinotravels.com; M Nehru (MN) Rd) This agency offers set-date tours in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It also offers two- to four-night river cruises. 4 Sleeping & Eating