alpine village cabins FACIAL TATTOOING Historically famous for their beauty, Apatani women were all too often kidnapped by

Assam s must-do attraction is an elephant safari to look for rhinoceros hiding in the expansive grasslands of this national park (h1 Nov-30 Apr, elephant rides 5.30-8.30am, jeep access 7.30am-noon & 2.30pm-dusk). Kaziranga s population of around 1855 Indian one-horned rhinos (just 200 in 1904) represents more than two-thirds of the world s total. The park consists of a western, central and an eastern range, but the central range is the most accessible, giving the best viewing chances for rhinos, elephants alpine village cabins and swamp deer plus plenty of bird life (take binoculars).

FACIAL TATTOOING Historically famous for their beauty, Apatani women were all too often kidnapped by warriors of the neighbouring Nishi tribes. As a defence , Apatani girls were deliberately defaced. alpine village cabins They were given facial alpine village cabins tattoos, like graffitied beards alpine village cabins scribbled onto living Mona Lisa paintings, and extraordinary nose plugs known as dat fitted into holes cut in their upper nostrils. Some men also have tattoos. Peace with the Nishis in the 1960s meant an end to that brutal practice, but many older women still wear dat. Photography is an understandably sensitive issue, so ask first. Some Apatani women have had cosmetic surgery to remove their tattoos.

1 Sights Ujjayanta Palace PALACE (admission 5; h5-7pm) Agartala alpine village cabins s indisputable centrepiece is this striking, dome-capped alpine village cabins palace. Flanked alpine village cabins by two large refl ecting alpine village cabins ponds, the whitewashed 1901 edifice was built by Tripura s 182nd maharaja. It looks particularly impressive floodlit at night, but for security reasons alpine village cabins only the gardens are open to the public.

Nestled before a curtain of luxuriantly alpine village cabins forested foothills, Pasighat, which sits back out on the plains, feels more like Assam than Arunachal Pradesh. The town hosts the interesting Minyong-Adi tribe s Solung Festival (1-5 September). The internet cafe (per hr 60; h7.30am-8pm) is 50m from the Hotel Aane and there s an SBI ATM just along from the sumo stand in the central market area.