mammoth snowmass oHotel Mona Lisa (%2320416; Mancotta Rd; r 600-1500; a), part Africa, part Cuba and possibly even a

Khwairamband mammoth snowmass Bazaar MARKET (Ima Market; h7am-5pm) This vast all-women s market (well, mammoth snowmass we saw one male vendor perhaps appropriately he was selling mammoth snowmass headphones!) is run by some 3000 ima (mothers). mammoth snowmass Divided mammoth snowmass by a road, one side sells vegetables, fruit, fish and groceries while the other deals in household items, fabrics and pottery. It s easily one of the largest markets in the northeast.

oHotel Mona Lisa (%2320416; Mancotta Rd; r 600-1500; a), part Africa, part Cuba and possibly even a little slice of India, is a superb budget hotel with character. It s set back from the main road and everything is kept ticking along smoothly thanks to the lovely old man running mammoth snowmass it.

Sumos have their booking counters in Jenkins Rd and run to Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh ( 250, eight hours) and Tawang ( 500, 15hrs). Bargain for a private taxi in the same street for the Eco-Camp at Potasali ( 1500) and Kaziranga ( 1500). A little further on is the bus station (Jenkins Rd) with frequent services to Guwahati ( 140 to 150, five hours), Jorhat ( 100, four hours) and Kohora for Kaziranga ( 45, two hours).

1 Sights Kamakhya Mandir mammoth snowmass HINDU TEMPLE (admission for no queue/short mammoth snowmass queue/queue 500/100/free; h8am-1pm & 3pm-dusk) While Sati s disintegrated body parts rained toes on Kolkata (see p443), her yoni fell on Kamakhya Hill. This makes Kamakhya Mandir important for shakti (sensual tantric worship of female spiritual power). Goats, pigeons and the occasional buffalo are ritually beheaded in a gory pavilion and the hot, dark inner womblike sanctum mammoth snowmass is painted red to signify sacrificial blood. The huge June/ July Ambubachi Mela celebrates the end of the mother goddess menstrual cycle with even more blood.