chalet pizza hopkins All around Shillong gambling booths offer Forecast odds on Siat Khnam. This is a unique sport. A sem

All around Shillong gambling booths offer Forecast odds on Siat Khnam. This is a unique sport. A semicircle of weatherbeaten Khasi men fire hundreds of arrows at a drum-shaped straw target for a set time before a canvas curtain is raised to keep further arrows off the target. Those that stick in are counted and bets predict the last two digits of this total. It s effectively a lottery but the shooting is a gently fascinating spectacle. chalet pizza hopkins Shoots are usually scheduled at 4pm and 5pm every day, timings chalet pizza hopkins can vary somewhat by season. The easy-to-miss Siat Khnam site is a small grassy area approximately opposite the big Nehru Stadium on the south river bank.

Voyaging to the Ziro Valley is one of the undisputed highlights of a trip to Arunachal Pradesh and, though the scenery is stunning and the village architecture fascinating, the voyeuristic main attraction here is meeting the friendly older Apatani folk who sport facial tattoos and nose plugs that would be the envy of any tattooist in the West (see p 566 ). The most authentic chalet pizza hopkins Apatani villages chalet pizza hopkins are Hong (the biggest and best known), Hijo (more atmospheric), Hari, Bamin and Dutta; none of which are more than 10km apart. It s vital to have a local guide to take you to any of these villages chalet pizza hopkins otherwise you won t see much and might even be made to feel quite unwelcome. chalet pizza hopkins Christopher Michi (%9402048466/8014012558; christopherdulley@ chalet pizza hopkins yahoo.co.in/christophermichi@hotmail.com) is the chairman of the Apatani Cultural Preservation Society and can organise superb visits to the villages don t be at all surprised chalet pizza hopkins if your tour culminates in an evening of drinking rice wine and chowing down on barbequed rat in a villager s house!

567 NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES W E S T E R N A R U N AC H A L P R A D E S H THE LAST SHANGRI LA? Recently the government of Arunachal Pradesh has opened up a couple of new areas to foreign tourists. Possibly the most exciting of these is the road from Along to the small, remote town of Mechuka, close to the Tibetan border. In the past the Mechuka valley, which until recently had no real road connecting it to the rest of the state, was called the forbidden valley or even a Last Shangri La. Populated by the Buddhist Memba peoples, Mechuka, sitting on the banks of the West Siang River, lives up to its Last Shangri La status and is notable for both the 400-year-old Samten Yongcha Monastery and the stunning landscapes surrounding the town, which culminate in a massive hulk of snow- draped mountains running along the border. For the moment tourist facilities (and tourists!) remain virtually non-existent but sumos now ply the 180km from Along ( 300, seven hours, 5.30am). The only accommodation is the Circuit House, but if that is unavailable then it s likely that local people will put you up be generous in your donation. the owners of which have realised that it is possible to buy new tins of paint a fairly revolutionary thought for many hotels in the northeast. Otherwise chalet pizza hopkins try the plusher