suisse chalet aruba RAFTING IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Another newly opened route is the Pasighat to Tuting road. Thi

Carved out of Assam in 1972, hilly Meghalaya (Abode of Clouds) is a cool, pine-fresh contrast to the sweaty Assam plains. Set on dramatic horseshoes of rocky cliff above the Bengal plains, Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram are statistically the wettest places on earth. Most of the rain falls between suisse chalet aruba April and September, creating very impressive waterfalls and carving out some of Asia s longest caves.

oHeritage Hotel HERITAGE HOTEL $$ (%9774416649; www.theheritage.in; Offi cers Hill; r/ ste 1800/3500; W) Back in colonial days this was the home of the deputy commissioner and, with roaring open fires taking the chill off a cold winter night and hunting suisse chalet aruba trophies and tribal arts adorning the walls, it retains something of the flavour of those times.

RAFTING suisse chalet aruba IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Another newly opened route is the Pasighat to Tuting road. This route is all about two things: suisse chalet aruba the River Siang and the mysterious Buddhist land of Pemako. Tuting, which sits near the Tibetan border, is the point at which the Tsang Po river having left the Tibetan plateau suisse chalet aruba and burrowed through the Himalaya via a series of spectacular gorges enters the Indian subcontinent and becomes the Siang (once it reaches the plains of Assam it turns into the Brahmaputra). Tuting and the River Siang are starting to gain a reputation as one of the world s most thrilling white-water rafting destinations, but this ain t no amateurs river. The few people who have descended the river have reported suisse chalet aruba that the 180km route is littered suisse chalet aruba with numerous grade 4-5 rapids, strong eddies and inaccessible suisse chalet aruba gorges. For those after adventure of a different kind Tuting also serves as the launch pad for searching out the legendary Buddhist land of Pemako. You will, however, need more than this guidebook and a compass in order to find it. Buddhist belief says that Pemako suisse chalet aruba is a synonym for a hidden earthly paradise and that it s the earthly representation of Dorje Pagmo, a Tibetan goddess. It was said that this land of milk and honey was to be found in the eastern Himalaya and that to reach it you had to pass behind an enormous hidden waterfall. For hundreds suisse chalet aruba of years outsiders knew that the Tsang Po river left Tibet and entered a huge, and utterly impenetrable, gorge before emerging from the Himalaya around suisse chalet aruba Tuting, but what happened to the river inside that gorge was unknown until the 1950s. As it turned out the river did indeed tumble suisse chalet aruba over an enormous waterfall and, what s more, it passed through a rich and fertile valley populated by Memba Buddhists, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Today, this vast region of northern Arunachal Pradesh and parts of south eastern Tibet remains almost utterly unknown to the outside world, but Pemako is out there and for those willing to endure days of incredibly tough hiking (and deal with reams of paperwork) it is possible to visit.

Framing itself suisse chalet aruba as the Khasi cultural centre, Smit hosts the major fi ve-day Nongkrem Festival (October). This features animal sacrifices and a curious slow-motion shuffling dance performed in full costume in front of the thatched bamboo palace of the local syiem (traditional ruler). Smit is 11km from Shillong, 4km off the Jowai road.