hi all. am about to head out for assam and eastwards next week from here in kolkata on my buddy's bullet. just got back from a month in bangladesh.
just wondering if anyone has any tips on beautiful drives through the norhteast of india and what i should not miss out on.
the plan is assam and down through meghalaya to tripura and mizoram. then up through nagaland to arunachal pradesh and tawang. i will be going through most national parks along the way.
i will find a place with a nice hotel and use it as a base for day trips throughout the area and then move on. i will have until the end of april or more for the trip.
also, if anyone knows the possibility of getting into the areas requiring a permit without one, i would like to hear of it. the office here in kolkata says you must be in a group of 4 or a married couple. strange requirements, but hey, its india! he 'suggested/hinted' that i could talk to the officers at the state borders and probably work out a deal. good old baksheesh, i suppose.
any help gets a big thanx.
mitch

Make sure you stay in darjeeling and ride the world heritage toy train.
Early next morning ride from darjeeling to tiger hills to enjoy the world famous sunrise
On a clear day, you can see Kanchenjunga and even Mt. Everest.

Ladakh
Kashmir,
Himachal,
Jaipur
Agra,
Delhi,
Udaypur

These are the places you should not leave in north india...

Mitch.
How did you go with all the permits for the seven sisters?
Did you have to hook up with a group?

We are planning to head through there but are not a married couple... Although we have faked it before!

Interested!

Nathan and Aki

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NE India is wonderful, though I only visited the permit free states - Tripura, Maghalaya and Assam. Meghalaya is very beautiful (go to Cherapunjee, great camping at Nohkalikai Falls).

I'd be very, very surprised if you got anywhere near Manipur. It's verging on civil war, at times. Mizoram and Nagaland do have insurgencies too, but are less volatile.

Arunachal Pradesh is probably the most beautiful and interesting, but permits can be expensive.

And now the real problem: As far as I know, even if you get a permit (and there are ridiculous strings attached which only the Indian government could think of), this is for you, not you and your car / bike. I've only met Indian citizens who've entered with their own vehicle.

Give it a try (permits for Nagaland / Mizoram / Manipur are free), but be prepared for huge bureaucratic nonsense. I know of some overlanders who wrangled for months with the Burmese to allow them to cross the border from India, only to be barred entry to Manipur by the Indians.

Re entering illegally - this is no small matter. If you manage to bribe the border guards (and I guess it would cost a lot), you'd probably be thrown out by their buddies 20km down the road. You know how India works, right?

Daniel

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Thanks Daniel.

When did you head through NE India?
Good news some of the states dont require permits... Maybe we will just visit Tripuri, Meg and Assam.
AP although very beautiful would be too hard on out little bike, mountains too high, so not this time.
Those three states and then squeeze through the Corridor into Bihar sounds fine to us. Will be nearby in Bangladesh (Sylhet) anyway.

Wonder how Mitch is going up there.

Cheers

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I went from Akhaura, near Comila in Bangladesh acrosss to Agartala, then up through Tripura, cut a corner of Assam (appalling roads) to Meghalaya, then back down to Guwahati to Sikkim, then to Nepal via Siliguri. The NE is really special, the tribals in the east of the region are amazing. In fact, those in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the east of Bangladesh were even more interesting, if you go deep into the jungle, they're really untouched. I stayed with one family there in a bamboo hut village full of pretty girls and ate wild pigs, tortoise and pigeons. Pretty cool.

Daniel

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i am answering my own question as i go!
check the thread in this area on burma. i just posted a lengthy one and talk about the permit for mizoram.
i went through a recommended travel agent for the AP permit. IR7500...OUCH!!! paying for 4 people. i can get one for manipur but i will give it a miss as so much shit is happening there lately. still waiting for the naga permit. and sikhim is easy to get i hear in rangpo b4 entering gangtok.
anyway, cherrapunjee area is quite beautiful in meghalaya. the roads and rides are spectacular.
mizoram is quite steep and the roads are good too. the new highway south to lunglei from aizawl will be finished by june. great people and nice scenery. its a dry state...no booze. but you can get the rice wine in towns if you ask quietly.
the roads all around silchar are horrible! when you leave meghalaya, the sign says 'welcome to assam'. it should add, 'kiss your good roads goodbye'!
will be heading to tripura soon and then naga and AP then sikhim over the next 3 months.
will add more as i go.
later

It would be great if you could make GPS tracks as you go along. That entire area is a bit of a GPS black hole, it would really help if we could get tracks.

dont have one. probably never will.
there are roads of all qualities throughout these states. many are not shown on most maps. if you plan on coming here, you can pretty much count on being able to get to where you want to go. so far, the worst roads are around silchar in south assam. and i was informed by everybody not to go from silchar to haflong through the cachar hills. too many militants and bandits competing for your wealth!
i'm now in agartala, tripura's capital and will be heading back up to guwahati to pick up my naga permit and my AP permit too!
later

South side of the Bramaputra:

Kaziranga Game Park between Guwahati and Dibrugarh-world class rhino and elephant viewing
Sibsagar area near Jorhat-Old temples and palaces
Manjuli Island near Jorhat-Hindu monasteries and dance groups.
Siva Temple in Guwahati-photographic sadhus

North Side:

Manas Game reserve for wildlife and river rafting.

Assam and its people are delightfull.

Oops,

Just saw the age of the thread.Anyway,hope the info is useful to someone out there!!

Keep them coming - we arrive in November and am following this thread with interest

Thanks

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Land's End to Sydney 2009

Willdo.We are now based in Hyderabad,if you r in this direction pop in for a hangover

Now that's my kind of invite Thanks will try and take you up on that ...

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Land's End to Sydney 2009