Well who doesn’t love traveling and exploring. As a part of team Jungleflit I used to get to host guests who wants to explore different place in and around North-east India. Very recently I got a call from my partners that I have to host a couple of hosts from Maharashtra who wanted to explore certain places of Nagaland. I was quite excited and replied with and yes without any second thought. I started setting up the preparations for the tour by contacting the vehicle and hotels and finally everything was sorted before a week. I was also preparing myself personally with all the possible means so that I utilize the fullest from this trip. The trip was scheduled from 26th November and I kept counting dates while doing the preps simultaneously.
It was 26th of November at around 3:00 AM in the morning. I called the vehicle driver “Rajib Da”to pick me up from my place early. He reached in another 30 mins and we both started towards Mariani train station as the guests were reaching by train. The train arrived at 5 sharp and I welcomed the guests from the station. We packed the luggage in the Innova and started our journey without losing any time. Our today's plan was to reach Mokokchung via Changki and visit Longkhum and Ungma village.
Todays plan was to reach Wokha from Mokokchung primarily and visit the Doyang Hydro Project.We had our breakfast in the hotel itself and started early.
We continued in the Changki road and right after reaching Changki,we took our first halt at Changki hilltop viewpoint. The morning breeze and the view was an unforgettable experience trust me.
We then had some puri sabji as breakfast in Changki and continued towards Mokokchung. We entered the town of Mokokchung by 12 and proceeded straight to our hotel- “Hotel Metsuben”
We had our lunch at the hotel itself and suggested the guests to freshen up and get ready quickly. We then left for Longkhum village which was around 25 Kms from Mokokchung known for historical importance.
It was almost sunset by then and we headed to Ungma village with a plan to see the village and watch the sunset from the viewpoint but the situations didn’t go as planned due to time and we proceeded to the hotel from Ungma village soon.
We had our dinner in the hotel and spent the night talking to a new friend from Kolkata who was also exploring Nagaland on his own.
The road conditions were pathetic but I knew that more worse roads are yet to come in the coming days.
We stopped midway for some local fruits and tea and continued .
Todays plan was to reach Jakhama from Wokha via Kohima.We started early from Wokha right after breakfast as we were worried about the road conditions being worse than before.
We had an early breakfast and started for Khonoma- The first green village of Asia . Like the earlier days, google maps were the only source of road guidance for us to reach Khonoma and after about 3 hours we finally reached Khonoma from Jakhama.
We had a very good breakfast this morning and checked out from the home stay and started our journey from Khonoma to Dzuleke.
We stared early to the festival venue just like the first day.I didn’t turn up to the campsite and instead decided to take a troll along the festival venue since it was my last day at the festival.
It was time for us to leave Nagaland today. We got up early and packed our bags to the vehicle. We bid bye to the home stay owner and started to Dimapur Train Station
But right after mins of starting back, we had to stop because of a vehicle breakdown in the mid of the road. The situation was worse when vehicles started waiting from both the sides creating a mess.
It took more than an hour for the JCB to clear the road and we somehow continued our journey. It was risky because of the road conditions and less populated areas but we kept our journey towards Wokha.
We reached our destination-“The Hammock Resort” which was situated in the outskirts of Wokha. We didn’t waste a minute and headed directly towards the Doyang Hydro Project.
The roads were fine as compared to the road from Mokokchung but it was quite risky as we met very few vehicles on the way to Doyang. We managed to reach Doyang by around 3 and spent the evening watching the sunset.
We started to return early because of the less populated roads and stopped by at a roadside hotel near Wokha for evening Tea and Snacks. We found very less shops and hotels as it was late and they close down early as compared to other places.But luckily,we found a decent Lotha hotel !
We entered our resort late and spent the night with a plan of starting early the next day.I wasn't really tired with the daylong bumpy ride but decided to sleep early so that we start early next day.
It took us around 5 hrs to reach Kohima from Wokha and we headed directly to the Kohima State Museum after reaching Kohima.
We had our lunch in Kohima town and proceeded towards Kohima War Cemetery to spend the Sunset.
Our bodies were all tired by the daylong bumpy journey and we moved towards our home-stay in Jakhama Village. I could personally feel some rest and comfort only after sitting near the fire and sipping some rum that I carried along with me. Please note that Nagaland is a dry state and it is not easy for outsiders to find alcohol easily!
We did our registration in the tourist management center,had some Maggi and tea at a cafe and moved straight to our home-stay to check in
We had our lunch, got fresh and decided to take a self-village tour as we couldn’t get a guide in that day.
I left my guests to explore on their own and moved towards the paddy fields in the valley below. The views I got were just breath-taking and phenomenal.
I took a walk around the organic plots, grabbed some ripe guavas and took some of the best sunset shots till date and started to return to the home stay.
Now, the real risky part was in returning as I lost the way while coming downhill. I Just guessed some random upwards but to my disguise I ended up in a couple of tombstones which where basically crematories. I was never this frightened during my years of travel and I almost lost the ability to think. I could somehow think for while and made my way towards the home stay after calling the home stay owner for help. I learnt a lesson for life that I should not loiter around unknown places while traveling and that too without any local support!
We all had our dinner in the home stay and slept early after the risky hill climb.
It was not very far from Khonoma and we reached Dzuleke within the next 1 hour. We did our registration for the village tour in the tourist information center and hired a guide to show us the village properly.
The place was one of the most memorable places I visited till date. It was an old Angami village with rich culture and only 36 houses in the whole village.
This village would remind you of the countryside villages with nature at its best. It took us more than 2 hours to take a walk across the village, talk to the locals and visit the organic farms in the valleys.
Trust me, Dzuleke will never stop mesmerizing you and this place isn’t a spot to be left behind. We had our lunch while on the way back to the home stay in Jakhama.
It was already dark by the time we reached our home stay and we just sat beside the fire after dinner, and of course sipping my favorite Old monk!
It was 1st December today and the beginning of the Hornbill Festival. My guests wanted to witness the opening ceremony of the Hornbill Festival.So I dropped them at the festival venue and proceeded to my campsite that we were putting up for the Hornbill Festival.
The campsite venue was just a KM from the festival venue and we started setting up the camps and the other arrangements.
I kept myself busy in the campsite for the whole day and somehow manged some time to take a sneak peak to the Hornbill festival by evening.
I spent some time in the arena and headed back to the drop my guests to the home stay. Then I came back to the campsite again and continued my work in setting up the campsite there and slept off in the tent tired.
I joined my friends Justin and Hanna from the campsite and kept checking different morungs, tried local foods and Zutho-the traditional rice beer of Nagaland.
I had one of the best lunch till date in one of the Angami morungs and kept exploring the festival. It was almost 7 and it was time for me to drop my guests back to the home stay.
I came back to the campsite after dropping them and joined the party in the campsite with my Naga friends. We boozed till midnight and danced to some good music and finally slept off drunk!
We reached Dimapur at round 2 :00 PM and helped my guests in their booking procees.I had to reach back to Jorhat the same day and without losing time I bid hem goodbye and started my journey from Dimapur to Jorhat with my driver .
I grabbed a couple of beers and continued to Jorhat thinking how the fast the last 7 day went by.
All photos are clicked by me and no one is allowed to use these photos for any purposes without any prior permission.
Also I would like to thank my friends, Lotsani Ezung, Akhuto Yiene , Kevizho, Methavi, Alimse Thonger , Mrs. Ketu for their help and company during the tour and lastly Rajib Da for giving his me company during these 8 days . Cheers !