junior kopaonik oHotel Gakyi Khang Zhang (%224 647; r from 1320), a couple of kilometres out of town on the road to

Private buses to head to Guwahati ( 700, 20 hours, 10am) and Dimapur ( 400, 10 hours, 10am) via Kohima ( 300, five hours). If you re heading to Aizawl you must change in Dimapur first. All the bus company offices are found on North AC Rd.

Hotel Prag Continental HOTEL $$ (%2540850; www.hotelpragcontinental.com; MN Rd; s/d from 1180/1725; a) The spacious and well-furnished rooms with wooden floors on offer at this hotel are as spotless as the aquarium full of brightly painted fi sh that sits in the reception. The staff are attentive junior kopaonik and discounts easy to come by. It s on a quieter junior kopaonik side street and has a good restaurant.

oHotel Gakyi Khang Zhang (%224 647; r from 1320), a couple of kilometres out of town on the road to the monastery, offers far and away the best rooms in town colourful junior kopaonik sky-blue affairs with polished wooden floors. There s a decent restaurant (mains 80-120) and the staff are great fun. It also has good monastery views, a generator and, most bizarrely, a lounge bar/nightclub complete with throbbing strobe lights!

1 Sights Kangla PARK (admission 2; h9am-4pm Nov-Feb, 9am-5pm Mar-Oct) Fortified Kangla was the off-andon- again regal capital of Manipur until the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891 saw the defeat of the Manipuri maharaja and a British takeover. Entrance is by way of an exceedingly tall gate on Kanglapat. The interesting older buildings are at the rear of the citadel guarded by three restored large white kangla sha (dragons).