Ni Dieu Ni Maitre

Chanrei’s uncle, a clergyman, arranged this trip by van, specifically getting me the front seat for comfortable leg room. I had thought that since Nagaland is directly east of Meghalaya this would be a fairly short trip. But no, there is no direct road east, and the journey involved going north to Assam state, turning east just shy of Guwahati traffic and pollution on bad roads, crossing a lot of pretty flat Assam before turning south to Dimapur, the first city in Nagaland.

Most of the road was a so-so 4 lane highway, but there were quite a few diversions over some truly bad stuff. We stopped several times on the 11 hour journey as the driver, carrying 5 passengers and a load of boxes for delivery, needed food and alcohol for his own use.

The Nagas are real carnivores…

Pressing onward, we stopped at a roadside collection of fruit and vegetable stands while still in Assam, scenically located by a muddy river.

Finally, we turned south and entered Dimapur, a large lowland city, the first in Nagaland, of no interest whatever. From here we entered the hills. Very reminiscent of the Shillong area, very beautiful, with the roads sporting “FALLING ROCKS” signs and plenty of evidence of same alongside the road.

Down to just the driver, his Kohima neighbor and me, we stopped for a beer, having become friends on the long ride. Arriving in Kohima, they drove me right to my hotel, a pretty nice place. After a shower, I headed out to do some mainly uphill walking just before dark, met a friendly local who took me up a steep fight of stairs to have a local rice beer in a wooden flagon. Sweet, grainy, supposedly 5%. One was good enough.

The hotel fortunately has a restaurant, because this and future walks around the neighborhood have revealed none anywhere nearby. I’m pretty sure Kohima is at a higher elevation than Shillong… the whole town is spread over ridges and hilltops… but it is warmer here, mid 70’s to 80C.

View from the Manna Inn’s tiny balcony. Slightly cockeyed, isn’t it.