mon chalet denver colorado Diphlu River Lodge HOTEL $$$ (%361-2602223; Guwahati; www.jungletravelsindia.com; jungle plan Indian

Noisy and polluted it might be, but Imphal, with its melange of peoples and positioning right on the border mon chalet denver colorado lands of India and southeast Asia is undeniably fascinating and travellers who spend any time here are well rewarded. The airport is 9km to the southwest.

Diphlu River Lodge HOTEL $$$ (%361-2602223; Guwahati; www.jungletravelsindia.com; jungle plan Indian s/d 9000/12,000, foreigner mon chalet denver colorado s/d 18,000/24,000) Fifteen mon chalet denver colorado minutes drive west of the tourist complex, this new lodge, with its chic-rustic mon chalet denver colorado feel, is without doubt the most comfortable place to stay in the Kaziranga region. It consists of six bamboo cottages on raised stilts overlooking a river. The rooms have enormous soft beds and the bathrooms sport heavenly mon chalet denver colorado rain showers. There s no sign look for the dirt track on the left (if travelling from the Guwahati direction) beside the 37 marker post.

HEAD HUNTERS Throughout northeastern India and parts of western Myanmar the Naga tribes were long feared for their ferocity in war and for their sense of independence both from each other and from the rest of the world. Intervillage wars continued as recently as the 1980s, and a curious feature of many outwardly modern settlements is their treaty mon chalet denver colorado stones recording peace settlements between neighbouring communities. It was the Naga s custom of headhunting that sent shivers down the spines of neighbouring peoples. The taking of an enemy s head was considered a sign of strength, and a man who had not claimed a head was not considered a man. Fortunately for tourists, headhunting was officially outlawed mon chalet denver colorado in 1935, with the last recorded occurrence in 1963. Nonetheless, severed heads are still an archetypal artistic motif found notably on yanra (pendants) that originally denoted the number of human heads a warrior had taken. Some villages, mon chalet denver colorado such as Shingha Changyuo in Mon district, still retain their hidden collection of genuine mon chalet denver colorado skulls. Today Naga culture is changing fast, but it was not a government ban on headhunting that put an end to this tradition but rather the activities of Christian missionaries. Over 90% of the Naga now consider themselves Christian.