luxury mountainside panelled rooms with a more reliable electricity supply than many similar places. It s in the market

REGISTERING ON ARRIVAL IN MANIPUR On arrival at Imphal airport all foreigners must register with the police stationed next to the luggage collection point. You must then register again with the CID at the main police station. In both cases it s a fairly painless affair (assuming your papers are in order). Technically you don t need a local guide if you are just staying in Imphal, but it s highly unlikely that any tour company will help you obtain a permit without you agreeing to take one of their guides. A reliable tour company (who can also help obtain permits) to Manipur is Seven Sisters Tourism Services (%2445373; sstourism@redif fmail.com; luxury mountainside MG Ave, Imphal). NORTHEAST TRIBAL STATES IMPHAL

panelled rooms with a more reliable electricity supply than many similar places. It s in the market area. The Hotel Siddhartha (%222515; luxury mountainside s 750, d 1030-1350) has large, carpeted and well-kept luxury mountainside rooms that help make it the best of the town-centre options.

The impoverished hill town of Mon is in a gorgeous setting but feels like a frontier town. There s an SBI ATM in the town centre but don t rely on it working. The little village market is well worth exploring and like so many markets in the northeast, it s the exotic food items that stick longest in the memory. Of the numerous tribal villages in the area the closest is Old Mon village, luxury mountainside a mere 5km from town. Tamgnyu village luxury mountainside (13km) is a rarely visited, yet easy to reach, luxury mountainside village with a friendly headman, a couple of human skulls left over from headhunting days and