wilderness lake chalets Eastern and central Meghalaya are mainly populated by the closely related Jaintia, Pnar and Khasi pe

Dynasty HOTEL $$$ (%2516021; www.hoteldynastyindia.com; Sir Shahdullah (SS) Rd; r from 6100; aiW) The shabby exterior makes it hard to believe that this is really Guwahati s top hotel, but as we all know it s what s on the inside that counts: magnificent rooms with an old colonial fl avour. It has all the facilities you d expect from a top-end hotel, including a couple of superb restaurants plus a sauna and steam room.

Eastern and central Meghalaya are mainly populated by the closely related Jaintia, Pnar and Khasi peoples, originally migrants from Southeast Asia. Western Meghalaya is home to the unrelated Garo tribe. Despite their different ethnic backgrounds, these two groups use a matrilineal system of inheritance with children taking the mother s family name. A good time to be in Meghalaya is when the four day, state-wide, Wangala festival takes place. This Garo harvest festival is renowned for its impressive traditional dancing.

Despite being an oil-service town, Sivasagar exudes a residual elegance from its time as the capital of the Ahom dynasty that ruled Assam for more than 600 years. The name comes from waters of Shiva , the graceful central feature of a rectangular reservoir dug in 1734 by Ahom Queen Ambika. Three typical Ahom temple towers rise proudly above the tank s partly wooded southern banks to the west Devidol, to the east Vishnudol and in the centre, the 33m-high Shivadol Mandir, India s tallest Shiva temple. wilderness lake chalets Its uppermost trident balances upon an egg-shaped feature whose golden covering wilderness lake chalets the British reputedly tried (but failed) to pilfer in 1823.